Author: Lee and Tracy

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First Time Having Chickens

This is a long one ….Although I grew up in a small town and had a cousin my age who lived on a farm, personally I haven’t had much to do with chickens in my life. But every since we visited a sustainable farm in Wisconsin and ate some of their chickens and eggs I have been excited about the possibilities. I thought, “How hard can it be?” People in the poorest parts of the world raise chickens, and with all the resources at my fingertips it should be relatively easily.

Spoiler alert: it was NOT easy. Actually, it was one of the most humbling experiences I have had in a while. Honestly, I think I made almost every mistake I could have which goes to show you how adrenaline can really impact your judgment. As I tell the story I will share my mistakes in italics along the way. Many of these items (despite a fair amount of research) I didn’t know until after the fact but hopefully you can learn from my mistakes. If nothing else it will be entertaining although it certainly wasn’t for us at the time!

A lot of people online talk about the $3K egg, and there is a lot of truth to that. To get that first egg many people spend thousands on all the things they need. We spent more like $800 on everything we needed and I was really lucky because Lee built the coop, and we had existing fencing on the property that was already mostly what we needed, and the previous owners left behind a hefty supply of additional rolls of fencing and posts. The price of premade chicken coops is ridiculous and most of them are super small accommodating only a couple of birds. Thankfully I had an entire barn stall sitting empty and after researching extensively I saw a version where someone converted the stall into a coop. After some thought Lee agreed this was the best way to go and got to work. The pictures below were several days of HARD, sweaty work in above 90 temps and humidity over 85%. I think its beautiful, but of course Lee can only see the flaws, but no doubt it’s way better than any chicken coop I saw under $4K.

Empty stall I raked it out!
Tool staging. Lee used the generator to power since we dont have electric in stalls yet
Lee removed the wood for use somewhere else because it wasn’t needed
It was HOT in that stall
After much discussion we decided to use a door that was left on the property
Essentially, he had to frame the entire interior to attach the chicken wire

Chicken wire is NOT cheap by the way and a total bear to put up, especially overhead. You need to enclose the chickens completely though because predators will climb up and over. Side note we had read that chicken wire doesn’t always stop predators. Some will rip right through it. So all the work you see below was with the knowledge it might not be enough. I felt so bad for him the half day it took to put the overhead wire in and he had tons of nasty scratches from the wire before he was done. That’s true love!

Look at his shirt. He was changing them 4 times a day during this process.

The area that he spent the most time thinking through before building was the coops. The dimensions can vary depending on the size of the chicken you are going to get (we went with the larger 16″ square) and it was very important to him that I wouldn’t have to bend over to get eggs, so he went to extra trouble to build them high and put ledges and doors on them so I could access the eggs from outside the coop. Since this coop (which I bought for pretty cheap) was what I had initially in mind what I ended up with was a chicken coop palace in comparison.

What I bought online for $40 on sale versus what Lee made (see below).
After a lot of conflicting research I stuffed with strraw
Lee made two great ramps one to lower level and one to upper
He paid special attention to the hardware
Absolutely gorgeous work

It’s worth mentioning here that there is a TON of conflicting information about nesting boxes. No one can decide on whether chickens like sharing and the size and material are also up for debate. One woman swears that cat litter boxes are her chickens favorite while others are adamant about size and individual nests. WE decided to play it safe and make extra nesting boxes figuring if they shared we would be no worse off and it would give us room to expand later. I don’t regret the number of boxes but you will see below the placement was less than optimal.

While Lee was working on the coop I decided to take a shot at creating a dustbath and a homemade roost. In both cases my work was much less competent than his but I was super proud of myself when I finished my contributions.

I laid long tree branches on the ground
And used twine to connect the joints
Looks silly but I was proud of it
After tons of conflicting research, I made a dust bath of dirt sprinkled with Diatomaceous earth. The powder helps the chickens get rid of pests. Some people swear by it others do not but when the lady at Tractor supply said she occasionally rubs it on her chickens I was sold. Speaking of Tractor Supply I absolutely love that store! They have a little of everything and the people are super helpful. Ultimately I removed the plastic pool ring and just kept the pile of dirt. Haven’t seen them really use it though.

So everything looks great right? Well, here’s what we learned later. Chickens will naturally sleep in the highest point of their pen and my roosting bar wasn’t even close. Actually, since Lee built the boxes so high they sleep in the boxes at night which is not great because then the boxes are full of poop every morning. In all the research I did on making roost I totally didn’t get that it had to be at the highest point. That meant that Lee had to go in after the fact and try to build a roost which would have worked much better if we had taken it into account from the beginning. He offered to rip out the top row of boxes but I said no way after he did all that work.

Another thing we didn’t really understand was how much poop the chickens would generate. Yes it all looks pretty but it’s also covered in poop which is why people are so careful about where they put their roosts. Several people we learned after the fact build a tray under the roost and fill it with kitty litter so the poop is easy to clean. There is a TON of contradictory information about how often the coops needs cleaned (from weekly to yearly yes, I am not kidding) and the poop bother Lee more than me. Probably because he spent so much time on it. Alot of the advice given is based on the size of the flock and type of chicken but the information is presented as generically applicable. Honestly getting chicken information is a lot like getting RV information with a lot of people thinking their way is the only way.

So we had the coop now we just needed chickens. Craigslist Farm And Garden section turned out to be the best place in our area to find livestock and after a lot of research I decided I wanted Golden Pullets. I found a guy who was selling 8 pullets (chickens that are 14 weeks old and just ready to start laying) for $100. Since I didn’t have a way to transport 8 chickens I said I would pay an additional $50 for him to bring them to me and we made arrangements for a Thursday.

I spent the next several days obsessively researching this particular kind of chicken in particular what the heck I was going to do with all the eggs. Initially I only wanted a few chickens, but these were a package deal and I went down the internet rathole of freezing, pickling, etc. I was so worried about excess eggs that after the guy blew me off on three separate delivery dates, I wasn’t that upset about walking away. Then on Saturday I found a couple with Rhode Island Reds which are very good foragers and common in Ohio. They were $25 each but it was worth the price, so Lee and I took an hour-long drive to go pick some out.

Turns out this was a good choice because the couple was extremely nice and the chickens were gorgeous. They had a huge flock and getting the chickens in hand was the hardest part which to be honest I was zero help. Lee stayed outside and took some pictures and video which are hysterical, but you stay calm when a chicken is flying at your face!

Victory!! Such a nice couple

We ended up with five chickens in three different cat carriers, a dozen eggs, and tons of great advice. Once we got them home we put them in the coop and let them acclimate a little bit. They seemed pretty friendly and pretty calm in the coop and I was happy things had gone so well.

I wish I could end the story here, I really do, but what happened next was sheer stupidity on our part, and probably chicken malpractice. Lee want to let them out in the yard to watch them forage and despite the advice of the lady we got them from we let them out. And they were fine scratching around in the yard until we decided that we wanted them to go back in. Turns out these chickens can really fly and they also run really fast. Not sure why I thought it would be different after my experience catching them initially, but we absolutely couldn’t get them to go back in. One got in a bush and absolutely wouldn’t come out so we got the bright idea to bring Jack out and see if he could flush him.

