We've got a house.

[DayBird]

You asked for updates. Here they are:

Remember me asking if I should bury all the trash on the 3 acres that we bought? Sure you do, enough of you emailed my wife that she forbad me of even thinking about that idea.

Anyhow, apparently I left one of the "For Sale" signs hanging on a tree. The realtor called us Friday and asked if we'd be interested in selling it. I asked a whole bunch of questions and we sold it Monday. We got back our investment plus a little more and immediately signed the papers on the five acres we currently own with almost the same payments as on the three acres.

Yesterday we went looking for mobile homes and found what is probably a perfect deal for us. It's 16 X 80, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, fireplace, all appliances. It's 2 years old. The family moved out of it this past Sunday. They traded it in on a doublewide. We got it for $10,000. We used my W2s for the downpayment. We're financing $6,000 for 10 years. We're going to have payments of less than $100 a month. I've told my lovely wife that we can double up those payments and pay off the trailer in 4 years and then double up payments on the land and have it paid off within 6 years. God is being very good to us.

Friday we were praying that we could eventually leave this trailer park and now we own five acres of land and an almost new mobile home. Because they're filing my taxes for me and using the refund as a down payment, it's going to take a couple of days. We sign the final papers Tuesday morning at 10am. They can have the house set up and ready to move in by next Friday.

[AngieM2]

Daybird

When will the happy dance begin?///

I see you're in Alabama also. Just bunches of congratulations on the working out of your deal.

Angie

[bugstabber]

Hey that's great news! It's always neat when things fall into place. May I ask about using your W2 as a down payment? I've never heard of that.

[DayBird]

Originally Posted by AngieM2

Daybird

When will the happy dance begin?///

I see you're in Alabama also. Just bunches of congratulations on the working out of your deal.

Angie

I don't know when the dance will begin. That first morning I wake up in the new place. I've equated this to my wife to being like Christmas. You know, you spend months looking for the perfect gifts and making plans. Days and days wrapping the presents and cooking. You go to bed Christmas Eve all anxious and excited. You wake up Christmas morning and open the presents and have dinner. Then at 3pm you're ready for a nap? Right now, I'm ready for a nap. I'm very happy. I'm still very excited about all the prospects of a brand new life in a home of my own with five acres. I'm just relieved that everyone liked their presents, the turkey wasn't too dry and that the tree hasn't caught on fire. I'm very relieved and thankful to God that everything has worked out so well.

[sancraft]

What wonderful news. I'm so happy for you.

[DayBird]

Originally Posted by bugstabber

Hey that's great news! It's always neat when things fall into place. May I ask about using your W2 as a down payment? I've never heard of that.

We bought the home through Clayton Homes. They have an in-house accountant. She's a CPA. They filed my taxes for me, electronically, and applied for a Refund Anticipation Loan. Just like H & R Block does. Anyone buying a home with them using this program receives a $1,000 rebate. I took advantage of this. Also, due to some weird little glitches in Immigration law, I am supposed to have my taxes done professionally, by a CPA, so that I can prove to INS that I can support my wife who is not yet a citizen. It's a condition of her conditional residence. (She's eligible to become a citizen this year and can't wait.) I've saved $200 by not paying H & R Block for doing my taxes.

[sylvar]

Congratulations! I remember when we first looked at our place. It had everything we wanted and was cheaper than the top end of our budget. As soon as we got back in the car I just looked at my wife and said "Its perfect....I want it". Its such a good feeling. Enjoy your new place!

Sylvar

[Ravenlost]

Congratulations Daybird! Sounds like everything is falling into place for you and that's terrific!

[Jan Doling]

I'm thrilled for y'all...but this is only the beginning...we expect updates on how the homestead develops! What critters are y'all planning?

[DayBird]

Originally Posted by Jan Doling

What critters are y'all planning?

You don't know me very well, do ya?

Here's a copy and paste from a thread on the Poultry Forum that I started to ask for suggestions about the logistics of moving what we do have.

I now have close to 100 parrots. That's along with the six chickens. I also have Sam, our beloved Great Pyrenees, a house cat, three yard cats, the Serval cat, two snakes, 8 turtles, two lizards, 14 frogs, two ferrets, two chinchillas (I have chinchillas again), 14 rabbits, a tarantula, 3 big aquariums, two boys and a wife. There's also hundreds of potted plants along with all the usual stuff that you'd move like furniture and books and clothes and toys and stuff. I'll just have to make a whole bunch of trips.

We plan on adding Goats. I'd like myotonic fainting goats but we also need a milk goat. I think I like the idea of the myotonics being easier to fence in. My wife likes the idea of boers and nubians. She'd like to get two nubian does and a boer buck. Cross breed the two so we can butcher the kids and milk the nubians.

Now that we have more land that is completely unrestricted, way, way out in the boonies with our closest neighbors having 100+ "pit games" in his yard, I want pigs. I think I'd like to raise potbellieds for meat. She would rather buy a feeder pig every spring and have it butchered in the fall.

We're also going to get more poultry. More chickens for sure, something to raise for meat. Again, I'd like to get a dual purpose breed to raise our own chicks year after year, but she would rather just order in broiler chicks to raise. I also want turkeys, again the same with the chickens. I'd rather get some blue slates but she'd rather just order a few of the bbwhites. We both want muscovy ducks so we're going to be on the lookout for some of those.

We're also going to pick up a few more stray cats and another Pyr for Sam to play with.

