Time for an Update

Well, friends, it's been a while since I posted here, because it's been a very emotionally draining couple of months, with nothing really to report. I still have no good news to report, but I can update you a bit on what's been going on.

As soon as we cancelled our contract on House #22, we started searching for land, still with the idea of revisiting #22 and trying to have it moved. We have driven every weekend (spent a small fortune on gas!), and viewed over 30 properties, in several different directions. Our criteria have been the number of acres (preferably between 10 and 20); price; distance from home; distance from hospitals, stores, etc.; the area; the views; and the accessibility of actually moving a large house to it. We also prefer a paved road. A couple of weeks ago, we had narrowed it down to four, and then to two (both of which were, interestingly, chosen on revisits, after being rejected on the first visit). Mr. D.H. says we have to "date" the properties (as in courtship), and can't make an offer until after multiple dates (whatever...). (I know people like pictures, so I will try to do separate posts on each land finalist.) While both the finalists are acceptable, neither is "perfect" and we were torn. Meanwhile, the reality of finances was setting in, as well as the reality of the potential problems and costs that might be associated with moving a house 100 miles. Mr. D.H., in particular, was getting a severe case of cold feet. I was starting to wonder as well if it was really going to be feasible to move that particular house to the areas we were looking at. I had gotten no feedback from the one mover I had contacted, and I felt we really needed to consult with a mover, so I sent a request to the Texas Association of Structural Movers. Ironically, one of the members contacted me last Friday morning, right before everything started to shift.

Within the last week, several things have happened almost simultaneously that may have changed our direction. I check the real estate listings daily, and House #22 was always sitting right there, just waiting. Keep in mind that it has been for sale for 2-3 years, is not inhabitable without major expenditures, and we requested to be notified if the status changed. Suddenly, last Friday, it was no longer listed. I immediately sent an email to our realtor, but did not get an answer until Sunday. The answer was that the owners had gotten a cash offer on it (we were not notified), but were not able to resolve problems with liens against it, so it had gone into foreclosure and the bank was going to sell it to the cash buyer. I did not fight this, or try to counter offer, because I knew Mr. D.H. was not willing. It makes me very, very, sad to lose that house, as I love it very much, have not seen anything else remotely like it, and have a lot of dreaming tied up in it.

Back to the land, like I mentioned, we neither one felt that our two finalists were "perfect," but if I had been able to really get that house and have it moved, I could be happy with either one. A couple of my negatives about them is that they each feel a little small at 10 acres, and they don't have a "rural" enough feel. They are both in "rural subdivisions" and I want something a little more "real country" which is a bit hard to explain, but I keep saying that an old homestead would be perfect, preferably with a windmill, a water tank, and an old barn (oh, and a creek would be nice). (On the plus side, they are both a reasonable distance from home and civilization, and are approximately half-way between each of our respective parents. Our parents won't always be a consideration of course, but they are aging and may be needing us more in the next few years.)

Last Saturday we decided to check out a new land listing that had just come out. This land is considerably larger, at 22.5 acres (and thus more expensive, but the price per acre is almost half the others), but is farther from home and civilization than we prefer to go. It is very near my hometown, but quite a ways from my in-laws. We drove far out on a county road, and hills came into view in the distance. The road passed an old homestead, with house (not for sale, darn it), and cows lounging in and near the road. Right before the property, it turned into a dirt road (negative), and then we spotted the for sale sign. Nothing spectacular from the road, but we decided to explore (we had not yet contacted the realtor, but every one we've contacted so far has told us to feel free to explore on our own, so we've gotten pretty bold about trespassing - and we've since contacted him and he said go ahead). A shallow rocky creek runs along the edge of the property, which is both a positive and a negative; perfectly picturesque, but you have to cross it to get to the rest of the property, so a bridge would have to be built. We hop-skipped across (I'm a country girl at heart you know), and came to a clearing which contained an old livestock pen and loading dock built of cedar logs (plus!). There were not as many wildflowers as we've seen on some properties, but some beckoned in the distance (and I figure I could always seed). Past the clearing, we started up a tree-covered hill. I said something like "I don't think there are really any views from this property" and Mr. D.H. concurred with something like "no, none at all" and at about that instant I reached a level from which I could look out and see not only the hills, but Lake Buchanan in the distance! I said "oh, you are wrong - so wrong!"

Well, we are pretty intrigued with that land (in my opinion it's the best we've seen by far), but knew right away that moving a house to it would be logistically and financially challenging if not impossible. House movers and their websites say that ANYTHING can be moved ANYWHERE, given enough financial resources! That's just the problem - short of winning the lottery, I don't think we have those resources! And then the next day we found out that we lost House #22, so it is really back to Square One.

We talked about building on the land, possibly using old house materials from architectural salvage dealers, but I'm just not feeling it. Restoring an old house is a HUGE long-time dream for me, and it will break my heart not to own an old house. I considered the possibility of trying to buy an old house that was going to be torn down and salvaging the materials ourselves, which would at least give me the feeling that I "owned" that one house and was "restoring" it in a different way...the problem with that is those are hard to find. Believe me, I've done a LOT of internet research on all these possibilities. I considered revisiting House #21, which is in foreclosure and now listed at $45,000, and making a really low-ball offer (like $25,000), and if accepted tearing it apart and using the salvageable materials. I thought this might be my answer, but Mr. D.H. vetoed it out of hand.

To be continued...