We think of Jack as a person most of the time, but when he saw the chicken he went absolutely crazy. Not only did he chase the chicken out of the bush but he also ripped its tail feathers out and chased another one all the way down the road. He only had a flea collar on when we let him out which ripped off in my hand when I tried to catch him. We were convinced he was going to kill one or all of the chickens and it was only dumb luck that stopped that from happening. At the end the dog was in the house and two of the chickens ran away. I was an absolute mess because it was totally our fault and I felt terrible about how stupid we had been. We also realized we were absolutely going to need a fence for them to roam in and free range was not as easy as it seemed.

Here’s the deal on free ranging. Most people buy chickens who are very young and so they grow up in the coop and then by the time you let them loose they know where the food is. These chickens were grown and we learned later it can take up to two weeks to acclimate to a new space. To be fair the woman told me that when I bought them but it was along with alot of other information and did not jive with my mental picture of how things would go.

The other thing about free range chicken is most people have large flocks and understand they will lose some to predators. Since we only had five, and expensive ones at that, I didn’t want to lose any unless I absolutely had to. I also live on the corner of two busy roads and chickens will run across them if allowed. No one knows why, people have been asking for hundreds of years. The woven livestock pasture fencing we have wasn’t enough to keep them out of the road and the last thing I wanted was to cause an accident.

So I had three chickens, a ton of guilt, and needed to get fencing up right away. I was on vacation that week but it was also super-hot so I went out on Monday (Lee was at work) and started using the fencing and snow fence we had laying around to put up some fence. I knew I wouldn’t get it completely done but thought I could start with existing fencing and had some success tying snow fence to it. I didn’t think it would keep predators out but it would keep chickens in and I felt pretty good about the progress I made. Honestly it helped me feel like I was taking control of the situation.

Unfortunately, I was so distracted as I was working through things that at some point I was in the garden and fell spraining my ankle and hitting the wood on a raised bed. I heard a loud crack and at first I thought I broke my ankle but ultimately it was a really bad sprain and nasty bruise. Lee came home to me with ice on my ankle, a partially finished fence and still three chickens.

Thankfully though he thought we could finish the fence and the next morning he woke up early to get started. He woke me up with the fantastic news that one of the chickens had “come back to the roost” and was standing outside the coop that morning talking to the other chickens. The chicken miracle got me motivated so I wrapped my ankle and hobbled out to help with the fence. We used a combination of plastic chicken fence (I bought from tractor supply) and various fencing and we finally got the fence done. It was alternately hot as heck or pouring down rain so we had to work around the elements. Also, we kept seeing the fifth chicken standing in our front yard but as soon as we got close to her she would run across the street into the huge soybean field. After one night of standing in the pouring rain, stopping traffic so she wouldn’t get run over, and this nice farm kid getting out of his truck in the pouring rain and trying to help me catch her I was like screw that chicken I am fine with four! Plus with the fence done we could at least open the door to the coop although the traumatized chickens wouldn’t come out very far unless pushed.

Right after the fence was done the fifth chicken finally came home. I can’t believe it lived for four whole days, but we found it under the raspberry bush in my garden. Of course, the fencing was up so it was much harder, but Lee and I held up towels and gently maneuvered it through the fences, around the barn and finally into the coop. Sucess and all my chickens had come home to roost! As a side note I now know where all these saying come from. Why did the chicken cross the road? To get away from the crazy lady who didn’t know what she was doing. Don’t count your chickens before they hatch…I get it! And many others.

At this point we just let the chickens chill for a week. The dog still goes nuts when he sees them, but Lee’s next project was to finish his fenced in back yard area which is now done. I also added a nylon net above part of their grounds to give them extra shade and predator bird protection, but they still don’t come out much. In all fairness it’s been super hot but I do see them being more active in the mornings and in the evenings. One note is that they can fly over the fence if they really want to but we have only seen that a couple of times and they are staying close now. Still no eggs but this breed doesn’t lay until 4 1/2 – 5 months and we are not quite there yet. Plus the heat and the stress will definitely delay egg laying. Also while they are growing back feathers (which Jack tore out) they often wont lay either. Honestly at this point I am just glad they are all alive and they are calming down. It’s not their fault I made their first days so stressful so I will take the eggs when and if they come!

To sum up I don’t regret getting them but the initial outlay is way more than we thought it would be. Still we have the infrastructure now and we can expand the flock as we desire. Or not..honestly five chickens at this point is more than a match for me 🙂 Oh and please be kind in your comments. I don’t think my fragile ego can take much more!!

Frozen corn chicken treats helps get them out
One, Two, Three. Four. Five Chickens. I count them every time I am out there

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itune
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Cats and Bats

Ok so it’s really just one cat, (OK, really just one kitten) and a bat house that doesn’t have any bats in it YET, but I couldn’t pass up the chance for a rhyming blog post name 🙂

Getting a cat has been on my want list for several years now but Lee is super sensitive to ammonia and in such a small space I never could talk him into it. But when we moved into a house it was at the top of my list with the caveat that the litter box would be in my office. Finding a kitten turned out to be very easy though and ultimately, I chose a shelter that didn’t have a ton of weird adoption rules. I know it’s important that shelter animals go to good homes, but I wasn’t interested in signing my name in blood or having a home inspection to get one. Thankfully I found an old school shelter where with a minimum of hassle we could get a cat.

I initially wanted one about four months old because I thought that would be young enough to get along with Jack but also old enough to hold her own. Unfortunately, I also wanted a female (they make better mousers) and the only ones they had were 13 weeks old. I ended up with a really cute one though and she snuggled with me all the way home. To be safe Lee went in first and took Jack for a walk while I brought the kitten in. As soon as we got close to the door she went crazy. She started squirming and bit me hard in the flesh above the thumb…TWICE! Thankfully I dropped her inside and she immediately ran under the chair.

She was freaked out and I was surprised but I let her be while I set up her food and water and litter box. Then I fetched her from under the couch and held her while Jack came back in. It’s important to note two things. First Jack has been an only child for his entire life and it turns out he’s a bit spoiled. Second he has been smelling stray cats at various RV parks for years and is not a fan. But I held the cat and Lee held the dog and we managed our first introduction. It didn’t go great but nobody got bit so I took the cat into my office for some alone time.

Jack was super unhappy about being left out of the room but I stayed with her and then we left her in there for several hours. She made a home under the chair and pretty much stayed there. For the next couple of days we tried a variety of introductions and even put a hook on my office door so it could be open enough for the cat to go through but not the dog, and the cat and dog could look at each other and smell each other through the crack. That actually seemed to help but I was getting nervous because Monday was a workday and I wasn’t sure how this was all going to go. I couldn’t keep my office door shut all day especially if he was going to sit and whine at it so Lee said it was time for them to work it out on their own.

