Considering buy this forever home. Pleaseee Helppp?
Cali Love
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
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50-Year "Forever Home" Floor Plan
Comments (22)Well, if anyone (kirkhall and/or MrsPete) is curious, I think I will "pull in" the garage and give up perhaps two feet in the pantry (making it 13-4 x 7). With shelves that are 18 inches deep, that'll leave me an aisle 4 feet wide, which seems somewhat less silly. Still pondering other possible changes . . . . Ehfivesixtwo3 : "Plumb for half a bath" -- good idea. I hate the idea of catering to some unknown person's possible needs when this is *my* "forever home," but putting in a few pipes is a compromise I could live with. larecoltante: Hmmm. I don't have any quick answers for you. A nearby road lies to the south of my home site, so I've been pointing my garage towards it and my den away (for a better view and added privacy), but I hadn't thought about northern vs. southern light. Also, I currently have east-facing bedroom windows and hate them, but that's because I'm currently on vampire time. In the future, I'll probably follow a more traditional schedule and east-facing bedroom windows might be an asset. Thanks for the input. ladybrowncoat: I have no doubt that you're right about property value, but I'm trying to keep down costs. Also, I hate the idea of catering to some unknown person's possible needs 50 years from now when this is *my* "forever home." I may plumb for half a bath, at least, as Ehfivesixtwo3 suggested. And I'm afraid kirkhall is right about basements in the area. In fact, I'm only leaning towards a crawlspace for maintenance/repair reasons . . . I don't need or want the space, but sooner or later, some repair guy may need to get under the house....See MoreInvesting in a small home as your "forever home"
Comments (24)Your house is lovely in a charming, old-fashioned type of way that appeals to many of us. I'm stealing a phrase from someone else (can't remember whom), but your house says "Ahhh" rather than "Wow!" That's exactly the feel I want from my house. I do not think you should feel pressure to move up to a bigger, more expensive house . . . just because you can /will be able to in the future. We are building a house that's much smaller than we could afford to build, and we're planning to fill it with luxury items . . . in moderation. I think you should proceed with caution because none of us knows what may happen in the coming years, and what you today call a "forever home" may NEED to be sold for any number of reasons: A work move, surprise twins or the need to take in a family member's child, a freeway coming through. None of us ever think these things will happen to us -- until they happen to us. We have to be realistic. I'd say go ahead and improve your small house with lovely things that will please you and enhance your life, but do keep it period appropriate, and don't over-do excessively for the neighborhood....See MoreStarter Homes vs. Forever Homes
Comments (27)Well, I am 26 and my partner is 30. We just purchased a house in the city here in Cleveland. We lived at a house in the exurbs that is probably 160 years old...it was my partner's Grandma's so we lived for "free"...he had been living there a while alone before I moved in. We bought the house here in the city because of the tax credit, I wanted a house, it was a great house in great condition, old with lots of character, in an interesting and up and coming neighborhood. It will not be our forever home and we didn't plan on it being our forever home, either. It's a great place for where we are now in life, but not for longer than maybe 5 or , at the longest, 10 years. The "old" house is a candidate for our "forever" house when my Partner inherits it, but it requires renovation...of course it's free, so, whatevs. lol. Or if we want to stay in the city, we could live in a nice old house with a bigger yard. Or we could build a house on some land we have. Dunno. But we are happy here for now at this stage in our lives. Concerning moving for career, it isn't an option for my partner or I. Too much of our family lives here, and even when they are gone, we will have too many roots here, and we love Cleveland. So, moving for career is not an option. Short answer, no, our first home is not a forever home, but we were very careful to purchase a home that we loved for now and that we will be able to sell, if we need to, for at least what we paid. Life is tough!...See MoreConsidering buying an odd lot
