Been gone for awhile I need to be reasssured!

sandave88 · #1 02/28/07, 03:51 PM

We had to put our homesteading dreams on hold for awhile because our city home had not sold in two years. Well now we are willing to drop our sale price just to be in the country. We have two kids 13 and 6 and I have been homeschooling now for 6 years. I feel moving to a wide open space is our next step. My husband David works all the time and never has anytime with us. He has been wanting to be in the country since we first met. I am here just to be reassured that the country is the best place for us. We have a small piece of land attached to a larger one that has an old farm house on it. It needs an extreme amount of work to just be livable. Our city home is the way to the means for the farm house lot of 15 acres. I guess what I am saying is please tell me to take this leap of faith.... :baby04:

farmhome5 · #2 02/28/07, 04:19 PM

Jump! Go and don't look back. You won't regret it. You will regret all the wasted time you spend in the city dreaming of the life you want. Live your dream today because you aren't guaranteed tomorrow.

All things are possible with faith

MullersLaneFarm · #3 02/28/07, 04:21 PM

"Take this leap of faith."

Our years on the homestead have been the best years of our lives.

morrowsmowers · #4 02/28/07, 04:53 PM

We moved from the inner-city of Philadelphia to Glassboro, NJ about 7 years ago. The houses in our old area were not selling - some were on the market for over 5 years. We sold ours in one day by calling a local realtor that would only pay what we owed on the mortgage. We didn't care and sold it that same day. We bought a modular home on 1/4+ acre in Glassboro, NJ. We are on the edge of town but just outside of farming areas as well. We chose this because DW has some health issues that make living remotely a concern and she needed to be able to walk to things if something happened since she cannot drive. We homeschool 4 boys and they have more friends and more opportunities for things since we moved than they ever did living in the city.

You may not be ready to move all the way out into the sticks but getting out of the city is a wonderful thing!

Ken in Glassboro, NJ

Ravenlost · #5 02/28/07, 06:04 PM

What are you waiting for? GO!

sandave88 · #6 02/28/07, 06:49 PM

Yes I hear all of you. What type of opportunites do they have now could you give me some examples? My kids mainly my teenager says he is not sure how he could handle being out there all alone. But he will have us and his dog as well as be a very busy young man helping his dad clear the farm and all the work that needs to be done. Hubby came home today with a brush cutter to clean up our 4 acres. I mean I feel like I am an old soul. I quilt,sew,cook,can,garden,and I love to be creative and remodel things. So I am ready we just need to find another realtor to get this house sold.

morrowsmowers · #7 02/28/07, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sandave88

Yes I hear all of you. What type of opportunites do they have now could you give me some examples?

My oldest son (17) has been best friends with the Pastors son and a group of other young men since we moved here. They have in turn met other guys and now he has friends he sees both in North Jersey and all the way up in Maine. He goes snow boarding in the winter and surfing in the summer. He owns a racing dirt bike which he doesn't get enough time to ride as much as he would like. He has also been involved in mission trips to Mexico five years in a row. The next oldest (13) currently spends part of every weekend staying over at his friends house -- they home school as well so they all just adjust their studies to have time together. He has met up with other kids via this and has a widening group of friends as well. Our twins (12) have a more local group of friends but they are also part of a bowling league and see friends each week. All of the boys have been on sports teams, took swimming lessons at the Y, have been able to go back to Philly for trips to museums, etc. The boys have traveled more in their short years than their mom and I combined in our 48 years. Much of this because of the families they are friends with.

When we lived in the city their friends were either in the immediate neighborhood or very far away. The local friends were the guys they hung out with but watching movies and playing video games was the extent of it.

Unless you live very far out, just because you can't see other people doesn't mean they aren't there. There will be community and group activities depending on school, church, etc. affiliations. It's just different than living in the city with lots of row houses to look at. We have to drive to get the boys to things but most are within 20 - 30 minute drives. In the city it took a 45 minute drive in traffic just to get to church and about that much for shopping, etc.

Ken in Glassboro, NJ

sandave88 · #8 02/28/07, 07:25 PM

Yes I have a good truck and am willing to travel for the kids. I think he is still getting over his best friend moving from Virginia(where we live) to Hawaii because they are military. He is kind of doubting he will find friends anywhere. Being home schooled we are kind of isolated but we do other activites Karate,Basketball and such. I just hope in N Carolina I can find a hom school community for them to be involved with as well as the church group.

Cloverbud · #9 02/28/07, 07:26 PM

4-H!! DD has made so many friends the last 3 years. In her club and others. What a nice organisation. I am still amazed at the way the older kids really look out for and help the littler ones. In fact, should something happen to dh and I, dd will live with a neighboring 4-H family.

sandave88 · #10 02/28/07, 07:31 PM

I had been thinking of that also. Our land is in a very rural part of Carolina. Our home school friends and his best friend are the ones who will be taking our kids is anything happens to us. But they live in Hawaii as I said before.

**clovis** · #11 02/28/07, 11:07 PM

I say take the plunge.

IMHO, the only bad thing about living in the country is being so far from the store. Not too bad once you get used to planning your trips. The down falls are those times when you cannot get out of running to town. Prescriptions, school activities, etc.

Clove

donsgal · #12 03/01/07, 12:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sandave88

Yes I hear all of you. What type of opportunites do they have now could you give me some examples? My kids mainly my teenager says he is not sure how he could handle being out there all alone. But he will have us and his dog as well as be a very busy young man helping his dad clear the farm and all the work that needs to be done. Hubby came home today with a brush cutter to clean up our 4 acres. I mean I feel like I am an old soul. I quilt,sew,cook,can,garden,and I love to be creative and remodel things. So I am ready we just need to find another realtor to get this house sold.

