The Ups and Downs of Homeownership

It’s funny, I work as a real estate sales agent, and help other people find their new homes, but now the shoe is on the other foot. You’d think I’d be an expert at it, but it still comes with all those “unexpected surprises” and “bumps in the road” I warn my clients about. No matter how much you prepare, there will always be those things that you weren’t anticipating, or thought was under control, or thought was nothing for you to worry about…

And for the most part, our relocation has been very smooth. We made up a sale contract and completed all of the financial goals we agreed upon, we made it down here- on our own –in one piece and without damaging anything major in the process. All being under one roof with 3 different generations of people from very different backgrounds hasn’t been a total battlefield as I had feared it might end up being. The house didn’t implode on itself, yet…

But, yeah. It hasn’t all been perfect, and we never expected it to be.  One of the things I am sort of wishing we did, which Paul and I did discuss, was getting a home inspector to review the property. Normally, when advising a client who is buying a new home, I always tell them to get a home inspection before they are under contract. ALWAYS. But, since this was a unique situation, with us moving in with the current owner and doing a rent-to-own, we decided Grandma would be able to walk us through everything better than any inspector would be. However, old age has really crept up on her, and she simply doesn’t remember things, or remember them correctly or in full.

Case in point: she told us that although the central air unit is pretty old (as in, over 20 years old), that she had it looked at last season and was told it’s in fine shape and the heat pump still works fine, and that although it will need replacing soon, it shouldn’t be for another year or two. Well, on one of the hottest weekends of the summer so far, it just stopped working. I asked Grandma what she thought, and she suggested we change the filters, as she wasn’t sure when they’d last been changed. Sure enough, the filters were gross, but luckily we found a couple of new filters in the garage and changed them out.

However, changing the filters did not do a thing to make the hot, hot house any cooler.

We contacted the last person who looked at the unit, and who as done all repairs and maintenance to it. He took a look and saw that a patch job he’d done on the a leak in the Freon tank was not holding up, and that all of the Freon had leaked out. Yay. He told us not only would it not be worth us getting another patch job done, but that the type of Freon this unit uses is out-dated and more costly than the new, more environmentally-friendly type they use now. We’re talking a price difference of about 500%.  Furthermore, he told us he’d already Grandma all of this info, and told her that the patch job wouldn’t hold up, so I guess she just forgot that part. So…we are without central air for the time being, because getting the entire unit replaced would could us thousands, which we do not have right now.

Fortunately, it has cooled off, and we have plenty of fans and window units. The joys of home-ownership. We also had a leak in the upstairs bath, and right after we got that fixed with the help from our next door handyman, the kitchen sink faucet started acting up (luckily, I figured out how to fix that all on my own, and was rather proud of myself!). So, there are these little things that pop up, but we should just learn accept this as “normal”.

Paul enjoying the ride-on mower

A piece of our big yard

Wanting to help Daddy

Besides, part of the reason we moved out here was to get more rural and eventually learn to live mostly if not completely off the land and of our own accord, in order to not only live a more economical and ecological lifestyle, but also keep the bills down. Dealing without our air conditioning and managing our own plumbing are all valuable adaptations and skills. So far, we have a few solar panels installed, we’re working on growing some of our own food, and raising chickens for eggs and livestock experience, possibly food (although, I have to admit, I fear the thought of having anything to do with killing and prepping a hen!).

With one of our new Guinea hen chicks

Enjoying our neighbors' trampoline

We have a HUGE yard, and lots of trees and plants, and wonderful neighbors. We have so much to be grateful for. Plus, getting to spend time with my Grandma in her later years…such an occurrence is truly beyond value. I’m also so glad my daughter gets to know her better, and so is Grandma. We know we’ll make it, and it will all be for the best. Sometimes I still thinking I am dreaming…

Here’s to cool thoughts and a positive attitude! We continue to do as much fun stuff as we can, which I’ll share in the next post!

Lovely helps us keep cool by throwing shade