Things for the house situation will be sorta on hold as I try to get appointments with lenders and all that stuff. Owners are going to get the plot "registered" with the county or whatever they have to do to make it legal and the surveyor is going to come back and mark the boundaries and I asked to have t-posts driven next to the pins in the ground with a piece of surveyors tape so they can be seen. Told the owners I would pay for it if extra and they said it would benefit them also so not a problem.
At least I made a smart move a few years ago and moved about 75% of my retirement into a SAFE investment so it has not lost so terribly much in this last downturn. Doesn't pay but 2.25 % but cannot lose anything with the volatile market either. I still put some into the more risky "regular" investments so can make or lose ( as this last quarter) but that is part of it. So I should have ample to take out to make the 20% down payment that I want to make, and still have a little left in there. Even with paying the taxes on what I take out. That is a relief.
I will have to do the bathroom so am going to have to start looking at tub/shower stuff and am going to do some perusing online first. The upstairs ceilings can wait and the upstairs can be closed off for now if need be, or while the ceilings are torn down and the dusty mess is made. But I definitely want to see about the possibility of extending the pipes into the upstairs for a small bathroom, for future resale value and use. I could even rent the upstairs to someone if they had their own bathroom.... with kitchen priviledges or something if I needed to. Maybe have someone live in, in exchange for house cleaning and a cheap rent? Students alsways looking for housing and am 1/2 hour from Lexington Va with 2 colleges and little over 1/2 hour from Staunton Va to the north and another college.... Even a grad student looking for cheap housing in exchange for some work and a little rent? Possibility to think about even though I think I would prefer to be quietly ALONE.... some students aren't looking for party central and I know someone who has had a couple that were great and they got a little rent and some work done and it was great. Sure they aren't all wonderful.... but something to consider. Some possibilities but even just to have a small upstairs bathroom that would definitely add value. The downstairs one is between the kitchen and "master bedroom" so is accessible to easy use from being outside.... and there is an extra sink in the "mud room" so to speak for general wash up messy hands and such so not a problem.
Anyway, some stuff to look at as I want to be ready to start stuff, if I can get it. The guy who has been helping at the farm some would be a good one to pay a bit to to tear out the old bath/tub surround and all. He just put the new carb on my mower and got it running and did all the lawn and most all the weed eating and did a pretty good job of it. He's on disability, can't drive truck anymore due to severe diabetes and all.... so I think he is glad to just get some work. All under the table stuff too; he has helped with the cows a few times, and they have been working on fences and such. a a jack of all trades from what I see and does a decent job. He likes to do the mechanical work and did quite a bit from what I have heard. Says he is a fair carpenter and can fix/rebuild my 2 portable chicken pens (tractors) as the one has plywood that is getting rotten. That would be great.
He doesn't have any transportation right now and I have a truck that needs a transmission, so my son and I think that it would be a good truck for him to fix and then do some sort of a "trade off" for some other labor..... It's another ranger that I had that the transmission went bad in several years ago. The one I got now only cost 1100 and it gets better mileage and I have been driving it for nearly 5 years, so was a good deal at the time. This other one was supposed to be fixed by a mechanic that is very good, but she just never would seem to "get to it" and I am tired of it. I gave her a check 2 years ago as a downpayment on the work, and after a year I stopped cuz I hadn't heard from her and she gave me the check back as she had never cashed it.... but said she was going to get to it. Now her mom is sick and she is closing up the shop she had bought and was operating, so just recently I called her about it and she said to just come get it back that she hadn't done anything and since she was cleaning out the shop to sell, it would need to be moved away.
Pain that it has sat all this time, but might work out good if he can get it up and running and I can maybe trade off a "cheap selling price" for other work around. I would probably sell it if I paid someone else to get it running again.... I like the 95(96?) I am running now and it gets better gas mileage anyway. I might even look for another like this one to have as an extra down the road. So since I haven't had the other one, I won't miss it if it is fixed and "sold/traded".....with no more financial input from me.
So I am going to get him to continue to do the weed eating here and even the mowing if he wants extra money, and then I won't have to deal with the landlord anymore.
I expect that I will have to "stay here" for a couple months after actually getting the other place, in order to get things done that need to be done, bathroom, painting, things like the septic emptied, and all that. I want to basically move a room at a time so that I am not overwhelmed with boxes all at once too. It will be worth it to get things all put into place as I go, instead of looking at a ton of boxes all piled everywhere. I don't expect to actually get moved into it before fall because we also have haying to do, and this ankle will be somewhat restrictive too. But that will be okay too, as then I will be able to dig up and move the peach trees, and the flowers I have planted here that I want to take with me, like the peonies from an old homestead that are looking just gorgeous coming into bloom now. Also to figure out where I want the chickens and to do some outside work there. There are some HUGE boxwoods that are behind the house that I want taken out and some "sapling trees" that have come up that I want to remove too. I want to get a feel for where the sun comes up and how it moves across there and how it will affect growing stuff. Not that I want to make "MAJOR" changes, but some stuff has been let go so long that it is way over grown, like the boxwoods. The one sister remembers being able to jump over them when she was a kid...... 50+ years ago.... and she says they were not trimmed or shaped much that she can remember. They are nearly as tall as the house and very dense and hold alot of damp air behind the house. If they were gone then I think the house would lend its self to alot more looking nice. The owners are going to severely trim back the forsythia that is along the fence along the road. It is a hazard to see up the road and I would probably take it completely out.... but being cut way back will do for now. I like it so would probably move it, or some shoots, to another side of the property as it makes a great hedge for privacy. Just not where it is.
There are 2 other ways to enter the property off the road so might make one or both more accessible as I don't like coming out on the main road with all the traffic.
All sorts of possibilities. Just got to get the financing in place, get a lawyer to represent me with the paperwork, since there is no real estate agent involved...... So waiting on the financial institutions.....
Any idea how long it will take to get the survey, loan, and a closing date?
...I do like it and plan on using it here...when we get to some inside stuff....
Lives change. She's been a devoted single mom for many years.
....I certainly wouldn't say a word to the landlord til I had to.....and get proof of any "agreement" ya have with them to....don't need to see ya on a future episode of Judge Judy.....