She really likes tassles of any kind

Thankfully if I was in the room everyone played nice, but I was still worried about when we went to bed. After a couple of somewhat restless nights, I heard a hiss and a yelp and assume that the cat nailed Jack on the nose. Things got better after that and within a week they were doing much better. Now they sleep together and snuggle and even drink out of the same bowl although they occasionally get on each other’s nerves. We made sure we kept Jack third in the pack by feeding him first but also let him know when he’s getting too rough.

Pouty puppy
Jack climbed on the window ledge as well but kind of got stuck there and couldn’t get down
never seen a dog and cat play together like this
Sometimes he chews on his stuffed animal in frustration with her antics
Sleepytime

Everyone has their own thoughts about how to work these introductions, but I will say it was ALOT more work than I expected. Part of that is overcoming Jack’s high predator instinct and the other was that the kitten was so small I was pretty worried. Now that’s she’s bigger its less of a concern but frankly I will be glad when she is full sized and on more of an equal footing. Oh, and we named her Moxie, which Jack understands and when are looking for her he will search the house with us and often finds her first and bark to let us know he found her. Another thing I have never seen a dog do 🙂

Oh, one last thing, we bought a robot litter box (an off brand, not the $900 one, we’re not Rockefellers) and although it works well the “fragrance” they add to the litter is a bit overwhelming in my office. We are trying unscented cat litter next, but we are also discussing moving the litter box into the hall linen closet. That’s a huge concession for Lee and I appreciate it.

Another thing I really wanted was a bat house. We saw firsthand in Oregon how bats can help with mosquitos and since we had an open field and we are near a water source we’re in a good location. Buying the bat house was pretty easy but the pole was super hard. The ones online are crazy expensive ($120 and up), but they also don’t have them in many local stores. We discussed other options but at 12-20 feet high choices are limited. You can mount them on a building but it’s really not recommended and after a month of looking Lee actually found a telescoping pole for a martin house on clearance for $69!! We picked it up the day we got the cat and a few days later he mounted it next to one of our fence posts in a spot I picked out. This was no small job, and needed a little modifying so they would work together and I really appreciated it.

The good news is it is very sturdy. The bad news is it is unlikely we will get any bats until next spring because we waited too long. Still, it’s up, and a big checkmark off the list and Lee got to do something he had never done before. There has been a lot of that for both of us and since we are no longer throwing money at problems (back to living on a budget!) we are learning how to do things ourselves. Next up is chickens, and if I thought the kitten was hard, wow was that crazy.

Quick Update: The unscented Tidy cat was much better, but my eyes still feel itchy. I am guessing it the dust because as long as I have a fan circulating it doesn’t bother me as much. Definitely want to move the litter box to the utility closet.

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itune
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What’s Better in a House Than an RV

I have spent the past ten years writing honestly about the pros and cons of living in an RV so I think it’s fair to spend a minute talking about what is better (for us at least) living in a house. This is by no means an either-or blog post but I want to capture the things I am really enjoying while it’s still fresh in my mind. These aren’t in any particular order but rather what comes to mind.

Dishwasher – Yes, some RVs come with dishwashers, but we never had one and personally I have hand washed enough dishes to last a lifetime. It’s not only that the dishes never felt as clean but also the never-ending fight to keep dirty dishes out of the sink. With a dishwasher we can rinse the dish after eating and pop it in the dishwasher where it can sit for a few days. With hand washing even rinsing wont keep the bugs away and the unsightliness of dishes in the sink (which was also just two feet from my professiomnal workspace) was a constant pain.

Dedicated Office Space – Speaking of which it is awesome having an office where I can shut the door. My shared office space was also the kitchen and forced Lee to wear headphones all day to avoid listening to my calls. He can now talk on the phone without going outside and I can talk on the phone and not worry how loud I am being. It’s really great and for me at least there is really no substitute.

Washer AND Dryer – We had a combination washer/dryer in the RV which was nice but only did small loads and Lee was constantly hanging items to get them completely dry. There was also just more wrinkles with that method and having a full size washer and dryer large enough to do bedding is a real treat. Previously we had to go to laundromats for some items and frankly I have rarely met a laundromat I liked. The ample space for ironing (not that we do that a lot) is also really nice.

Big Kitchen – I have never lived in a house with this big of a kitchen and it’s fantastic. Tons of counter space and room to move around and we aren’t on top of each other so much if we are both in there. It also has tons of counter space and pantry space so instead of our food being stuck in nooks and crannies we can now clearly see everything we have which is pretty awesome. This was #1 on my list when buying a house and I am super glad I stuck to my guns on this.

Bathtub – I was an avid bath taker before going on the road but after 10 years of only showers I will say that is my preference. That being said it is nice to have one and when the weather gets colder, I think it will be nice to go in for a long soak. I already bought some bubble bath for when I am ready!

Stable Foundation – No I am not talking metaphorically, I actually mean a solid foundation to walk on. One of the interesting things about an RV is when you set up your RV is rarely completely level and because your position changes frequently around the time you get used to it, things change. Don’t get me wrong this house floor isn’t totally level, but it is consistently not level if that makes sense so I am not falling over when I get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. It’s the little things in life 🙂

Owning land – We intentionally bought a piece of property with mature trees and since I love trees so much that’s really special. Sure, there is responsibility that goes along with ownership but there is also pride in the feeling that this is my land. The closest I ever got to that feeling on the road was our National Parks which technically we all own.

Freezer – Over the years we talked about adding a chest freezer but it’s complicated and having a full-size standup freezer is really nice. We can take advantage of sales or buy meat in bulk and especially for Lee who likes a lot of frozen vegetables on hand this is a huge improvement.

Garage Space – Lee has carried many tools over the years in the RV or our truck but he had to make do with the limited space we have. He is really enjoying spreading out all of those tools and creating a workspace which certainly makes projects much easier.

There are many more improvements and it’s interesting how much joy we are finding again in those little things we used to take for granted. Of course there are negative tradeoffs as well, but I think it was worth mentioning what we really like about being in a house again.

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itune

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Making a House a Home

You can pay money for a house. You can move into that house. You can even start improvements on that house. But for me at least those steps don’t make a house a home. It’s been such a long time since I have had a house, at first I thought it was just a transition problem, but honestly this feels quite a bit like the first house we ever bought and just like then it felt a bit like we were “playing house.” Weird right for a 58-year-old woman? But I try to own my feelings at this age, and it just didn’t feel permanent to me.

I have no doubt that some of that was 10 years of moving from place to place with a built-in lack of permanence and I hoped that as we started to make the house “our own” that would change. Lee was tremendously helpful with this because I have been working a lot so he had me post a list on the fridge of my top 5 items I wanted done. Simultaneously he worked on things he cared about as well and slowly we started to change the space.

One of my favorite things he did was turn the large breezeway/mud room into a HUGE pantry. He hung shelves on the walls, built freestanding shelves for canned goods, and turned this weird awkward space into an amazing room. I also found a space for all of my magnets from our travels, and now I really like it in there. One of the best things he bought was a couple of cabinets and a countertop from FB Marketplace and now I have a space I can use to plant or do canning. At the moment it’s a GREAT space to unbag groceries when they get here without making a mess of the kitchen. VERY cool.

