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.
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