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Lisbet
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| Posted: May 10 2010 at 10:04am | IP Logged
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AGAIN! 
Bear with me, this is kind of long...
Long story short - we lost that fabulous farmhouse we were supposed to rent - just a week before we were scheduled to move. Good news is that we have ourselves in a good place where we have secured finances to go out and buy. We are looking like crazy. 3 houses in the last two days. One of them we REALLY like.
The property is awesome - 5 acres with about 1.5 heavily wooded with trails and such, about 1.5 acres of pasture, a nicely treed yard around the house. A big pole barn and a big animal barn with a dream loft for the children. It is the perfect piece of land for our family. We have always said that the property has to be perfect for us - this one is. We have not seen another lot like this one...
The house is a great old farmhouse, built in the lat 1800's and beautifully updated. 2 full baths, 4 bedrooms, awesome awesome kitchen, dining room, den, and living room downstairs. A screened in porch and a lovely back deck outside. It is really a beautiful old farmhouse. It is priced beautifully for our budget - actually listed lower than where we are looking in general.
It does pose some issues for our sized family. The laundry room is very very small, the bedroom closets are also very small, and the basement, while structurally sound, serves for the water system/heating only.
We have the luxury of a family closet here, the laundry area is right off the family closet where everyone's clothes are hung and stored. I don't know that the clothing for 3 boys could fit in one of the bedroom closets - same for the girls. I suppose we could pare down clothing items (we should do this anyway) and store unused items in the pole barn. Any suggestions on addressing this issue? Would this be a deal breaker for you?
Also is the issue of location. It is a very nice area, we would still be part of our local homeschooling community and parish - though it would require slightly more driving. It is very close to good shopping and amenities, and only a 15 minute drive to work for my dh. BUT, we have a few of our children enrolled in a HEP next year (they will go to 'school' with Bridget's kids!!) that is 45 minutes from our current house, it would be just over an hour from this house. We were hoping to get further north - this house is further south! I'm committed to getting them there either way, and it really only adds 20 minutes on to the drive, but in the thick of it - 20 minutes could be a lot.
Would any of these issues be a deal breaker for any of you? We *think* we are willing to make these concessions. We have been praying to get to this spot for over 4 years now. We have everything lined up to buy that perfect house... It almost feels like we are getting a case of cold feet. ANY input or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
p.s. If anyone would like to see the MLS listing, pm me!
__________________
Lisa, wife to Tony,
Mama to:
Nick, 17
Abby, 15
Gabe, 13
Isaac, 11
Mary, 10
Sam, 9
Henry, 7
Molly, 6
Mark, 5
Greta, 3
Cecilia born 10.29.10
Josephine born 6.11.12
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Barbara C.
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| Posted: May 10 2010 at 10:15am | IP Logged
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Do you think that there are any alterations you could make to the house in the next year or two to help with the closet/laundry situation?
If the house seems perfect except for that I would totally go for it. Your kids may not be involved in that HEP forever, but your home could be your home for many years to come. It's just a matter if you think you'll ever find a house that you like as well as or better than this one.
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Barbara
Mom to "spirited" dd(9), "spunky" dd (6), "sincere" dd (3), "sweet" dd (2), and baby girl #5 born 8/1/12!!
Box of Chocolates
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JaysFamily
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| Posted: May 10 2010 at 10:41am | IP Logged
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Could you find places to fit clothing armoires? Create your own closets by hanging clothing behind curtains? Those are things people used to do before built in closets. Could you storing out of season clothing in bins or chests and rotating the clothing throughout the year.
As for the small laundry room, could you make plans to build a separate laundry shop that is connected to the house by a covered walkway or a mud room? Then, you could convert your current laundry room into a real closet for additional storage.
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In Christ,
Jaysfamily
wife to Jay
mother to DS(5)
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: May 10 2010 at 10:47am | IP Logged
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There are so many good things.. I would figure out something to deal with the clothes situation. Really, for a large family something is bound to be a tight fit and it seems to me that it would be pretty rare to get a large enough area for everything.
Lots of storage solutions for clothes. And surely something could be done about the laundry area.. maybe you could get someone out and be able to put a larger area in the unused area of the basement.. have someone who'd know how to deal with it and if it gets any water in it or whatever..
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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dakotamidnight
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| Posted: May 10 2010 at 11:27am | IP Logged
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I'd go for it - just convert part of the basement into a laundry room with attached family closet!
I've seen this done in many homes - it's pretty easy to do.
It sounds like a dream house to me.
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Bridget
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| Posted: May 10 2010 at 11:31am | IP Logged
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Here is my advice. Keep in mind I am VERY biased. We love St. Augustine's HEP. And I REALLY want your family there.
I would wait a year. SA is a big commitment. But if you grow to cherish it as we do, you will want to be closer, not farther.
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God Bless,
Bridget, happily married to Kevin, mom to 8 on earth and a small army in heaven
Our Magnum Opus
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: May 10 2010 at 1:00pm | IP Logged
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dakotamidnight wrote:
I'd go for it - just convert part of the basement into a laundry room with attached family closet!
I've seen this done in many homes - it's pretty easy to do.