At the same time, I decided I was going to try and plant a fall garden, and he helped me tackle the crazy weird situation out there. In the month between the offer and closing we had a wall of thistle and other weeds that were well over our heads, and to clear all that out was a multi-day effort. Lee used a brush cutter attachment on the weedeater, then I would hand remove the thistles then he did it again. My in-laws gave me a nice little roto tiller (lifesaver) and I tilled the ground and then shoveled out whatever was left. It took over a week to get it all done (we could only work part of each day because of the heat) and I was able to plant some corn, green beans, and snow peas. I planted from seeds and wasn’t sure how that would go but this is good dirt, and I am shocked by how quickly I have gotten sprouts. Very cool! During this process I also for the first time in my life created a compost pile which was a layer of cardboard, layer of vegetation, over and over again, I stopped when the pile got to about 4 feet tall and I am pretty proud of the effort. Better for the environment and hopefully at some point I will have mulch and/or soil.

I look alot like my grandma in this picture

Oh and guess what! Back in the corner totally surrounded with weeds we discovered two huge rasberry bushes!! Very cool. It was a bear getting the weeds out of there, but there is already tons of fruit.

The beginning of my compost heap
It doesn’t look like much in the pictures but that is all the weeds from the garden, most of the cardboard boxes we have been ordering, and the straw and llama poop from the barn stalls. It took more trips than I can count to make this pile.

So, the outside areas were starting to feel like mine but the house not so much. Part of that was we were still waiting on living room furniture so when the couch and chair came and we finally got it arranged that made a big difference. Ultimately, I talked Lee into hanging the TV on the wall and putting the couch underneath it and the room really works now. Plus, it was all in time for Wimbledon which I have rarely gotten to watch the last ten years but with a DVR and cable I could watch to my heart’s content.

Original TV placement on a temporary stand the previous owners left behind.
Furniture Arrived

The original couch placement Lee and Jack loved but I felt shoved in the corner in my new chair (which is awesome by the way) but admittedly too big for the room.

Just didn’t work for me
This works sooo much better! Oh and Jack loves the rug I bought. He’s much happier with less hardwood floor!

There were other things along the way that really mattered to me. Lee installed a screen door in the front which was awesome and although he was worried it was actually as easy as could be and only took him 15 minutes!

We also got some housewarming presents from a couple of people that were really nice and had some visitors which was great!

From my sister and brother-in-law
My boss at work this made me laugh so hard
And Denny my father-in-law bought me some cute Llama pillows

One of the other things that made it start to feel like home was when we got the rest of our storage tubs from DeDe and Denny’s. It was mostly T-Shirts from our travels (Lee has enough literally to last until he dies) but there were a few treasures in there including this colander my mom gave me that I kept all these years.

No joke this is a small portion of them
Funny Story Lee bought me a new set forgetting we had saved one so now I have three!

Overall, the thing that had the most impact was the first night we had a steak dinner. It took a few weeks to be able to sit down and have a nice meal, but that moment felt very special. For us home is truly where the steak is 🙂

It still doesn’t feel like home quite yet, but we are getting there, and I am about to fill it with animals which I think will make all the difference. That’s in the next post!

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itune
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Lots of Inspections

We knew going in that the house we bought had its quirks and Lee decided very early on he wanted a series of inspectors to look at different aspects of the house and give us quotes on various upgrades and to get a head start on anything that would need attention. Although some of the inspections came at a cost, overall knowledge is power and since we only had a specific pot of money to work with it was important to get quotes and then prioritize enhancements/repairs. Turns out our house inspector for the loan was VERY good so happily no nasty surprises but we did learn a lot about the house along the way and what was actually possible. Since we have had professionals in and out of the house for the last two weeks I am not going to list them in order but I will group the experiences by category.

Water Softener – We lived in a house with a well and an inadequate softener for six years when we were younger and know firsthand how unpleasant that can be. Iron heavy water stains sinks, and toilet and water doesn’t taste good along with having an unpleasant smell. The water here wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great, and I wouldn’t drink it unfiltered. Worst of all the softener was down in the scary dirt cellar, and I had serious concerns about how we would carry a 40lb bag of salt down those steps. So, a high priority was getting that softener on the first floor, but I wasn’t confident it wouldn’t be super expensive. Quick story to show you how serious this is to me. When we left the 6 years with a well I had lots of iron deposits in my hair weighing it down. I went to a hair place that “stripped” the iron out and the smell of rotten eggs from that process was overwhelming. I couldn’t believe how much the texture of my hair changed after that experience and I know I never want to have that many deposits in my hair again!

Thankfully we had an amazing experience. For $3800 we got a new installed softener and better yet filtered water at the sink, and they even ran a new filtered line to the fridge. The salesperson was knowledgeable, and the installers were terrific and best of all I can monitor and fill the salt myself. Truly this was a game changer, and I am so grateful that this change was affordable. We also found out that our land was on an underground lake with a near limitless supply of water which really made me feel good!

Scary Cellar with terrible stairs
The new pretty closet even has a switch so outside water can bypass the softener absolutely perfect.

Electric: Although our electric panel has open breaker spots, we had no idea what capacity we could add without upgrading the service to the house. or what the cost would be. A good friend of ours recommended an electrician and we learned that we could add a single 50 amp circuit. This was good and bad since we wanted a hot tub and a kiln but we learned we could only have one initially before having to upgrade to 200amp service. The distance we needed to run wire also was a more significant cost than we initially thought, which ruled out running 50 amp for an RV spot on the property. The hot tub with trenched wiring was a pretty reasonable $2700, but the upgraded service, additional panels, garage wiring, and kiln wiring will run $14K. Not great, but at least we know.

Chimneys – There are two fireplaces with separate chimneys in the house but they were both designated “decorative only”, which means at some point someone disocvered that they weren’t safe and didn’t want to fix them, so I wanted to know what it would take to make them working fireplaces. This service call costs around $400 (which was NOT disclosed to us over the phone) and ultimately all we learned was it would be FAR more money than we wanted to spend to make either one of them a working fireplace. We did discuss turning it into a propane fireplace but unfortunately the chimney would need to be lined for that and again, pretty expensive. After that information we decided we will probably buy an electric insert, and we learned Lee will need to put a cap on the two fireplaces before winter for weather and critters.

Septic – Once Lee completed the initial mowing (see picture below), he found a section of yard next to the house that was SUPER soggy. Like a swamp. Stepping on that area you would sink 4 inches immediately. We were both really upset because although we bought the house “As-Is” the seller did sign a disclosure saying there were no issues and and provided a receipt from a local septic company for a septic lid crack that was repaired. We called the same company back out and after researching they validate the septic system was fine (whew) but the sump pump discharges into this weird sepearate system, and someone previously had routed the diascharge from the washer into the same system, instead of through the septic system. Pretty crazy DIY nonsense, but was not causing any immediate issue and should be relatively easy to fix, we just have to live with the soggy corner for a while. No health hazard, no property risk, just a minor annoyance.

