life plans - pipe dream or 'hey, that sounds great'?

In My Humble Opinion
21

I have kind of a similar crazy idea. I believe there’s as much to life as you decide there is. For some it’s cars and fancy lifestyles. For me, it would be tending the ground that yields my foodstuffs and playing with mud (pottery) and tools (woodworking). I’ve never really been able to stomach ‘working for the man’ anyway, so that much won’t change. :slight_smile:

Anyhoo, 2 days on the market, we’ve already had 3 viewings. That does’t mean much as it’s a real ‘fixer-upper’ and I don’t think the real estate agent is really making sure people understand that before they come. Still, it’s encouraging.

22

You are talking two antithetical things here – living on a severely reduced income ($5K, Canadian???) and doing construction. Granted, you’re trading off your labor in exhange for money (we’ll get to that in a minute), but construction materials mount up quickly. “Ah”, you say, “I’ll build from materials on the land.” Well, then you are either hiring backhoes and buying/renting a sawmill, or you’re resorting to amazingly backbreaking labor. And things like windows, stoves, and paint are beyond your capabilities. Now it’s not impossible to build housing from the land – if you like log cabins or sod houses and you don’t mind the extremely rustic look.
But…as you said, you’re going to be trying to do this construction while earning a living doing stained glass and pottery and trying to grow food.
I’ve done stained glass. Good stained work takes time. And it’s a tough dollar. It’s hard to get people to pay for art. Especially when you can now get Tiffany style stained glass lamps from China for ridiculously low prices.
I’ve done gardening. Growing enough to feed yourself will be a nearly fulltime job in the spring and summer. Especially if you’re off the grid with no way to pump water.
I’ve done a bit of construction and a lot of remodeling. Believe me, the house will own you. Much more so than the “man” ever did. Want to go to town? Well, the house isn’t building itself. Want to go skiing? Same thing. Want to spend the day loafing and reading? You’ve just added another day to your estimated completion date. Don’t even think of getting sick or (god forbid) disabled for any length of time.

OK, so I’m not saying that your dream is totally impractical. Just be sure you and the missus understand what you’re getting in to. It’s gonna be tough on the relationship. (Just building a house in the usual way with contractors doing all the work has been the cause of more than one marital meltdown. Doing the work yourself increases the stress by a factor of ten-fold.)

23

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Finagle *
**
[QUOTE
Just be sure you and the missus understand what you’re getting in to. It’s gonna be tough on the relationship. **[/QUOTE]

ROTFLMAO

hahahahahahahahaa…
I’ll let dewt explain…

24

“Well, dewt did say ‘we’ and ‘ours’”, he said defensively.

25

Finangle, I think what Dylan is trying to say is that as far as relationship stuff goes, this is going to be a piece of cake.

If you had any inkling of the monumental stresses we’ve been subjected to over the last 5 years, you’d see that this is going to end up being a vacation. Sure it’s going to be hard and hard on the relationship, but far less so that anything else we’ve been through. Here is a chance for us to be able to work together. It’s going to be a breath of fresh air.

26

Hey Dewt! I thought of you today when I got “the call”! I’ve got an offer on the house, and the showings are multiplying (someone’s doing a second look tonight). Argh, my stomach is tied up in knots. I just repeat my mantra “it’ll be over soon”.

FWIW, I am glad to see both the really upbeat and the “be aware” posts. I tend to be a dreamer, but when I get down to business, I work from the “worst case scenario” to try and make sure that I don’t set myself up for disaster.

27

lost, wicked man! Pretty crazy, huh. I really hope things go smoothly and quickly for you.

I personally haven’t got a ‘worst case scenario’ case in mind. To many insane misfortunes have befallen us in the last 5yrs. One thing I’ve learned is that if it’s unpredictable, it’ll probably happen.

I had it in my mind that we’d be playing a waiting game over the next 6 months to a year… our agent told me yesterday that she estimates 1-2 months only. The thought of watching spring spring on our futur farm is enough to send shivers up my spine. I try to keep that under control.

28

Well, here’s a little update:

We’ve had a good number of viewings.

Our agent just called to tell me someone put an offer in. :eek: I don’t know how much yet.

:: keeping fingers crossed ::

29

Hey, I’ve been wondering about you! Good news! I was talking over the terms of the first offer I’d received with my agent (we didn’t like a lot of the conditions) and he yells out - “Forget it, another one is coming in on the fax right now!”

We took the second offer, and we’re hoping to close in the 20’s of Feb.

I am a wreck - even though things are going well!! :slight_smile:

I am really glad you updated your thread - it sure makes me feel better telling you about my experience and hearing about yours.

Wishing you a full price offer, with no strings!!

30

Bravo! I’m keeping both fingers crossed for you. (in between keystrokes)

I know what you mean about being a wreck. I feel like I haven’t slept in 4 days! Is this your first real house sale? It is not our first sale, but it is the first one we are handling all on our own. The previous one was sold for us while we were out of province. We just got a call one day… “Oh, your house sold last week.” Yippee, says we and ran out and bought this one.

Bwahahahahaha- if we got even close to what we are asking, I’d be laughing so hard I’d probably cramp up and die. The offer came in at just over 2/3 our asking price. Waaaaaayyy to low. But hell, it’s only been listed for like 2 weeks so no panic yet.

We are going to counter offer tomorrow. This may fly, but not likely.

Patience is a virtue.
Patience is a virtue.
Patience is a virtue.
Patience is a virtue.

ya, right.

Despite the low offer, I’m encouraged. Only 2 weeks listed and we have an offer. Decent start.

31

It sounds like absolute heaven on earth, dewt.

I don’t know if this is the same as your “earthship” idea, but years ago my mom looked very seriously into earth-sheltered homes. We toured some, and I may even have her blueprints around here somewhere. I’ll look. You’re welcome to them if I find them.

Basically most of the house is underground; a front facade is left open and some cleverly engineered light-slits, etc. around. I can’t say they were things of architectuaral beauty from the outside, but they blended so well into the landscape they had their own kind of grace. (You’d need a slight hill or rise, btw.)

The houses themselves were amazingly inexpensive. Basically you excavate a hole back into the hillside, put the concrete structure in, then cover it back up. The earth acts as natural insulation, and heating costs are minimal. Some just used fireplaces and woodstoves; very comfy. Though that’s why the initial engineering is important, for structual strength, venilation, etc. But the actual building costs are peanuts, relatively speaking, and maintenance is minimal. Amazing how much you can save when you don’t have to worry about exposed exteriors, e.g. protecting from the enviroment, doo dads, etc. The ones we saw had a sort of porch/patio in front–and root cellars built in back!

Oddly enough, they weren’t in the least dark or claustrophobic. Obviously they paid extra attention to lighting, but unless you’re used to uncurtained windows you probably wouldn’t notice a difference.

It’s eminently doable–but if I may–reconsider the built on bed & breakfast idea. Extra structure, extra expense, killer maintenance and a high bar for projected business to cover costs. I’d suggest going for some extra living space and maybe another bathroom in your projected home and go for the “offbeat” trade–especially since it’s in an isolated area. I’ve seen too many people around here go broke rehabbing elaborate Victorians, thinking the B&B trade would recoup costs.

The fun of B&Bs is they’re unique. An earthship B&B, with a resident potter, stained-glass maker, home-grown food, etc.? Putting your resources into that angle would save you mega-bucks, be a lot more marketable and helluva lot more fun for you as well.

In all honesty, you’re doing a great thing, dewt. It’s the life you want and only logistics remain. They’ll work out.

Veb

32

dude… did I ever need to hear that just now.

Thanks. :smiley: