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A question for those of you who are single and own your home...

A question for those of you who are single and own your home...

Old 02-04-2010, 10:51 AM
  #21  
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Originally Posted by Debra Mc
Ours is almost paid for. Moving is a nightmare from Hell. If you are happy there, then stay. Try to find somebody to fix things. Renting can be as expense or more than owning your own house. Besides nobody can give you trouble if you paint the den purple.
I'm NEVER moving again! It is a nightmare, especially if you're a pack rat like me. :-)

Would like to say my house is almost paid off but... When I was house hunting, I had a list of what I wanted, based on having lived in apartments and my condo. Got most of it, glad to say. The rest i can live without or add later.

Top of my list was finding a house where I can live now (still active at 58) but can also live comfortably in when I retire (way things are going, that may be when I,m 83!). My little Cape Cod house has two bedrooms and full bath on the first floor so it's essentially a ranch style, only with another two bedrooms and bath upstairs. (Sounds big but the square footage is small.) I tell everyone that when I die, they can bury me in the backyard. As I said, I'm never moving again!!
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Old 02-04-2010, 11:14 AM
  #22  
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Originally Posted by lacikat
Hey, you're the one I want to grow my hair out like! I have been thinking a lot lately about selling and moving to an apartment, mainly to avoid upkeep,repairs,yard work,snow in my drive etc. But then I think, close neighbors, I live in the country and actually I have lovely neighbors, they mow my lawn, plow my snow and are on my door step if they see anything they think is out of place (or anybody). But the thought of having strangers for neighbors or being in an apt with people on all sides, possibly under and over!! Also I live in a large farmhouse and am a collector of crap, mainly fabric, so a lot of stuff would have to go. Then there is the cost, with apts being at least $600 plus and my mortgage being $180.00 a month (which has been paid off several times).I have 10 acres so I can have a garden if I want and have my privacy. I also have lived here since I was 12 (in and out after graduation and a brief go at marriage) I gave my daughter some adjoining land so there is another tie. But it sometimes crosses my mind to chuck it all.
Don't chuck it all!!!!! Consider this.... what you save not paying rent, can pay for repairs by professionals! Plus, rent keeps going up and up. I'm guessing your mortgage doesn't. Of course, there's taxes but hopefully they don't inflate as fast as rents.

The rents in your area are around the $600 mark?!!! Mama mia, you can't find anything around here under $1200. Enjoy where you are!
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Old 02-04-2010, 03:48 PM
  #23  
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I'm 81 and still living in my own (paid for) home. I can do what I want to it, move furniture around where I want and living on 2 acres plus, have very little neighbor problem. I can let the dogs out, garden and I have two of four son living ten minutes away. One is and electrical engineer and the other has been in the building business for years. They are excellent auto mechanics also.

Since we have lived in the same area for 50 years, they also know loads of people who can fix anything from plumbing to roofs.

Rent? Bite your tongue!
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Old 02-04-2010, 04:39 PM
  #24  
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oh, you are all great, and hilarious! I've done a lot of thinking before and since I posted this, and decided I would be giving up much more than I think and getting much less in return.

The funny part is, after one thing after another going wrong, squirels in the attic, a new septic system, neighbors chopping down my beautiful trees, in Nov my dryer died. That did it. I wasn't going to put another cent into it. I put the house on the market. Well, by Jan 2 I was tired of the laundromat thing and bought a dryer. I LOVE my dryer! Always did but this one meant more after not having one. Then, I painted my daughter's room (pillow talk it's called, a whisper of pink) because she was going to move back in after a spat with the bf but they patched things up. So I started looking around and spackled a few things and took 2 truckloads of junk from my barn to the dump, got rid of some old stuff, and really looked at my house. You know, I love my house. There are things that need to be done that I can do, so I decided to go for it.

Yesterday I took it off the market. :D :D :D

I'm soooooooooo happy! I feel so excited! I'm surprised I haven't kissed the walls I feel so good about it. I've been here 12 years, the longest I've lived anywhere, and decided that I'm going to do whatever I need to to keep it pretty and me in it.

And to lacikat - thanks for the hair compliment!
And to mar32428 - I hope I am as fortunate!

Thank you all for the positives!
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Old 02-04-2010, 08:14 PM
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Yeah! Glad you decided to stay.
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Old 02-04-2010, 09:15 PM
  #26  
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I'm glad we talked you into staying (tee-hee). Just think about it, when you're paying off a house, if you should ever HAVE to sell it or want to, at least you have should some equity, which you wouldn't have in an apartment. I like your decision. Glad you're happy with it.
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Old 02-05-2010, 06:58 AM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by Butterfli19
oh, you are all great, and hilarious! I've done a lot of thinking before and since I posted this, and decided I would be giving up much more than I think and getting much less in return.