You can’t really tell from the picture but the ground was super soggy and the owner knew, because there was a stake in the ground showing his mowing contractor where NOT to mow.

Windows – About half of the windows are original and half are vinyl replacements, and the older aluminum windows are the crank open style, and all of the cranks are broken or missing. So we wanted to get quotes to replace those. Also, one of my main goals when buying a house was to have an office with a view. Unfortunately, my window is pretty small and for some reason at like 5’5″, so we started discussing enlarging the window or better yet adding a sliding glass door. We had a recommendation for a small window company, and they came out and gave us somewhat reasonable quotes. ALL of the windows we want to replace and the door came back at $12.5K, but the sliding glass door by itself was $5K. We were pretty excited about that price since a larger hole had to be cut, but when the technician came out to look at the house he stated he couldn’t do it because our house was block.

Turns out around 10% of the houses in our area have block outside (with a frame and plaster inside) and in order to verify that I actually had to have him drill a small hole in the wall. Cutting block is done by a mason and hardly any window companies do it and Lee and I were both pretty annoyed that the salesperson didn’t catch that. Actually, I was beyond annoyed and crazy disappointed. The one window company who said they would do it wanted $8K so Lee decided to go to a mason. The mason will charge less but still a lot, but we would need the hole framed and the sliding door installed which is probably beyond our abilities. Structural integrity comes into play as well and now you are coordinating two different companies. All in all super expensive and tricky. But we are in the process of figuring out a way forward, because this is a VERY high priority for both of us.

Propane – The propane company came out and filled the propane and Lee wanted to check into running a propane line closer to the house for our grill, possibly a propane stove, and possibly a propane dryer and water heater in the future. A second person had to come out and that took a little longer but it’s good because the cost to run the line for the grill is only $400. I say “only” because at this point that’s a steal. There was some confusion though because the propane company has to do external lines, but interior line is handled by a plumber. Oh and one really nice thing is a third person came out and cleaned the propane tank and checked it for structural integrity. We didn’t ask for that but it was a very nice free service the propane company provided.

Floors – Lastly this house has a variety of older wood floors in it and they were all a bit dusty especially after moving in. We were not sure if we were going to need to replace some of the flooring but after some discussion we splurged and bought a robot floor cleaner (our first) and wow did that make a difference. The little guy is really amazingly good at what he does, and the floors have literally sparkled since he took over. To be honest I always thought these purchases were a bit overkill but I am a total fan now and don’t think I will ever want to live without one again. Big big fan.

All in all there was a mix of good news and bad news but at least we have the information going forward. Since we are committed to not going into further debt this is a definite pay as you go situation and we will determine priorities based on a variety of things. We knew moving back into a house our costs would definitely go up and we don’t have a full picture yet of what our monthly nut will be. Once we get that information it will allow us to put together a plan.

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itune
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Moving in!

Before I start this post I will say our moving in was not without its challenges, but I also think it is interesting that transitioning out of the RV was as difficult in its own way as moving in. It felt a bit like the lifestyle didn’t want to let go of us, which may sound silly but was the way I felt.

It started with the fact that our truck stopped running the night before the closing. For about 2 years we have had a DEF sensor malfunctioning, but we always fix it by turning the truck on and off a few times after we fill the DEF. We never fixed it because it is super pricey to replace, and the workaround was fine for us. Unfortunately, this time the workaround was not effective and the truck actually locked us out so we could only run at idle speed.

This situation gave us a list of choices. We could stay at the RV park (we had two weeks left) and make trips back and forth to the house (a solid 30 min drive each way). Other choices were to rent a truck for the weekend and move our stuff or try and find someone to move the RV for us. All the choices frankly were really pricey especially paying someone to move the RV. Ultimately, we decided to pay to have the truck towed to a local Ford dealer and I went in and explained the situation and begged them to at least take a look.

Thankfully the people at the dealer were extremely nice and they not only squeezed the truck in but had the sensor reset by 6pm on Friday. That was amazing (although somewhat costly) but we were all set to move the RV on Saturday. There were certain things we felt we needed to be in the house on Saturday which was absolutely necessary because we only had access to 15 amp in the spot we put the RV and that’s not enough for AC. It was also really hot that weekend so we really had to get all the basics in one day.

Thankfully moving the RV itself and getting it in place was relatively straightforward and this is where we put it. We stretched an extension cord to keep the fridge running and then jumped in the truck to run to Lee’s parents house. The only piece of furniture I kept from when we went on the road was our bed.

Denny and Dede have a group of tubs in their basement with photos albums and some mementos but what we really wanted was our bed. Back in 1994 we bought a $400 four poster solid oak bed which was a HUGE purchase for us and equaled our rent at the time. I just couldn’t give it up when we went on the road, so it went from storage to their basement, and it was the first thing we wanted to get. Unfortunately, we no longer had the box spring (mattress has been in the RV with us) so we also needed to go to a store near them and get one. We also wanted to see what they had in the way of cheapie “throwaway” furniture we could use while we took our time looking for real stuff, and we scored with a couple of tables, a chair for Lee and a killer Ethan Allen desk for me. By the time we headed back to the house our truck was full and we were ready to start and set up.

$50 chair SUper comfortable
$25 desk
Our bed too big for the room but who cares. It’s a solid piece of furniture

Oh and one last thing, I really needed a shower curtain for that first night and thankfully DeDe had a brand new one waiting for me. It was great because it pointed me in a direction for bathroom colors which I am really struggling with. Some people may love a blank slate, but I struggle, so mainly I am sticking for neutrals for right now until something speaks to me. The shower curtain was an awesome start though!

It is great taking as long of a shower as I want!!

The next day was Father’s Day and I went to church and breakfast with my Dad before bringing him back to the house. He was our first visitor and he really liked it and as a farm owner had lots of great advice.

After he left, we started the many, many trips back and forth between the RV and the house with the understanding we wouldn’t bring things over until we had a place for them. We also decided to get a new fridge which wasn’t coming until Wednesday, so we kept all the food in the RV. Every time we walked over, we grabbed multiple bags of stuff and then would spend time finding a home for it. This activity was further complicated by the fact I wanted to clean and line the cabinets before stocking them so Lee set up a folding table in the pantry. We also used the shelves in the two car detached garage as a staging area.

This stuff is great

I also wanted to run everything through our dishwasher which initially was amazing but got a little tiring after the 10th load. Still everything came out nice and clean and went into my cleaned cabinets. I’ll admit I was a little giddy after that first load and I am still super grateful to have one after 10 years of handwashing dishes.

One thing we didn’t think about was lamps. Only a few rooms have overhead lighting so the first night was pretty funny. Lee went to see his step-dad on Father’s Day and they went to the thrift store again and bought a couple of cheap lamps. It’s the little things 🙂 We also never received a trash can and the trash was piling up but after Lee made a call they dropped the bin off on Monday and our first pickup was Tuesday!

