In August it will be six years since I purchased this home. It is strange to think that the only place that I lived in longer than this home is my parent's place. There were apartments and a condo before this, but I never did stay in any of them longer than five years.
It is a good house. It is smaller than I'd like it to be, but that is to be expected. When we bought is back around the turn of the century I was concerned about not over extending myself so I made sure that the mortgage was not the maximum that I qualified for.
If I had to do it all over again I would have stretched a little farther. An extra $50k would have made it possible to be South of the boulevard, made public school an option and provided more room. At the time of the purchase I figured that it would be a good starter home, two or three years and it would be used to leverage a bigger place.
Playing on iTunes- Let's Get It Started - Black Eyed Peas
But who knew that the real estate market was going to go crazy. It exploded and made it really hard to move. It is easy to sell, but not so easy to find a home for a reasonable price. Don't get me wrong, I very much enjoy my home. It is an excellent neighborhood. The neighbors look out for each other and we all work hard to maintain our homes.
The reality of home ownership is that there are always going to be projects. It doesn't matter how new or how old your home is there are things to be done. Last summer I survived a kitchen remodel and a bathroom. Actually it was a very good experience and it added a ton of value to the house. Not just financial, but practical value. Now the kitchen is not only beautiful but such a pleasure to cook in.
Still the kitchen doesn't make up for the bedroom I want, the living room that I need for a big screen television, the library I want for my books and the gym that I want to build inside my home.
Right now there is a list of about 15 items that need to be taken care of:
- Exterior Paint
- New side gates
- New sprinklers in the front and backyard.
- More shelves in the garage
2 comments:
Ours was turnkey when we bought it. But not what we wanted.
I have re-framed virtually every wall while adding new wood windows,five-ply sheer, insulation and sheetrock. As I had the walls open I did earthquake retrofit measures and then trimmed and sided the exterior with cedar trim and lap siding. Most of the interior walls are now finished and painted, all the interior doors and casing done, master bath remodeled. But I still need to do the kitchen, floor coverings and baseboard, not to mention exterior paint and the roof, as well as fascia and barge rafters.
It's been a major PITA doing it all while living here. A list of unfinished things. Can we talk?
A life? Considering what we do, what, exactly, is a life???
;o)>
A life? Considering what we do, what, exactly, is a life???
Still trying to figure that out. Have to go talk to the steel fabricator about having three posts made 12x12x1/2.
In between the welds I'll consider your question. ;)
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