This blog is about our adventures as a large family. We have fourteen kids in our family. Not every one lives at home. Sometimes life is easy and sometimes its weary to the bone hard.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
should I stay or should I go now? If I stay there will be trouble! If I go it will be double!
we are not having an easy time finding a new home or property to build on. We have seen just about everything we can find. we have lowered our expectations from large acreage to 40 then lowered to 20. now to 10 and to 5. as yet we have found nothing that would work for us. Everything is overpriced. it is a down market who can afford a 400K house? we really cant because we still have this house to pay on. and since this one needs work which costs money and isnt likely to fly off the market given the area. We cant find land that isnt swamp. or its 30 miles away. we cant find a house that isnt gonna be a money suck (or its 30 miles away) we are feeling very burdoned right now. we wanted to move and have an easier lifestyle. and yet we are starting to think we will have little more than we have here, although probably less when you consider the energy status of any house we might buy. we flip flop with the idea of even staying put. that isnt ideal either. so as of now we are caught between a rock and hard place. no easy decisions. time to build is running short. soon it will be summer and we will be hard pressed to get a house built in time for school in the fall. but again its so expensive we arent sure we can even afford it, given that the cost of land(swamp) will drive up the overall cost of the build. we NEED to garden and raise chickens just in order to feed this crew. it isnt a want, a desire but a real need. we have the dogs who need space to run a bit and not bother neighbors with their barking. we need a place that has room for kids to play and ride bikes. and we just cant find a place like that. and did I mention with a child who doesnt walk we really NEED a mainfloor bedroom and bath. Miss Priss is not getting any lighter and we dont want to have to carry her to the bathroom and to bed. staying here includes a less than challenging curriculum, bullying kids, kids who start other kids hair on fire and still get to ride the bus, kids who ask little kids about their private parts, life alone, rounding every single freaking day, driving hours to get anything or see dentist. so if we stay it would still suck, if we go it seems like it will suck because we are NOT finding the perfect place.
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Oh, I feel your pain! We're from the Boston area, originally, and my husband and I had lived there our entire lives. We encountered the same situation (and we were willing to move into southern NH or Rhode Island. Still nothing.)
ReplyDeleteMy parents retired down in Florida and they mentioned the cost of property was incredibly low, both homes and land. My mom -- a complete saint -- visited properties for us and found the perfect home for us. It was 2 years old (really nice, compared to our 150+-year-old house in the Boston area!), with land, etc. We paid $70k. It fits our entire family, with room to spare. The only bad point is that it needs new flooring. We purchased all the tile and had it delivered before we arrived, but we didn't have a chance to get it installed before we moved in. So now, it's a matter of rearranging everything/everyone for a few days! Such a pain, so I've been living with the ugly but functional linoleum in the kitchen, and wood laminate flooring elsewhere for the past two years! *LOL*
It was a foreclosure (there are *tons* here...the area was over-built. 2 of every 5 houses are vacant. There are 100,000 vacant houses in our county alone!), but there were plenty of non-foreclosures available as well, also for incredible prices!
It was a very difficult decision to move cross country and if you had suggested it to me a few years ago, I'd have said, "Never, ever, ever."
But once I looked at the reality -- we could live a much better life, in a nicer, newer home, with a few hundred dollar mortgage for just 10 years -- it was a no-brainer! I'm glad we did it. Everything is much less expensive here too. And it's much nicer for the kids and the animals -- we have quite a few dogs and cats and birds -- as they can spend lots of time outdoors! (Whereas, they were cooped up indoors for a good portion of the year due to the cold.)
The only disadvantages: I miss the seasons of the NE. And the possibility of hurricanes scares the heck out of me!
It's also a rather depressed area in terms of the economy, and certain jobs can be difficult to find.
I work from home, though, so I was able to keep my job. My husband owned his own company, and he had to start from scratch, which has been a bit difficult (and we anticipated this), but we no longer *need* the income since our cost of living is so much lower!
Though your husband is a physician, right? I imagine that's one profession where it's fairly easy to find a position? (Though difficult to move if you had your own practice, I imagine!)
Anyways, that's my experience. I don't regret it at all! I was in the exact same position that you're in right now. I recommend looking into a different region, just to see what you find.
-Truewell
I wish you could move here. Our schools are good. You have no idea how much house and land you could for your dollar.
ReplyDeletethe problem is that he signed a contract up there already!
ReplyDeleteHi! I hope you find the perfect house for your family. It is very expense having a large family. Our friend raises chickens and sells eggs to meet the needs of his family.He has gotten me eggs and chickens at a local aucton.Good luck, Pat
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