I'll forgo what would be the obvious addition to this post. No embedded Clash videos here. But there is a really funny version featuring Tony Blair that you must watch!
So, should we stay or should we go?
That's been the question of late in our household.
We moved into our home nearly 7 years ago, just after we found out that our baby boy was on the way. We didn't have really specific desires for a home aside from location. We wanted something in the country, preferably close to the future-grandparents. We wanted something with good bones and some yard. And the fewer neighbors, the better.
At first, we were thrilled with this house, and to some extent, we still are. It's a nice little house. Good foundation. Excellent views. Quiet neighbors, most of whom are relatives somewhere on the family tree. And we've put a good deal of time, money and labor into this house to make it comfortable; including new windows and central air. There's an open floor plan and nice sized bedrooms. All the plumbing works correctly. And really, it's nice to be able to shoot guns right out the back door if you so desire.
But lately, we've been wondering if this will be our forever home.
In some ways, it would be hard to leave. I can still see where Isaac took his first steps. There are little footprints and handprints in the concrete walk, and growth charts on the side of the bedroom doors. And the berry patches are finally established and the fruit trees are finally bearing fruit. It would be hard to leave all that behind.
I wouldn't however miss the gale-force winds hitting the back of the house 9 months out of the year because the closest windbreak is 1/4 mile away. I wouldn't miss the claustrophobic feeling of the backyard as it seems to get smaller and smaller each year. I wouldn't miss not having a fireplace or wood stove. I wouldn't miss the lack of elbow room. And I definitely wouldn't miss our hard water. Honestly, I think they built this house on an iron plate.
So lately, we've sort of been tossing around our options. We COULD add on a family room for a little extra space and add a wood stove...but that would only make the backyard smaller. We COULD look into purchasing a little more land, but with the established land trust, I don't think that's an option. We COULD sell the house, but I don't know if we could make a profit in this market. So much to consider.
Are you in your forever home or have you tossed around the idea of a move?
16 comments:
We have been tossing around the same things for a few years. We want at least 30 acres where we can hunt and have the big farm animals. We are on 4 acres now with a home we are outgrowing. We either need to add on another bedroom and add wood heat or we need to move. But just like you we are not wanting to leave our fruit bearing trees and land. We are hoping to hold out here just untill its paid off and hopefully rent this out while we move to a bigger land area.
Alot to consider and I personally want this land and home to stay in the family. I also understand something is going to be wrong where ever we are, wheither it be not enough area for pasture or not enough house. But one thing is for sure, a homesteader makes a house a home where ever they go.
have a blessed day!
Oh, how many times I've gone through these same thoughts! Yes, we believe we are in our forever home. However, as you remember last November we put it up on the market; it's an expensive house to live in and large - we thought we would have more than 3 children and need more space.
Anyway, we started looking to see what was out there and realized that everything else in our price range had more issues than we wanted to deal with so we took it off the market. So just getting out there and seeing what's available might help you make your decision. Get a realtor (doesn't cost you) who can narrow it down for you and actually take you in homes and discuss the property. You'll start to get a clearer picture pretty fast.
And can I state the obvious (which I'm sure you already know)? There is no PERFECT place. You just have to weigh all the pros and cons of each and then decide what set of issues you want to make your own and tackle. We decided working on the issues in our existing house was the better choice due to our age and my husband's health, but you're younger and might want to make a move. Just remember, a wood stove goes in a lot faster than fruit trees grow!
Praying for God's wisdom as you seek His will!
Amy
Nowhere is going to be perfect - but you know that.
I agree with Amy - start looking at what's out there and available. Do you plan on staying in the general location? That's step one. If you have the whole US as an option, life gets very indecisive very fast! I decided that we should move to Texas. (Hubby isn't on board yet, and it might not happen - but I'm having a good time looking!) Have you _any_ idea how big Texas is??? Name your preference in climate or topography, and it's probably available _somewhere_ in the state! And I know nothing about it, really, and nothing about what cities and counties are where. So every exploration on the internet involves looking at the photos available - the terrain, the "greeness", the vegetation - then the "where" part. That usually means a mapquest search...jumping from the very tight map to a much larger map so I can find out just where it is.