If a house does not sell in two years either it is a terrible market (which it may be) or it is very overpriced. Your realtor should have done a comparitive market analysis of what homes like yours should be listed at. If she did not do this, then you need to find another realtor. There is no excuse for a house not selling in two years. Have you done your own advertising? There are many free online real estate sites out there. Don't leave it all up to your realtor. You must take some responsibility for advertising your home also. I would find a different realtor, if I were you. I think that is part of the problem.

donsgal

sandave88 · #13 03/01/07, 03:04 PM

We are on our second realtor well we just let her go and are looking for a third. We completely remodeled our entire home and everyone who comes to see it loves it but they all seem to want fixer uppers. Ours is ready to move in with new roof,heating and air,tankless water heater,master suite,3 bedroom 2 bath,with a chefs kitchen with double ovens,flat cook top,bar,hardwood maple cabinets,new countertop,stamped concrete outdoor grilling area with cover,hammock,fort/swing/slide for the kids and a coi pond with a privacy fence surrounding it all. Anyone interested or know of anyone who might be?

indypartridge · #14 03/02/07, 05:03 AM

Since getting out of the city and moving to our cabin, I have been amazed at the difference I see in our kids. I can't begin to describe all the ways, but it's been such a great experience for all of us. I agree with Cloverbud, 4-H is a great organization in most places, and I've been impressed at how the older kids help out the newbies. Do whatever needs to be done to get your city place sold and get out. At 13, there's not a lot of years left for your son at home.

Jan Doling · #15 03/02/07, 10:37 AM

I drive the girls to the church youth meetings every Wed. night and to any church or school activities they wish to attend. They can’t imagine having to live in a city. It would drive them nuts. DD12 (in 2 weeks) wants to fashion her own park down by the back pond and is googling campsites from various state and national parks so she’ll have an idea about building a raised tent site and a stone firepit. She also wants a zip line and is planning to use our hunting stand with a tree ladder from Bass Pro Shops to access it. There will be flower beds and some veggie plots (for cooking over the firepit).

DD13 wants the abandoned 1986 VW Vanagon to paint retro (peace symbols and psychodelic flowers) for her clubhouse. She plans to fix up the interior and use a fan and extension cord with outlet strip so she can also have music, tv, etc.

They have poultry and want goats next. They love roaming the acreage and having friends over to explore. They fish in the ponds, climb the trees, run with their beagles, etc.

I don’t have to worry about drug dealers lurking nearby as we live at the end of the middle of nowhere and I can choose which friends to import on the weekends.

donsgal · #16 03/02/07, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sandave88

We are on our second realtor well we just let her go and are looking for a third. We completely remodeled our entire home and everyone who comes to see it loves it but they all seem to want fixer uppers. Ours is ready to move in with new roof,heating and air,tankless water heater,master suite,3 bedroom 2 bath,with a chefs kitchen with double ovens,flat cook top,bar,hardwood maple cabinets,new countertop,stamped concrete outdoor grilling area with cover,hammock,fort/swing/slide for the kids and a coi pond with a privacy fence surrounding it all. Anyone interested or know of anyone who might be?

People have this inherent NEED to change things when they move into a house. I think it is part of the nesting instinct. You'll see that when someone does buy the place, they will repaint where you have just painted, changed carpet, lighting fixtures, even knock holes in the walls or change door ways. I have never been able to figure out why people need to do this, but it happens almost every single time.

If I hear of anyone looking I will let you know. Post some pictures if you have them. It sounds nice.

donsgal

BasicLiving · #17 03/02/07, 06:39 PM

SanDave88 - we also live in Virginia and have been trying to sell our home for 1 year (almost exactly this month) with no luck. We have land in Shenandoah County that we put a home on last yaer that we are desperately trying to get to permanently. The market is horrible - we are going to reduce the asking price within the next couple of weeks in the hopes of finally selling it and beginning to live our dream on our homestead.

We had a realtor to start, and then tried "for sale by owner". Neither worked. The market here in north-west VA has gotten worse over the past year. We realize we're going to have to lower the price significantly and get another realtor to sell it quickly. We're willing to do that to get out to our homestead.

If your heart is where your homestead is, you will be fine. Lower the price, sell the house, and hook up with your heart on your homestead. Having said that, I advise not showing up there with a lot of debt - or you'll find yourself right back where you are now - a husband that works all the time and has no time for family.

My 1 cent,
Penny

sandave88 · #18 03/03/07, 01:39 PM

Yes we have had two realtors and tried to sell it ourselves twice also. We also have significantly dropped our price. Houses in the area are selling for more and less that need much more work or are in a not particularly good neighborhood. We have usually begun selling in late summer early fall and are hoping spring will bring more people to us. We are on the coast and the military is very prominent here. Lots of people coming and going often. But hubby is very determined to sell this time. Saying this is it. Getting to this land we own and building our home would make us almost debt free. But as I stated before we can buy a larger lot which is attached to ours that has an old farm house and barn already standing. Both need lots of work but we are fixer uppers at heart so either is fine. There will be a mortgage on the larger lot but it would be a quarter of what we owe now. Tomorrow we head out to our piece to clear it and try and decide if we are gonna go big or settle on our 4 acres and a new home.