Cheryl and I have decided it's time to rescue the US economy. We've just helped clear the glut of houses on the market by purchasing a new home. Even better, we purchased a new home with many thousands of dollars of repairs needed. Woo!Seriously, the list of repairs was daunting. The place needs a new furnace, a new water heater, new floors in three rooms, new doors, new appliances, new gutters, new light fixtures, and a new wood stove. (That last item seems optional, but the living room has a stovepipe in the ceiling and a big brick foundation for a stove taking up space in the floor. It would probably cost more to remove these things and repair the ceiling and floor than just to buy a new stove.) Anyway, today might be a good day to buy stock in Lowe's or Home Depot, as we convert all the money in our savings account into profits for thier shareholders. (Actually, most of the money will probably be going to private small businesses who are providing all the labor, but none of these are listed on the NYSE.)
One might wonder why we've purchased a house in such need of repairs. The house was seriously underpriced for its neighborhood. Even adding the cost of the repairs, we think the house is a bargain. If the house had been priced higher, we still would have made and offer because it's really a terrific home. The lot is big, but not too demanding. It's landscaped with a lot of flowering bushes and trees instead of being mostly lawn. The place is huge in comparison to our present home, but not a stupidly oversized McMansion. It has seven closets and an attic; our current houses has no attic and three small closets, and one of these has the water heater in it. The closet in the master bedroom alone has more storage space than all three of our closets combined.
The location is excellent, right on the edge of town. Take a right from the driveway and it's less than a mile to grocery stores and restaurants, take a left and you're half a mile away from beautiful farmland.
There is, as pictured, a fantastic deck. There's a covered front porch running the length of the house. Inside, three huge skylights fill the living room, kitchen, and dining room with sunlight. The dining room has a giant window overlooking the backyard. If the house has any drawback, it's that the kitchen doesn't have a lot of counterspace. We'll bear this burden as best we can.
Now, we just have to sell our existing house. Spread the word if you know someone in the market who doesn't require a lot of closet space.
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6 comments:
Unlike the spammer (above), a comment from a real live person!
Hah, isn't home ownership a wonder. We decided to help reboot the NJ economy after being pounded by spring storms, then Irene, then Katia, then the fall storms. My "punch list" grows and the folks at Home Depot rub their hands in glee.
Wow, that spammer's a real gunslinger. Less than one hour between blog post and spam comment must be some kind of speed record.
Congrats about the house! I think it looks very nice. I wondered why it was you didn't take any pictures of the inside. But it doesn't sound like there's anything in there but closets.
But I think the awesome porch space probably makes up for quite a lot. Is there enough nook for a little table in the kitchen? I tend to like using that better than standard counters space myself.
Just deleted the spam, rendering both of your comments slightly cryptic.
Fred, it's funny you should mention storms, since one more thing the house needs is to get someone to cut down a few trees poised to fall through the roof if the right storm hits.
Cavin, interior photos are coming in a before/after post about the repairs. Most of the interior photos we've taken don't really do the place justice. Blank walls just aren't that exciting to look at.
The kitchen has an island that helps with the counterspace, but there's really no room for an extra table. The trade off for the relatively small kitchen is that it's joined with a nicely sized dining room. I suppose we could make the kitchen bigger and the dining room smaller, but we're really looking forward to having company over for dinner and having room for people to actually sit at a table.
James: coincidentally, I too am looking forward to a time when you have some company over in the new dining room.
Congrats, James and Cheryl! That looks like a deck with serious party potential to me.
Please tell Cheryl that if she'd like some help identifying the plants in your new yard, I'd be happy to help.
And I know a great tree guy actually based near you; let me know if you want his name and number.
Cathy, we'll definitely take you up on this offer! Thanks!
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