The other thing we didn’t expect was how much Jack freaked out. He hated the wood floors and hated not being able to see us all the time so he basically follows us from room to room. He loves the back yard but preferred the RV to the house every time. Eventually we stopped taking him to the RV and once I brought his toys over and added a dog bed in every room he seemed to settle a bit. Still for such a chill RV dog I was surprised he had such a hard time adjusting and we have had to give him lots of extra attention.

The other thing was the critters. He flushed a huge racoon one night which surprised us and one morning I found a large mouse drowned in the spare bathroom toilet. The first was super scary (Jack wasn’t hurt thankfully) and the second was really gross but it’s all part of farm living. Our plan is to eventually get a cat and a second larger dog, but we want to give Jack time to adjust first.

Sorry but this is what I saw scared a scream out of me!

We also had some time pressure to get the internet/cable working prior to Monday when I started back at work and I had to get my desk setup. I really like my office and since it has the rug from the RV and a new bed for Jack he really likes hanging out in there with me. The internet speed is pretty good but the cable part of it was a pain in the ass. Lee bought the lowest package which doesn’t come with standard channels of ABC, NBC, Fox, and CBS. We were pretty mad about that and it was $40 more just to get the basic channels. Lee and I both spent time on the phone with them but ultimately they had us over a barrel and now we are paying $110 for both plus internet. It’s still cheaper than the $165 for Starlink and I havent had a conference call interrupted yet from poor service.

$10 Amazon curtains are awesome
$37 dollar Amazon Light
$40 stress relief dog bed
$100 Facebook MArketplace bookshelf

The next week was a whirlwind. Lee was off all week but I was working and in between conference calls I was scrubbing cabinets (took me all week) and making trips from the RV. Because it was so hot in the RV we could only do small groups at a time although this got easier once Lee bought a wagon. He also made multiple trips to Home Depot and I ordered a TON of stuff on Amazon. Little bit by little bit things started to come together but we were definitely living in two places through Wednesday.

I should probably take a moment and talk about my experience with FB Marketplace, Craig’s List, estate sales versus garage sales. I could write a whole post on just this but in short most of the things we have bought have been on Facebook Marketplace. It has its challenges for sure, but you can look at a particular item and with some questions hopefully get more detail if you need it. Since we were looking for specific items estate sales and garage sales haven’t been the best choice for us at this point and although I love the farm stuff on Craig’s List people are really slow at getting back to you. The great thing about Marketplace is the instant response the bad thing is the good items go fast so you have to jump in them. The other downside is you have to go to the people and coordinate with their schedules which again can be a real pain. Still we have gotten several good items including a temporary dining room table and three chairs for $50.

It’s a small space and I really wanted a pedestal table for its great for now

Most of the things were just easier to get from Amazon and on Weds and Thursday we had huge deliveries. We also got our refrigerator, a deep freezer, washer dryer, and lawn mower which was a super pricey day but really important things. We then moved over all the food, clothes, and Lee mowed the front lawn for the first time which was much needed.

It took Lee several evening to go from this
to this!

At this point we had all the basics moved into the house and I wanted to point out something odd. First of all our things looked really weird in the house since we had less than the space needed, but conversely as reader Mark commented there was waaay more in that RV than we even realized. Even with all this space we needed storage areas so a trip to the Container Store and buying some storage made a big difference. Otherwise everything would have been sitting on the floor. For example I didn’t have enough standard hangars but those we got with no problem. Those little things do add up though and I am glad we had plenty of money set aside.

Had to buy towel hangrrs
so many spices with nowhere to go
Needed shelves
Trashcans for every room
All new bathroom accessories
Curtains everywhere
The house had no ceiling fans so I bought two
So pretty

The list is crazy long and honestly by the end I was tired of shopping. Every purchase was made with thought and care so it took a couple of weeks to get it all. While we were doing all this we also had a variety of contractors come to the house for bigger items but I am going to leave that until the next post. Let me just leave you with this one last picture of my work clothes hanging in a closet that lets you know how strange this can be sometimes. These are all the work clothes I could fit in the RV.

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itune
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We Bought A House

After all the craziness with getting the loan approved, the closing itself was relatively low key. The seller wasn’t there, nor was their realtor, so it was just us, our realtor and the title agent. We got an excellent explanation of all the paperwork from our Title Agent (a former teacher) and we were in and out in about 45 minutes. So finally, I am willing to share pictures of the house (didn’t want to jinx it) and the upcoming posts will provide more information on how we filled it!! Some people may get excited by a blank canvas (Lee is one of them) but I felt intimidated to be honest. I also was surprised by my pangs of sadness for the RV lifestyle. We keep trying to tell people that we didn’t just buy a house but rather changed lifestyles but not everyone gets that. I am sure all you readers will though!

When we started looking for a house I wanted a small single floor house on a nice piece of land. Lee also was adamant about it being “move in ready” and I am so glad he stuck firm on that. This is hard enough with minimal immediate repairs. The house itself I largely considered a “throwaway” as we cared way more about the outbuildings and the land, but as we have worked on the house I am really starting to like it more. It has some quirks, as any old (63!) house does, but it has good bones and is in a great location.

The large window in the front is fantastic! We have a nightly view of millions of fireflies which is great.

One of my major complaints is they (poorly) slapped a white coat of paint on everything including the outside. There is a stone front under all that white paint, and we want to see what’s under there. I get it, white paint sells, but they did do a pretty crappy job inside and out. Thankfully Lee is an excellent painter although the painting is slated for the winter. Speaking of that, we made one of our famous spreadsheets, to list the things we needed and what time period we were slating them for. We have a bit of money set aside but obviously you can’t do everything at once. Largely we have stuck to this list, and I am so glad we did this prior to moving into the house. I love a good spreadsheet!

Inside List
Outside List

The inside as I mentioned has some quirks including two fireplaces which may not work, and a closed in area between the garage, which was originally detached, and the house. One of my major complaints is the door to the back yard is in the far corner of the house, but I am certainly getting my steps in. There are multiple kinds of hardwood floor through the house (which Jack is trying to get used to) and three different types of plumbing. Like I said, old house.

When you walk in the front door there is a small dining area to the left and a nice long living room to the right.

Around the corner to the right are three bedrooms and a bath with a deep tub. For the age of the house it’s not a bad shower, but the rooms are on the small side. I am taking the back facing room for my office and Lee is taking the front for his. We talked about having a dedicated guest room, but we both are really looking forward to our own space after all those years of sharing in the RV.

Despite the smallness of the rooms there is a surprising amount of closet space, and with each of us having minimal clothes and an extra closet in our office it sounds like an abundance of riches. I am crazy excited about being able to use regular hangars again. It’s the little things. One of my absolutes for a house was an open kitchen and I really like this one. The kitchen also has a 1/2 bath and laundry off of it and we are going to used the closed in area as a HUGE pantry. Super exciting.

That door goes to the original garage

The laundry goes into the original garage which is going to be my pottery studio because there is a HUGE pretty new garage on the property. The big garage will fit both our vehicles plus so much more and all it really needs is electric run to it.