Comments (10)Thanks for all your thoughts! However, I've been researching and talking to a real estate agent, and I found out I was WRONG -- DEAD WRONG -- on something massive: When I went out and looked, I was looking at the wrong lot! Yes, I was being completely and totally STUPID. I have two college degrees, and I was shut down, befuddled, and confused by street signs and a map. My husband also has two college degrees, and ... well, in our defense, none of the lots have "for sale" signs. No, that's not enough: We have no defense. We're only part-time idiots, I promise. So ... the correct information: The above-shown map is correct, but the roads look totally different in person. The lot is actually located on a cul-de-sac; yeah, I know, it doesn't look like a cul-de-sac on the map. Only two lots are placed on the cul-de-sac, and the house that's already built doesn't face the cul-de-sac. The thing is, the cul-de-sac isn't going to STAY a cul-de-sac. The road is going to be extended out towards the aforementioned Town Center (right now it's connected to the neighborhood with a trail, but it'll be a real, driveable road eventually). They're planning more houses between the neighborhood and the Town Center, which I knew; I just didn't know that road would be extended in that spot. That's why the rectangle looks odd: Eventually this rectangle will face the road straight-on. So the lot has plenty of road frontage, but that road frontage is going to change at some point in the future. So ... I don't think I'm interested in buying a lot with a road that will DEFINITELY be changing significantly. I think it's too much risk. And it seems pretty certain that at some point I'd have to do some re-work on the driveway /mailbox. However, there's another lot for sale by owner -- why don't people put up signs? -- slightly larger at 1.5 acres, 30K more money, and backwards (meaning that the back of the house would face North). BUT it has really nice hardwood trees, and it's on the road leading towards the will-be-altered-cul-de-sac. In response to your above comments: - The city owns the triangle in front of the lot -- knowing that this will eventually be a road, it makes sense. This may be why a lovely cul-de-sac lot is available ... but, then, a couple other very nice lots are owned but not built upon yet. - No, having seen the lot personally, that's one of several piles of wood in the corner of the map. Not another house. I had to study it carefully and think back to what I saw to figure it out! - Now that I am looking at the right lot, only one house is next to this empty lot, and it's a comfortable distance away. The other side is empty for now ... but eventually when the road opens up, other houses will be built on the other side. How close? Can't say. Again, this is awfully uncertain. - Yes, we're retiring in about five years, and we're building this house with the intention of living in it the rest of our lives. I do not welcome the idea of building, and -- at some undetermined point in the future -- having to re-do a bunch of stuff. Sounds expensive and problematic. And if the road doesn't follow the anticipated path, which could easily happen, they could end up taking a portion of my lot against my will. I don't think that's likely, but it is possible. - No, no rush exists at all. I'm not hurrying into anything, and I will definitely talk to zoning people -- if I decide to pursue this lot. I'm well aware that the real estate agent has "an agenda", and it isn't to make me happy long-term, so I'm not taking everything he says as gospel truth. - This is a really great neighborhood, but it's not the only game in town. If I heard that someone else bought it (and the other lot I just found out about) this afternoon, I would not be upset -- I'd just figure God didn't want me to have it. I will not be the person who buys an unbuildable lot. - No, I don't really have big concerns about my 45 acres of farmland being near the school. I agree that it means extra traffic, but really only twice a day. And it's not like I'm right next to the school -- they're set back over perhaps 30 acres plus a two-lane road. That's one reason I suspect that IF my husband's fears ever come true and the school annexes someone's farm, it'll be one of those other two, which are closer /more convenient to the school. I'm near but not right on top of the school. Incidentally, the exisiting school is a middle school, so no teenaged drivers; however, our fear is that they might build a SECOND school adjacent, and an elementary school would mean more pick-up parents, and a high school would mean teen-aged drivers -- that's what I really don't want. If my husband suddenly said, "I give up the idea of a city lot, let's stick to the farm", I would be happy. Some things about a city lot are appealing (good places to walk being one of them), but so are some things about the farm (like more privacy). - As for living in the country, I'm well aquainted with it! I grew up in the country -- real country, on a farm. And for the first decade of our marriage, we lived in the country. We really only came to "the city" for the schools we wanted our kids to attend. We want to go back....See MoreCali Love
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