I'm looking for fairly large acreage, a good water supply, fenced and cross-fenced, a house of some sort and of course, a low enough price that we can afford it if we sell our house and still have something left in the bank. I expect one son (of 4) to join us - which creates other problems, but that's a different issue. I'd prefer the Zone 8 climate, but that might not be possible. At the moment, I'm "exploring" some places in the Zone 7 climate. How much rain will it get? One I'm looking at right now gets 29 inches a year - what does that mean for a vegetable garden? What's the frequency of tornadoes and/or hurricanes?
As I said - it may never happen. Everything has to be right - but it doesn't hurt to look...even if it means that you end up deciding that where you are is the best option of all.
PS...could you build/grow your own windbreak?? Of course, then you'd probably get shade...
We are in our "right now" home. As long as we live in this (awful) state, this will be our home. As soon as my husband retires from law enforcement, I get to move somewhere better. So, it's a hard feeling putting down roots somewhere you know won't be "forever".
My ex husband bought our home without me ever seeing it. It's not ideal. Well, it was for him. But not for me. I got the home in the divorce (he got reduced child support and I gave up rights to his military pension. Trust me, he came out ahead.)
I don't believe this is our forever home BUT the longer we are here, the more we do stuff to make it livable (like putting in fruit trees and berry bushes and a new deck etc.) the more I see us getting "stuck" here. And we are smack dab in suburbia which isn't enough room to grow what I want to grow and it isn't enough safety long term.
Mermaid,
I don't know where you are living, but I'm in CA which is about as liberal as it gets. Think of yourself as being on the "mission" field. Besides, the only way a state becomes conservative is if the people themselves multiply and spread their ideology. If everyone moves out, it just makes the odds worse in the state you're leaving behind. Arizona is turning out to be a good example of all this. While it may have been somewhat conservative in the past, it's getting more so because of the circumstances - sometimes trials and issues can wake up a people to realize that what they've been doing is working so well.
Having grown up in Texas, don't kid yourself. It's gotten much more liberal, too. And it's being over built in some areas. If TX isn't careful, they'll loose the conservative edge they have held for generations - really hard for me to watch since my family was one of the first 300 that settled it with Stephen F. Austin.
Suek, I could answer some of your location questions if you'd need some help. Heat is a big factor for growing plants in most of Texas - including zone 8. And while it may seem cheaper on one level, there are some hidden expenses that most people don't consider - such as property taxes, insurance, etc. Be thorough in your research before taking the plunge.
The last line in the first paragraph above should read...
"isn't working so well."
Amy...
I'll come visit. I think I have you bookmarked...
I'm presently in a Zone 9 - I understand about heat! No place is ideal, I guess. It's just weighing the pluses and minuses...
My biggest reason for moving to TX is to get out of California. Although the climate is as close to perfect as you're going to get, I'm concerned about future events. Tx may not be as conservative as it once was, but it's _way_ ahead of Cal. Although our county - in fact, physically, most of California - is Republican. The problem is that the Lib strongholds have more people than the rest of Calif all combined.
I'd recommend to Andrea that she list her dream conditions. She won't get them all. In fact she might get a percentage of all of them. But putting them down on paper, and then weighing the "this property has this, that property has that - which would I rather have? Why? " should be helpful. Climate's a preference for me but if I have to trade a 221 day growing season for a shorter one for difference of $100,000 for a similar property, I'll take the shorter growing season and figure out how to deal with it. Or there's the 221 growing days vs longer + HEAT! But each person's different.
Your post is very timely. My husband and I live in a house that's a good size for us (about 1600 sq ft) and we don't have any kids. We can easily afford the payment and I even think we'd be fine if one of us lost our job. Down sides are that we're in an HOA neighborhood and while it's not a super strict one, we can't have chickens, I can't do any kind of a garden in the front yard, and I'd like a little bit bigger back yard for a garden. I like our current landscaping in the back yard and it seems like such a waste of the money we put into it to remove it to put in a bigger garden. Also, the heat and lack of water are a longer term concern of even living in the state (AZ). So we know we're not in our forever home, but we struggle with moving now or staying another 10 years or so and then moving to our forever home. Lately I've also been reading blogs like early retirement extreme and it has me thinking about moving to a REALLY inexpensive house in a much less desirable (for me) neighborhood in order to sock away a ton of money. We both agree the house has to be livable and have a set up where we could have the garden we want and the option to have chickens if we want (no HOA). That would also not be our forever home, but it could set us up for early retirement. Hmm.... what to do?