My future studio and a great place to bring in groceries!
So much room!

If you are wondering why out buildings mattered so much to us, we looked at tons of property in the same price range that had no buildings at all. Garages, barns and fencing are expensive, and this property has all three. This will allow us to get some immediate use from the outside and work on the inside as we can afford to. Our goal is no more debt (aside from the mortgage) so for us we needed a pay as you go situation.

So let’s get to the best part. It’s amazing how much the weeds grew in the 30 days from the showing to close, but it has a HUGE garden with beds and some metal structures. A practically new small two stall barn (the former owners had alpacas) and 4 fenced in pastures. The property also has a large wooded section in the back and at 3 acres is exactly what we wanted.

The garden is to the left of the barn, off camera. The barn has two stalls and there is even a standalone hay/straw tent on the property. Our property goes past those trees way at the end of the grass. Past the telephone pole you can see in the picture. It’s narrow but deep.
Additional small shed
Garden. Unfortunately, the weeds were taller than my head when we moved in so I will probably save this for next year.

The back side of the house itself is nothing special and the entire patio needs replaced. One of our biggest complaints is there are no good views of the back yard from inside the house, but our long-term plan is to build a four-season porch to enjoy the back views year-round.

In my mind the absolute best thing was the mature trees. There are several gorgeous trees on the property, and one in particular that I absolutely loved. Honestly for me the trees were what won me over because you can upgrade a house, but you can’t make trees grow faster!

Front yard
This is my absolute favorite. What a beauty.

Lee’s favorite thing is there is only one house we can see from our house. He would prefer none lol, but I like that our next-door neighbor has a fire truck and an EMT vehicle in their yard. It’s great in case something happens. We are 20 minutes from major hospitals but it’s nice to have a trained person close by. Across from us is a giant crop field and on the left of us (facing the road) is a 34-acre farm that actually wraps around the back of our property. They let their cows into the field next to our house the weekend we moved in and Jack was VERY excited. Actually, as hesitant as Jack is about the house, he loves the outside and is already guarding his territory which is great.

The one house we can see, across the side street.
Moo cows

It’s all pretty exciting but next up we had to move in and I have a lot to say about that! Save it for next time though.

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itune
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The Columbus Zoo

We have been to Zoo’s all over the country, but my all- time favorite is the Columbus Zoo which I grew up with. The Columbus Zoo objectively is in the top five in the country, but for sheer size and variety for me it’s the best. So, when we moved back to town it was high on our list but got bumped to the top when Lee learned they had a Red Panda Experience. Neither one of us knew what to expect from that but we knew the Zoo was a sure thing so we headed out bright and early on a Sunday and got there when it opened. Oh I should also mention that Jack Hanna ran this Zoo for many years. His contribution to putting the Zoo on the map is unparalleled and he is a local hero for what he managed to do. I’ve met him a few times and he is exactly like he is on TV !!

For those of you who don’t go to Zoo’s often I think morning is the best time. Sometimes you catch the feedings, and the animals are more active with the cooler weather. Turns out we had an absolutely gorgeous day with temps reaching 68 degrees, bright sunshine and a slight breeze.

WE had some time until the Red Panda experience, so we started walking the Zoo. By the end of the day we had over 10,000 steps and didn’t even cover it all. It’s a BIG place. First up was Africa and the lions were in fine form. One male in particular was super vocal and we watched him for a long time.

Next was Asia with awesome Asian elephants and a super chill sun bear.

They have multiple buildings also for different biomes which I enjoy particularly because for the nocturnal animals they keep them in the dark which is cool. They also had an area where you could go in and feed parrots which was super cool.

One of my favorites is a GIANT manatee tank which the Zoo uses to help rehabilitate manatees that are hurt in Florida. It was a giant project to build and funded by local businesses (many of the exhibits are) which to my mind is a great collaboration between the zoo and businesses.

Look at that smiley face

Two of my other favorite exhibits bring me back to my childhood. The giant tortoises have been there since I was small child and the first Gorilla born in captivity was born at the Columbus Zoo and I spent many visits in the gorilla area which was fantastically innovative. Now almost all Gorilla habitats are like this but at the time it was revolutionary and privately funded by a local woman who loved gorillas.

By far though the highlight of the day was the Red Panda experience. Our guide explained to us that during Covid the staff was trying to figure out a way to raise extra money and the experience was born. By design it was a very small group of 4 people, our volunteer guide, and the handler. We received a short orientation and then were taken into their habitat!! That was totally unexpected, and it was cool how fast they came over to us. That’s because we were each given a small number of treats to feed them and wow was that special. We weren’t allowed to pet them perse but when feeding them they brushed against our hands and were super soft. Lee was like a little kid with joy, and I am so glad we did this. Amazing!

We were allowed to ask any question we wanted to and we learned that Red Pandas can overheat in temps higher than 68 degrees. These guys actually have dens with ac units they can go into on hot days and few zoos in the south have them. Everyone was really nice and it truly was a once in a lifetime experience. They have more experiences available and next time I think I would like to wash an elephant!!

This picture says it all

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itune
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Paperwork, Paperwork, Paperwork

One of the things I am most excited about in getting off the road is I will no longer have to “explain” my unique lifestyle to traditional institutions. So I was pretty bummed out when I realized during the mortgage loan process I wasn’t quite done with that. Since all of our banking is through Bank of America and my brother-in-law works there that’s where I started and was soon pretty disappointed in how anything outside of the lines raised a red flag.

First, I switched jobs in the last year so that meant double all my information including not only the amounts of my 401K but also the individual plan information documents. Since they are both through Fidelity and those documents are pretty standard, I was annoyed but after spending a day I collected the 27 documents they were looking for. Yes, that is not a typo…27 documents, crazy sauce. Once that was done, I was looking forward to focusing on other things…like how the heck we were going to get furniture, when I got a call late on Thursday that the underwriter needed some additional information.

They wanted a signed copy of my tax return and an email explaining my “unusual” living situation and an explanation of my two addresses. Now I was pissed. First off, my taxes were done via turbo tax and the document I provided was directly from their site. Secondly, they made me provide proof I have paid my taxes so why did any of that matter. The mortgage broker I am working with did send me the one page he wanted signed, but then Lee had to print it, we had to sign and then scan and send back all of which seemed ridiculously unnecessary. What really made me mad though was the email explaining why we had no rental history. It occurred to me that despite my stellar credit and having enough money in 401K to more than cover the entire loan they could use something like this to deny me and it really upset me. Seriously the last 10 years has been a string of incidences where not having a traditional sticks and bricks caused issues and the irony of that stopping me being able to move into a traditional situation really upset me. I am a tax paying, law abiding American citizen and where I choose to live should be no one’s business but mine. OK rant over.