[amwitched]

Congrats on your move!!!!

I can sure relate to the trailer park issue. We lived in one for 15 years until we found the funds to purchase our property. We owned the mobile home already, so we just had to arrange to have it moved out to the property.

One day I was sitting on top of our hill, overlooking the property, and I wondered to myself " what am I going to do with all this land"? Well, bit by bit, ideas are popping into my head. I really think that just being able to keep neighbors from getting too close is the best thing in the world.

[3girls]

Daybird, I am beyond happy for you. What a wonderful week you've had. Praise the Lord and congratulations.

You've been living in a Trailer Park? My word--how on earth were you able to keep all those animals on such a tiny lot? You have the makings for a book with all your adventures!!

Do give yourself a few minutes to settle in before adding too much. If the roosters get to be too much, plant some quick growing evergreens 3-4 plants deep along that border. I hope you have a week or two overlap on the timing on this move.

[DayBird]

Originally Posted by 3girls

Daybird, I am beyond happy for you. What a wonderful week you've had. Praise the Lord and congratulations.

You've been living in a Trailer Park? My word--how on earth were you able to keep all those animals on such a tiny lot? You have the makings for a book with all your adventures!!

Do give yourself a few minutes to settle in before adding too much. If the roosters get to be too much, plant some quick growing evergreens 3-4 plants deep along that border. I hope you have a week or two overlap on the timing on this move.

I arranged to work on an overnight reset at a sister store tonight so I can be off during the day today and tomorrow. We have just got back here to our "temporary place of residence." The roosters won't bother me. It sounds like an angelic chior to me. Once the oak trees and hickorys fill out in the Spring, I doubt I'll hear much. Anyhow, I've got about a hundred really, really loud parrots. Their roosters only crow. My parrots yell for help. Scream at each other to "shut up," laugh and make all kinds of obnoxious jungle sounds. It has been an act of God to make it all work here. Noone here knows exactly how many animals we have. We knew when we moved here a year ago that it would only be temporary. We haven't tried to make friends with anyone here, just so noone will know what we have. My mother across the road doesn't even know. They know we have a dog. They know we have parrots in the building, because they hear Nikki yelling for "HELP" several times a day. (when we first moved here, the lady next to my mother called her to ask if I beat my wife.) Noone knows how many we have.

[patarini]

Now thats a housefull!!!!! Congrats and good luck on the new place!

[Meg Z]

I'm very happy for you, DayBird! And I'm amazed. I have ONE macaw...and anyone who gets within rock-throwing distance of my house Knows it! Keeping hush-hush on as many as you have is an awesome feat!

Best of luck in your new establishment...and don't bury any trash!

Meg

[DayBird]

Originally Posted by Dave

"It's 16 X 80, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, fireplace, all appliances. It's 2 years old. The family moved out of it this past Sunday. They traded it in on a doublewide. We got it for $10,000."



Only 2 years old? That's an incredible deal. It is trashed or something?

No. It's actually pretty nice. It needs a good cleaning. Nothing that some Ajax and PineSol won't take care of. Some of the trim is loose, but I can take care of that with a hammer and finishing nails within 30 minutes. With taxes and 3 years of their mandatory home owners insurance financed into the price, after the down payment, our monthly payment will be $117. This was truly a testament to being at the right place at the right time. We had been approved for a $28,000 used singlewide and were there to start the paperwork. As we were getting out of our car, this one rolled onto the lot. My wife liked the outside colors better and asked if we could go in. Did I mention that it has a whirlpool tub for her? She's very happy about that. All of the appliances are staying also. Central heat and air and a fireplace.

[COUNTRY WISHES]

Originally Posted by DayBird

Anyhow, I've got about a hundred really, really loud parrots. Their roosters only crow. My parrots yell for help. Scream at each other to "shut up," laugh and make all kinds of obnoxious jungle sounds. It has been an act of God to make it all work here. Noone here knows exactly how many animals we have. We knew when we moved here a year ago that it would only be temporary. We haven't tried to make friends with anyone here, just so noone will know what we have. My mother across the road doesn't even know. They know we have a dog. They know we have parrots in the building, because they hear Nikki yelling for "HELP" several times a day. (when we first moved here, the lady next to my mother called her to ask if I beat my wife.) Noone knows how many we have.

Congratulations on your new home. I must say with all your birds and other animals I bet you won't be the only one in your neighborhood glad that you are moving.lol

I'm sure you and your wife will enjoy setting up a new place. I can't wait until DH and I own a place of our own.

[Cyngbaeld]

Shame they can't bring the new MH over so you could load it up and then they could just move it to the new land.

[DayBird]

Originally Posted by Cyngbaeld

Shame they can't bring the new MH over so you could load it up and then they could just move it to the new land.

Wouldn't that be nice? I actually thought of calling them Monday and asking if I could load the car up with clothes and books and dishes and put them into the house when we go to sign the papers on Tuesday. It still may be weeks before we can move in. We went out to the land yesterday and had the car slam-packed full of toys and some of our "outside" potted plants. We've moved twice in the last three years and decided that until we had our own land that we would plant everything in pots that we can take with us. Most of the plants we took were dormant. We had a strawberry jar that will hopefully sprout lovely plants soon. We took nandinas and gardenias, figs and lots of perennial herbs that we had growing in pots. We put all the toys and most of the plants into the playhouse that is on the property. It's about 6 X 10 with small windows.