I'd love to see her make it through another 80 years
To continue my previous topic, choice number 2 is a real fixer-upper. 10 acres with 30 yr old house, 50x90ft metal pole shed in okay shape, barn which needs a new roof ASAP and some structural work (est $18,000), garage type wooden building which looked rough to me (but our builder friend said actually seemed pretty sound), mature apple trees and raspberry bushes, established gardens, well probably not code ($7,000), original hand dug well which will need to be filled ( $$??), and septic system which will need to be replaced, thanks to a new county (state?) law ($15,000). The interior of the house will need to be gutted (it's icky, really). Despite all this we are considering it. The asking price is the same as the 20 acres of vacant farm field (which would also need a well and septic). God help me but this is the one I am leaning toward.
It is also right next to Dad's place, the previously mentioned 20 is directly behind this 10. We will eventually want more than 10 acres, but this is where having a family member right across the fence who has more than they want to care for comes in very handy. We are having visions of some type of cooperative family farm. Raising pasture meat chickens and turkeys.
South end of house (white) and stand alone screen porch (summer kitchen?)
Pole building- in better shape than most things on the property but also holds alot of misc crap from 20+ years of hard use.
The garage type building-the 'lean to' ends are really leaning aren't they?
7 comments:
Kris, to me there isn't even a choice----I'd go with the fixer upper. Despite the costs of upgrading the well and septic (which you'd HAVE the cost with the bare land!), at least it has a house, barn, etc. Imagine what it would cost to BUILD all these things. And no trees on the other? ACK.
I'd definately go with the fixer.
Best of luck!
I'm with Sue on this one. Your "door #2" sounds a lot like the place we just moved into. It's a lot of hard work but it's rewarding. And established apples and raspberries! That's a selling point right there. Starting from scratch may mean that you get the house 'just right' but it will take years to get mature trees and plantings. Our barn also needs a new roof and we still haven't replaced the septic (bad us- but we squeaked in just before our new law took effect and we're waiting for our old house to sell to have the $). The well we paid to fix- you can't live without drinkable water!
And you will find a myriad of uses for the pole barn- believe me!
Good luck with your choice. Regardless of anyone else's opinions- it's your choice. You have to live with it.
Judy
I am concerned about our total lack of 'handy-ness'. But you don't get handy by sitting back and watching 'this old house' you go out and buy your own learning project-ha. I'll remember that when we are tearing out drywall and filling dumpsters with someone else's lifetime of accumulated debri.
Thanks for the input-this was a good exercise for me to write out the pro's and con's it made things alot clearer as I was thinking about the words on the page.
Something else I did not articulate well in the two posts is our desire to be able to weather whatever changes happen over the next 40 years. I want to build redundancy into our home. Ice storm-back up generator, peak oil-solar back up systems, drought-water collection systems. Easier to do in a new construction-but 4,500 sq foot roof on the pole shed would catch a lot of h20!
and the winner is, door number 2!!
$18,000 is a lot to put into fixing the barn (do you need one so big, what will it be used for), consider a metal quonset for the same price, enough land to enjoy and make money from, a home with roof right now with amenities (i can't tell you how much headache you are saving yourself here, 3 years construction is not pretty, and to not have a bathroom or running water, eggads), fill for the well is easy to come by, if you only have to replace the septic not water and electricity as to be expected on a 30 year old property consider yourself lucky, listen girl all old houses are icky on the inside but if it is sound you can put the money you would have put into drywall and lumber into paint floor coverings and appliances, i love it there are trees and places to play, i would give you my opinion if you ask for it, lol, what fun Kris to watch your dreams come true, peace for all
i agree with the other girls here you know they are talking from experience, if you are going to put that much money into your barn, may i suggest putting your home there with all your survival gadgets maybe even solar perhaps, peace
Again, I know nothing about this, and Judy has done this so recently, but I agree that door 2 looks much more appealing. Better underpinnings, if that makes sense? So many more possibilities...
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