It's Happening!!

We are jumping in!

We have decided to buy the property! We go Monday to put the down payment on it. From there, we have the title searched, etc.,  and soon it will be ours! Or at least as ours as it can be until we pay it off.

I have spent weeks researching zoning laws, property rights, building codes, etc. I have spent hours researching companies to find one that would loan to us to build a house and include the land in the purchase that didn't require us to end up waiting for several more months, or even a year, in order to have what they wanted down. Good grief, we wanted to build a two bedroom home not a mansion!

We both have gone to appointments to talk to contractors and the like. I'm back to good grief, it's not like we wanted to build a mansion!

In the end, we decided that purchasing the land now so we could call it our own was the best choice. And we decided just in time. We told the man selling it that we were interested. He said that he was glad we called because another couple was going to look at it and were really excited about it. If they had gone to look at it and offered, we would be back to square one right now.

I am really excited about this. We are both really excited about this. I can't wait to have the keys in hand and to be able to open the gate and drive onto OUR property.

Buying the property without a livable building still leaves us here for the time being, however we have looked at many of our options to get out of here. We looked at a separate loan to build the house, buying a camper to put on it, building as we can afford to pay cash, and putting another shed on it and converting it into a cabin, or a combination of these. We opted to not have a loan for building the house that we have designed right now. We decided against the camper as in the entire time we looked at that route we didn't find one that was acceptable with an acceptable price. We don't want to build as we have the cash as that will continue to leave us here in the trailer park. In the end we decided that putting the building on it was the route to take.

We can get the building on it for not a lot of money. We will get someone in to dig the foundation and set the block. Then get the building up. From there, there is a lot that we can do for only parts/materials and no labor costs. My husband's brother and son have both offered to come and help us.

My husband and his brother are both able to pull wire and run electricity. My husband and I are both capable of plumbing work. After all the repairs we have had to make here, we definitely know what not to do. And just about everything else that we would need to do to finish the inside, my husband and I have both already done here and at other homes we have lived in. Although, I do believe that we will have the flooring installed so it can be done quickly. Since we intend to build a future home, we plan to have vinyl put down. We don't see the point in putting down expensive flooring in what will essentially become a guest cabin.

We will have to have a will drilled and the electricity run to the property. Since the driveway and septic are already in place, there is no expense there for us.

Once all the paperwork is complete and we have our keys, we will go to the property and take some pictures. There will be some clean up work to be done before all of the building actually starts. We are looking forward to it, though! Get ready for picture heavy posts in the very near future!

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Tonight for supper is white bean and sausage soup. I am using a Cajun style andouille sausage. MMMM!

I am thankful for a new road ahead of us.

A New New Journey

So now we are going to embark on a new, new journey.

We made the decision to get the 5th wheel and go to the campground. We started to make our plans. What size storage shed would we need? What all would need to go to storage? (Hint: a lot!) What could we take with us? Where would the litter box go?  Where will I put my canner and dehydrator? On and on those questions were swirling. It was starting to seem like a Herculean task. One we could accomplish, but wow. However, it was that last question specifically that sent us back to the dealer to get some measurements to make sure I had a home for both of them.

We took ourselves on down to the dealer, they let us into the camper. Our name was plastered on the outside of the door. That was really cool. :)  So in we go with our tape measure and my notebook. I have to write everything down to make sure I don't forget. We start with some of the cabinets. So far so good. We work our way to the back bunk room. There is a wardrobe in there that I thought would make a good place to store my canner and jars. There is also a little shelving unit that I thought would be a good place to store the lids and other paraphernalia for canning. That was when we finally saw it....

Water damage and powdery mold. There was only two little places at the very bottom of the half bath door jamb that had water damage. The mold was in the shelving unit and at the bottom of the half bath door. If we had not been using our flashlight, we may not have noticed it. It was not a dark black mold, it was that really light hardly notice it mold. Except with a flashlight. Loud and Proud then. That right there is a deal breaker.

The guy that we worked with was not there on Saturday, so we are going back tomorrow to tell him the news. Sorry, you didn't make the sale. We will show him why. He will try to tell us it will be ok. He will try to convince us we can just replace the door jamb and door and everything will be peachy keen. Too bad for him, not happening. If they can show us something comparable, something with similar space and price, we will consider. I don't think they have that based on what we saw when we have been there looking. So, I will consider this divine intervention. Thank my lucky stars we didn't jump off into this with no return and now we can figure out our next new path. And maybe it feeling like a Hurculean task was because we were supposed to go back before they did the detailing and cleaning or there is the possibility that we would have never known until it was too late. As was said in the comments on the last post, we don't want someone else's problem child. I already have one of those: he is 18.

A New Journey

Well, we have jumped in with both feet. We made a decision to buy the camper and go that route.

We actually bought a fifth wheel. It has a whole lot more room in it for us and the pets. The dealership we bought it from will deliver it where ever we want (within reason of course) for free. I talked to a friend of mine last night to see if she would care if we parked it there for now. She said no problem and it will not cost us anything. Of course, we will still pay her something as we don't feel it's right to park the beast in her driveway or yard for nothing. Although, she did ask that we leave a key so when she needs to get away from her daughter or grand daughter for a few minutes, she can go have some peace and quiet. I said sure thing.

Part of the reason we made this decision instead of buying a house right away was the campground that we went to for the memorial on Sunday. We met quite a few of the people that live there year round and were quite impressed with them. Everyone was very welcoming and friendly despite the occasion. We also found out that the campground owners and our friend's fellow year rounders put the memorial on for our friend. The campground gave use of one of the pavilions and provided the meat for the dinner that we had. His neighbors are the ones who put everything else together. They cleaned the pavilion, set up the tables and candles, set up the video and picture memorial and music, and anything that needed purchased they all pitched in and bought it. All the folks that came to the memorial, including us, brought side dishes. It really helped restore some faith in people to see them come together like that to help ease someone's pain.

As we drove around the campground people actually waved. I realize that in a campground one would expect that. That being said, I have seen a lot less southern hospitality since I moved down here than I thought I would. In our trailer park, no one waves at each other. Not that we care as we don't want to associate with the kind of people that live here anyway.

At this campground, we met a woman who is a horticulturist (retired), a man who is a professional fisher (as in competitions- not a hobby fisher), and several folks who are retired from various walks of life like mechanics and truck driving. One guy even gave us his number to call if our friend gets back to work and breaks down emotionally while he is out somewhere in the truck. He said he would go to him no matter where he was or how far away. To us, those are the kinds of neighbors you want.

We might have another option for this as well. The friend that is letting us park the camper at her house for the time being is up for a discussion about maybe staying on her property until we are ready to buy. There would obviously be a lot of details that we would have to talk about and work out and it may not be something that all of us want to do. We'll see.

I do, however, think that staying at the campground would be a better bet for us expense-wise. All we would need to do there is hook up so to speak. If we stay in my friend's yard, there would be a shit ton of things that would cost us to get set up. I am not sure that we would save any money taking that route. More discussions and options. :) It does feel as if things are falling into place for us now that we have made the decision. The price was right, a "free" spot to park it until we are ready to move it, a son-in-law that can move it when we need to, a place we both really felt comfortable at. Maybe I'm just being crazy, but I swear even the music on the radio today seemed like it was supporting our decision!

We will just take each of our next steps as they come and it will all work out for us in the end. Also, I will be getting out of dodge! Or at least this dodgy trailer park!! I'll have to become preppin in a campground!