The road to home (or should I say- FARM) ownership

So it's been a while since I updated. We've been busy. I mean REALLY busy. Let's catch up.

Last time I posted, we were soul searching over a beautiful old Victorian (built in the 1880s) in the little town where my husband now works. We decided not to pursue it. It was a short sale and as first time home buyers, we just did not want to get ourselves into something like that.

So we decided to build. From May until October, we threw ourselves into the building process. We chose our house plan, worked out the details with the architectural firm (Allison Ramsey of South Carolina- awesome people. LOVE THEM!), began talking with local banks about construction loans, and started searching for builders.

And that's where it got crazy. The new construction loan process was pretty smooth- believe it or not. However, getting a commitment from a builder was not so easy. In fact it ended up being the downfall of our project. Five builders did not even call us back. One met with us and said he would be back in contact with pricing-  we never heard from him again (and he was the president of the local home builders association to boot!). One refused to commit to pricing all together and the final builder backed out last minute.

For a while we took it personally. Maybe we were too direct? Maybe we were too practical? Maybe we  just had no idea what we were doing? I checked with a couple of other builder associations to ask if we were going about the process correctly and they said yes. They also said they have received multiple complaints about builders refusing to return calls, refusing to commit to price quotes, not finishing jobs, etc. Seems like during the recent economic downfall of the housing bust, many builders are out of business and the ones who stuck it out are a bit frayed at the edges.

So the week our last builder backed out, we decided to explore our options. We called up our local real estate agency (the same one who showed us the beautiful Victorian in town) and gave him some details about what we were looking for and a price range. Back to house hunting we went.

That afternoon, he had four prospective properties for us to view. He showed us a pretty green ranch style house nestled between two mountains. It had a little over 11 acres- with page wire fencing, a working chicken coup with yard, a functioning goat shed, an additional small animal barn, a pond, an in ground swimming pool, and a separate 1300 square foot block building with a canning room! My husband and I talked about it for a day or so. It had everything we were dreaming of. It was a working farm! So we decided to make an offer.

When the offer was accepted I was overjoyed, terrified, anxious, ecstatic, and heartbroken all at the same time. We had spent years dreaming of a house on our 30 acre farm. We had our house plan. I had the cabinets picked out. I had paint chips and samples of wood flooring.

But that is how life goes. If you hold onto something so tight it blocks the light of possibility around you, you might just miss out. So I put my book of dreams on the shelf and there is shall stay until someday- or not. Life is about being flexible and pursing your dreams in whatever form they may come.

To be continued......

House hunting continues

We are still searching out our housing options and have set a preliminary move date as October of this year. We'll see how that goes! 

We are fortunate because moving is not imperative at this moment, but we are tired of commuting and it seems like a good thing to do.

We finally got to tour the large older home I posted about earlier. It was stunning! I knew it was a large home but as we toured, it just kept going and going and going! I believe the total square footage including garage and upstairs studio was a wopping 4500 square feet!

There is such thing as too much house you know!

But it was gorgeous and has TONS AND TONS of storage and closets! The older home we live in now has two closets- total! And one is small half bath we turned into a closet because we were that desperate for storage! We currently do not have a garage so stuff gets stored in every and any covered space outside.  Sometimes I feel like I'm living like a hoarder!

But this is not a whining fest. It is simply time to move. We have outgrown our space.

We are also searching out house plans and really like the architectural stylings of Allison Ramsey Architects. We have selected these two as potential builds.

The larger home in town is still an option but it does need a new roof and replacement guttering. It underwent a full remodel in 1988 and partial update again in 2010. The eutopic idea of living in a majestic Victorian home is enticing but the reality of it sets in quickly. I think this is where many people go astray and end up getting into more than they realize. The reality of it is, the home is large and has 10 foot ceilings throughout. I am not sure what the heating and cooling costs would be per month. It is in need of some repairs now and there could be potentially more down the road. We are not wealthy by any means but do live comfortably and can handle some repairs on our own, but do we really want to take that on?

We'll see. We've got time to think about it.

Because it's never to early!

Literature for little ones!

Happy Spring!

Hello all and Happy Spring!
The world is green again and the air is getting warmer! Despite my last post, we really did have a pleasant winter here. Actually, it wasn't much of a winter at all. It was unseasonably warm and Spring came very early! In mid February we had snow and by the end of the month it was in the low 70's! It has been warm ever since!

This year is going to be a big year! In February, I worked on a huge commission for an upcoming network television series. I can't release too many details until the pilot airs. But it was my biggest commission to date. (As many of you know, I create historic costumes for the film, television, and museum industries.) More on that later!

In addition, we are in serious get ready to move mode. This is something we have been thinking about for a few years and as "just the two of us" has now become "three of us", we are finding the need for a little more room.

Right now the housing market is a buyer's dream but a seller's nightmare. Houses are priced 30-50% below their 2008 values. Definitely a great time to buy! Not a great a time to sell. However, when a house like this one comes on the market at a price we can afford, one gets a little more incentive to start packing those dishes!

This c1900 house (fully remodeled in 1988) is located in a small historic community outside of our current city of residence. It is just 5 miles from my husband's place of employment (whereas he is now commuting over 35 miles one way.) It is on a corner lot and has just enough side yard for our little one to play and the dogs to stretch their legs. But it would be city living as there are residences all around it.

It is by no means Eutopiaville, but the streets are quite and the crime rate relatively low. In our current city, there is a growing gang problem that is reeking havoc on our revitalized downtown residential districts.

This house is within walking distance to both the children's park and the local elementary school. (And, the schools in this community DO NOT have school resource officers! Can you remember a time when there was no need for police presence in our schools?) In addition, I could walk to the post office and ride my bike to the grocery!

However, it is city living. Our dreams have always been to build a house on our rural 30 acre farm (just 5 miles from this house.) But unlike the depressed housing market, the building market is still very high. Sky rocketing gas prices are driving up materials prices and right now it would cost twice the price to build a house on our property.

Lots to think about, pray about, and just plain wait and see about. But, I know in the end it will all work out the way it is meant to be :-) It always does!