Moving dreams...We have been in this house 22 years, we were county and now are city due to annexation. Our goal is to sell this house to one of our older daughters and her hubs this summer. They really want this place, and we want out of the city! Ideally 10 acres or more. And as every good prepper knows...Storage! Prayerfully, it will all come to pass.
It's fascinating to read everyone's comments. Moving is such a huge idea, I can't really wrap my mind around it right now. I don't anticipate giving this serious consideration for another year or two, til my husband finishes his degree, but I still think it merits discussion now.
And suek-
My dream requirements:
Nonelectric heat and water sources: that can include a fireplace, woodstove, cookstove (or room for a wood/cook stove) and a manual well, creek or pond. Of course I want traditional heat and water too.
Location- I want to stay local, preferably in the same school district. Definitely rural and definitely close to my mom and dad.
Land- A couple acres would be good. I don't want a farm necessarily, but enough room for a big garden and a pole barn for the boys.
Size- 1500ish. I don't want a huge place, but just a bit more elbow room.
Those are my desires. I don't care if it's an old house or new house, one story or two.
>>Nonelectric heat and water sources:(etc)>>
Ok...that should mean a wood lot as well. Nonelectric heat source won't help if you don't have access to wood!
But you seem to have a fairly good start. _And_ you have connections within your church community. You can buy yourself (or download) a tax map of the district and eliminate "too small" properties. Then start passing the word in your church, because there might be elderly people who would be interested in having some physical help on their property today with an agreement to sell to you at some point in the future.
Just read an article today on reverse mortgages - not a pretty picture.
( http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=181978 ) if you're interested.
You're in an ideal position - you know what you want - or at least, what you _don't_ want - and you already have very good knowledge of your neighborhood.
You may decide in the end that what you have is the best available - but you'll have come to that after deciding that there really aren't any better options that meet your conditions. That alone should give your "itch" some satisfaction. And if not - you'll have to change your conditions.
Oh yeah - and by doing your own research, you can possibly cut out a realtor (no problem with them, but they _do_ cost a bundle for what they do). You should probably hire a real estate attorney, if you actually decide to buy something, though.
And Zillow.com will give you some very interesting info...
And...on the non-electric heat issue...
Have you ever heard of Hahsa (I think that's right - I'll have to check it) heat system?
I cut out an article about it years ago. I've tried to research it - apparently, the original designer got a patent, then sold design plans for fairly large bucks, and it seems now to be non-existent on the internet.
Basically, it's an outside cement block "house" which has a firebox, surrounded by sand and pipes(_many_ pipes!). I don't remember if the pipes are filled with air or water, but the idea is that the firebox heats the sand, which heats the water/air. The pipes then go underground and to your house, and provide the heat. The firebox burns whatever you can get that will burn including trash, and is completely safe because it's actually outside your home. It's also very controllable as far as burn rate is concerned, and will burn for extended periods of time without supervision.
Anyway...it looked like a great idea but to really install something like that, you'd have to know more than I do, or have design plans to follow. I don't have either, so I just keep looking.
Renewed my energy for more search on the Hahsa system and ran across this:
http://www.norishouse.com/house/index.php?inc=1
You might enjoy reading it, although it may not offer anything in the way of actual useful info. Someone else's "adventure" in making a home. He also has a page full of research links that _may_ be useful, though.
(And by the way...you know the old Chinese proverb... "Adventure is just another name for Trouble..."!)c
(Sorry, deleted by earlier comment because it was the wrong sign-in name)
Last year, Hubby and I built a house on a 1-acre plot adjacent to my dad's farm. We designed the house with plans to live here forever. We included a woodstove for alternative heat. It's a 2-story home with bedrooms on the second floor, but we also included a bedroom and full bath on the ground floor in case we have trouble with stairs when we get older. It's got a well for water, so all we need is a generator to get water in a power outtage. Dad said I could use some of the farmland if I want to have chickens, fruit trees, etc so I don't have to take up the backyard with that stuff.
The one thing that would force us out is an economic situation that would prevent us from making the mortgage payments. I pray that never happens.
I think, though, with the economy the way it is, part of me would prefer to be in the house we lived in before we built. It was way smaller, in a development, with no alternative heat except electricity. BUT it would've been paid off by now. Part of me thinks there's security in owning a home or owing very little on it, so I would definitely consider that while making any decisions about moving/buying/selling.
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