It sounds like a dream house to me. |
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My thoughts exactly.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: May 10 2010 at 1:03pm | IP Logged
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I could see wanting to be near this program.. but I have a hard time putting anything as a higher priority than having my dh home. And it sounds like you'd be trading about an hour and half of your dh's time every day he works to be close to that program. It's something to keep in mind.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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wifemommy
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| Posted: May 10 2010 at 1:50pm | IP Logged
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The land is the big thing everything else can and or will change. After having been through this my advice is put it in God's hands ....A couple of years ago we thought we found the perfect spot really wanted in it put in an offer somewhere in there I came to peace with God's plan and well in hind site the property had issues and it didn't work out Thank God because our true home came on the market a week latter  So I would proceed leaving it in His hands...is that as clear as mud  Annie
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: May 10 2010 at 2:57pm | IP Logged
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None of those would be deal breakers for me. Living in Seattle for years....NO ONE uses "just" a closet...they are horribly small! There are TONS of other options for clothing storage and organization!
Like Jodie----commute time is a HUGE consideration for us. We do EVERYTHING we can to keep dh close to the freeway....otherwise you add DAYS & WEEKS (added up) that he is away from us.
And, the HEP consideration....it's not very much time in the grand scheme of things and you can't say right now that you would FOR SURE being doing it for the next 10-15 years or so, which would be the only thing that would make me consider it as a deal-breaker, and probably not even then.
Great property, great house (w/a few exceptions), decreased commute time, close to current social situation. Those would be the biggies to me.
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Suzanne in ID
Wife to Pete
Mom of 7 (Girls - 14, 12, 11, 9, 7 and Boys - 4, 1)
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Erin
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When you buy there is usually something you have to compromise on.
When we purchased this land three years ago it was a matter of buying our dream land, or our dream home. We went with the land and squashed 10 people into a 90sq metre home. Our solution for the longer term storage; clothes, furniture , books etc was to buy a shipping container.
If the location (having dh so close would be wonderful) and the land features are what you dreamed the other problems will be surmountable.
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Erin
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Sarah
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| Posted: May 10 2010 at 7:36pm | IP Logged
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Lisa,
Okay here's my thoughts. Space sounds fine. You will figure out the clothing storage. It will work. There are so many ways to live in a small space and it doesn't really sound that small.
As far as the driving there is no way that you can KNOW what will work. This all has to be put to serious prayer. That driving could become very very taxing, but at the same time only our Lord knows what you will be doing next year or years down the road. Only He knows what your family can handle. Lay it before Him and ask Him to close the door to the opportunity if its not right. Then if it does not happen, have peace. If it seems wide open and the deal all falls into place, then trust that you will be able to discern down the road about the driving. It may turn out that the program won't be a lasting thing for you. There are families out here in things that aren't right for us and vice versa, even if they are good poortunities in and of themselves. Maybe this program won't be for your family. Maybe the driving will be no big deal. However, the house, land, and buildings sound like a dream. There is no perfect house.
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Six boys ages 16, 14, 11, 7, 5, 2 and one girl age 9
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LisaR
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| Posted: May 10 2010 at 10:20pm | IP Logged
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Bridget wrote:
Here is my advice. Keep in mind I am VERY biased. We love St. Augustine's HEP. And I REALLY want your family there.
I would wait a year. SA is a big commitment. But if you grow to cherish it as we do, you will want to be closer, not farther. |
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I have to ditto this.
Our Cooperative school (all day Thursdays) is a VITAL part of our home-schooling- especially as the kids reach middle school years.
for us, our housing is about LOCATION.
close proximity to this co-op (we are 3.5 miles!), a good Catholic Church (our "limit" is 10 miles - but we are kind of spoiled around here with options), and proximity to dh work are our top three.
I could take or leave our home. I could pack up and move tomorrow, no attachments! BUT location is what gives me the most peace of mind...
I will pray that the right fit comes along for your family- and I'm thrilled that you have a chance at that amazing co-op- I know you will love it!
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Lisa
dh Tim '92
Joseph 17
Paul 14
Thomas 11
Dominic 8
Maria Gianna 5
Isaac Vincent 9/21/10! and...
many little saints in heaven!
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Lisbet
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| Posted: May 11 2010 at 6:08am | IP Logged
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Thank you all for your input. We are praying about this and it seems that another opportunity has cropped up in the past 24 hours - something that would give us that 'trial year' at SA before we commit to buying any home. It does take us back to that first old farmhouse - which is just a half and hour from SA and 20 minutes to work for dh (it's all about proximity to the expressway here in Toledo, that is key when it comes to commute time either north or south.)
I can't tell you all what an answer to a prayer SA HEP is for our family - honestly, I think my dh was ready to toss our high schooler in the local high school if this didn't come along. It is an amazing program and I REALLY want it to work for our family. (plus, we get to hang with the Galbraith's) We would even seriously consider moving further north and leave our community here if we come to love SA and make that our community. This gives us a little over a year to decide. (best of both world's for a year.)
Please pray that this new opportunity works out - we have been through so many hoops with the owners of this farmhouse - they are a wonderful family, but circumstances have made this a very touch and go situation. We may have finally figured something out. I will know more this afternoon.
All of the advise here has been wonderful, and I have taken it all to heart and prayer.
__________________
Lisa, wife to Tony,
Mama to:
Nick, 17
Abby, 15
Gabe, 13
Isaac, 11
Mary, 10
Sam, 9
Henry, 7
Molly, 6
Mark, 5
Greta, 3
Cecilia born 10.29.10
Josephine born 6.11.12
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amyable
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| Posted: May 11 2010 at 10:29am | IP Logged
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Praying, Lisa!! Sorry I didn't see this until today.
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Amy
mom of 5, ages 6-16, and happy wife of 
The Highly Sensitive Homeschooler
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Help me think this through - HOUSING