The funny part is, after one thing after another going wrong, squirels in the attic, a new septic system, neighbors chopping down my beautiful trees, in Nov my dryer died. That did it. I wasn't going to put another cent into it. I put the house on the market. Well, by Jan 2 I was tired of the laundromat thing and bought a dryer. I LOVE my dryer! Always did but this one meant more after not having one. Then, I painted my daughter's room (pillow talk it's called, a whisper of pink) because she was going to move back in after a spat with the bf but they patched things up. So I started looking around and spackled a few things and took 2 truckloads of junk from my barn to the dump, got rid of some old stuff, and really looked at my house. You know, I love my house. There are things that need to be done that I can do, so I decided to go for it.

Yesterday I took it off the market. :D :D :D

I'm soooooooooo happy! I feel so excited! I'm surprised I haven't kissed the walls I feel so good about it. I've been here 12 years, the longest I've lived anywhere, and decided that I'm going to do whatever I need to to keep it pretty and me in it.

And to lacikat - thanks for the hair compliment!
And to mar32428 - I hope I am as fortunate!

Thank you all for the positives!
Good for you. Just a little face scrugging can do wonders for you. That old house wasn't that bad after all.
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Old 02-05-2010, 07:31 AM
  #28  
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Me again! I had forgotten one of my main reasons for staying in my home is the 3 cats that live inside and the 7 that live outside, couldn't take them to an apt. I can identify with things going wrong, my tub wouldn't drain, my washer won't work, my watersoftner doesn't work so decided to start fixing things. The watersofner guy said it would take over $900 to repair and he wouldn't touch it, there's no sense getting a washer until I get a new softner so I decided to go for the tub drain repair. The plumbers were excellent, said the pipe probably had a hole about the size of a pin or less (only been there over 60 years) so they replaced all that, put new faucets on where my washer connects, put new faucets on my kitchen sink and a sprayer and
the bill was only $270. There was 2 of them here all afternoon!
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Old 02-05-2010, 08:00 AM
  #29  
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This was alot of fun to read. My curiousity of being single got me. I've been married for 34 years this year and I've never lived alone! I've always had a wonderful husband to take care of things. Now I have grown boys to take care of what he isn't able to!

It was a story with a happy ending! I'm glad you decided to stay. Having a home that you like is always a wonderful place to come home to. There's nothing like home!

My compliments to you too. Your hair is beautiful! I saw another thread on coloring hair and was just in awe over your beautiful hair. I'm trying to decided if I have enough grays yet to let it go natural!
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Old 02-05-2010, 09:38 AM
  #30  
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I am late to the party, of course, but from the get-go, I would have counseled you to keep your home.
My father told me when I was young and a "free spirit" (HAH!) to get somewhere, commit myself to the community, become a part of it, and stay there!
Nothing good can come of moving here and there and hither and yon - - no connectedness to anyone, anything, or anywhere.
After thirty years, I have come to understand what my dad was trying to say! It doesn't get any easier to become part of a community as you get older, and with all the moving, setting up, breaking down, moving, and all - - I have missed out on a lot of blessings of being able to know what and where I am going to be tomorrow.
My father committed to an area he really didn't want to live in, when he married my mother, because his work ethic dictated that he provide for his wife and family in the best possible manner, and be self-reliant while doing it.
Go back in our nation's history just fifty years and see what the average USA citizen did that made America an outstanding leader of nations - - it wasn't the gypsy lifestyle <g>.
And, if you are a single mom with children, you have the unique opportunity of teaching your offspring to be as self-reliant as they can be. As someone mentioned - - a simple on-line word search will get the answer to almost any question one could have about getting a job done.
When we were kids, we resented that mom and dad expected us to do chores around the ranch. Our city cousins didn't have to work like that ... mom overheard us complaining to each other one day: "The only reason they had us was to make us do all their work!"
well, not exactly <g> but, when I became a mom of four (and, later a single mom of four) ... I decided to remove all doubts from my children's minds and just flat out told them: The only reason you are here is to do all of my work! (saved a lot of wondering on their part, I figured <g> one question answered and five hundred more to go, eh? LOL)
Anyway, what my parents actually accomplished was to raise FIVE adults who know how a good job should be done, where to go for help if it is bigger than we can do alone, why it is important to keep healthy minds engaged in worthwhile productivity, and what can be accomplished with some elbow grease and time.
So much easier to accomplish when you own your own home and property ... not so easy to impart when a landlord has become your second boss ...
I think you made the right decision. Good for you! <wave>
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