I wish that was the worst of it but it was not. Since we had no rental history, they wanted a list of all the campgrounds we had stayed in over the last 2 years. Once we provided those, they wanted proof of “rental” payments. After some work Lee found all the AMEX receipts for all the payments to the campgrounds, but they refused to accept that. They wanted proof of timely “rent” payment from the campgrounds and sent all four of them a letter so they could verify we paid in a timely manner. At this point we are down to a few days before the bank was going to end the contract, and we had no doubt we would lose the house if we had to go to another bank. Since there was zero reason that the campgrounds would fill out these forms in a timely manner I was feeling pretty down about the whole thing. There are no rules guiding a mortgage company so basically, they can refuse to loan to anyone they want for any reason unless you can prove you are being discriminated against based on race, sexual orientation etc. Being a fulltime RVer is not on that list 🙂

One interesting thing is after we started talking to people about this we found out we weren’t alone. Someone else we know who came off the road had the same issue and ended up solving it by going to a local bank and having a sit down with them explaining the situation. I really wish we would have known that going in because we could have saved ourselves a lot of grief and heartache. After making tons of phone calls, we finally got the receipts from three of the four campgrounds we have stayed at but unfortunately the last campground in Northridge is actually our longest stay and since it is a small operation and privately owned, we are at their mercy. Apparently, they upgraded their reservation system at some point so our receipts are in an older database and the manager (who I knew briefly) couldn’t be bothered to even come to the phone or look at the request for several days. Simultaneously the clock was ticking on our timeline, and we were trying to figure out if with two weeks left, we could go to another bank. The downside of that was we would lose our appraisal (that came in well over the loan amount which was nice) and although it’s possible to transfer appraisals to another bank surprise surprise its not easy. The whole thing has turned me into a ball of stress which is not a great way to start out on a new portion of your life.

Finally, after going round and round with the bank they decided to use the RV loan (which is through Bank of America and we have been paying on for 10 years) as our “house” payments. Technically it is, so that made sense to me and I just had to write an email stating I was going to occupy the house immediately and stay in it for at least 12 months. I think they continue to be concerned I am going to use it as a rental. For the first time I really thought someone was thinking outside the box a little tiny bit as of this writing am waiting to see if that will actually be good enough. The fact that the appraisal came back quite a bit higher than the loan amount really seems to have helped a lot as well. It’s hard to say the loan is a bad bet when the loan to value ratio is 84%.

Finally, after several days of back and forth, the bank decided to use our 10-year RV loan as proof we could pay on time and as a substitute house payment. Kind of them since I have been paying this same bank for 10 years and always on time. Can you hear the sarcasm 🙂 Anyways we got our conditional loan approval and unless I get fired in the next two weeks or the house burns downs, we should be ok. I really feel all of this could have been solved quickly if we could have talked to the underwriter directly so my best advice to you in a similar situation is to find a local bank where the underwriter is on the premises. Some RV friends of ours who had a similar situation did just that and worked through the unusual circumstance pretty quickly. Trust me save yourself the grief!

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itune

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We made an offer on a house!!

Well, it’s been a whirlwind these last two weeks but (spoiler alert) we made an offer on a house. It is a small ranch on 3 acres of land with several outbuildings and just perfect to have a hobby farm. I’ll talk more about the house later, but I should probably back up a bit and tell you how we got here.

It’s worth noting that I have only owned two houses in my life and it’s been 23 years since I have gone through this process. Now it is a sellers’ market, versus 10 years ago when I sold my last house and it quickly became apparent that we better have our ducks in a row and make an offer quickly. Over the course of one weekend, we went to three open houses and drove by 25 others and the “good ones” weren’t on the market long.

We came particularly close to a 100 year old farmhouse on one acre of land but thankfully someone else made an offer on it. I say thankfully because I liked the idea of the house more than the actual living space and ultimately, I think it would have been a mistake. Part of the problem is Lee and I were pretty far apart on what we wanted. We agreed on the land and outbuildings, but I wanted a smaller ranch with everything on one floor and Lee wanted something with “character”. He loves the older homes, which I do as well in concept, but I am looking for something I can stay in until I need assisted living, and those old stairs are not super friendly for older people.

It may seem weird at 58 to be looking so far ahead, but I am looking to put down roots and I imagine those are going to run deep. After some pretty intense conversations we met in the middle and found an older ranch with some quirks that make it unique. Actually, looking for a quirky house works to our benefit because quirky usually means a little less expensive! What really spoke to us though was the land. The 3 acres has multiple mature trees with just massive low canopies, and a huge garden along with a small two stall barn. Someone raised llamas there and there are three pastures already fenced off. It also has a new detached two car garage and an attached garage which will be perfect for my pottery/craft studio. Best of all it has a large open kitchen which I was adamant about after years of cooking in a small RV kitchen.

Yes, the bedrooms are small, and the bathrooms are nothing special but overall, it was perfect. So, we completed a showing on Saturday and by Sunday they had accepted our offer. Then the fun began. We were already preapproved for a conventional loan but the amount of paperwork they want now is crazy. Thankfully we have everything electronic, so it wasn’t too bad to find most of the documents. A couple of weird things was proof we paid our taxes this year (That’s harder to do than we thought it would be) and a letter from my company stating I had the right to work remotely. That was because my work address is in Dallas, and I can only guess they want to make sure I can keep my job after I move.

The interest rates are higher than I would like at 6% but I will take it and the 15-yr fixed rate loan we ultimately applied for. The loan requires 5% down and I am hoping when the bank appraisal comes in they don’t need any more than that. When we sold our house 10 years ago, we basically broke even, so I don’t have a pot of money sitting around to put into the house. Being debt free is great though and really gives us a leg up on qualifying but unless I want to tap into my 401K (which I don’t) the mortgage will be around $2500 a month and of course we will have utility payments for the first time in ten years. The good news is even though it’s rural we can get cable internet for the first time in forever which is exciting for both of us.

My idea is to have a hobby farm and try out having bees, goats, canning, and other things I have wanted to try for years. Apparently this is called “homesteading” now and is super trendy, but for me it is going back to my roots in small town Ohio. I didn’t grow up on a farm but went to school with lots of farm kids and my parents gardened and canned foods pretty consistently when I was young. The idea of having a freezer full of farm raised beef is super appealing and I am dying to try having some chickens. The cool thing is if I find gardening or farm animals are not worth the work I can always pivot and change the use of the land. I happened to have lunch with a cardiologist last Sunday and she said she loves homesteading because she finds it so relaxing. I think that is how I will be. Then again, I’ve never tried to catch a chicken.

I am not going to share any pictures here or any more details until after the close because frankly you never know. The inspection could uncover a major issue or the bank appraisal can come in low and the whole deal could go away. If that happens we will accept it and move on with our search with the added benefit of really knowing what we are looking for. That being said please think good thoughts for me because I really think this house will be perfect. I promise to let you know as soon as anything major happens so stay tuned.

Oh, one last thing. We originally were going to have to move from our current RV park June 6th which was going to be a major pain because the closing is scheduled on June 13th. Thankfully we got a call yesterday that someone cancelled last minute which got us another site until June 26th. Absolutely amazing! Things all seem to be coming together.

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
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