Warning: Long post, ha!
We have been discussing what we want to do at the farm, what our goals are, etc. Not with the property/land, we know what we want to do with that and we're working on that part (every weekend, ha).
So we sat down these last few weekends of the new year and started making lists.
We're thinking of what to do about the house. As we approach our mid 50's, we realize retirement is our goal and it is rapidly coming. The property is a key part of that. The house however is not ready for retirement.
Recently, we made a list of what needs to be done at the house and even got a few estimates on some of them. Here they are (in no particular order):
We absolutely need a new roof
The bathroom needs to be gutted and redone
We need a new water heater
We need new flooring in the mudroom and foyer since the cheap vinyl we have is coming up
There is no central a/c, just two window units in the Summer and we're finding that they aren't effective in cooling so it's hard to enjoy the house in the heat
A new (larger) septic tank and system to handle washing machine, two (or more) showers a day, etc
Most importantly, there is no heat at all for Winter freezing episodes (which puts the plumbing at risk) and means we can't stay in the Winter because either the water is shut off or it's just too cold
The underside needs to be enclosed and the water pipes protected (see above)
The entire exterior has to be painted and we need new siding in a few spots
We need new doors and screen doors
The house needs to be leveled because cracks are appearing
The porch ceiling, stairs and railing all need to be redone.
If I could add sound to this post, there would be a cash register ringing after each one of the items above, ha. Yes, we could do some of the work ourselves, albeit slowly since we are time limited. But other bigger things are beyond our ability and our pay grade. New roof? No. Installing central a/c and heat? No. Leveling the house? No. Septic tank replacement? No. Gutting and remodeling the bathroom, maybe but more likely, no. These are the biggies that we would rather have done correctly by professionals.
As we said, this is our retirement place after all and we want it done correctly so we have less to worry about. These items add up quickly. Some of the estimates we have received over the last few months:
New roof - $4500
New bathroom - $8000
Leveling the house - $1800
Siding/doors/paint - $6000
New window units - $1000 or new central a/c system with furnace - $8000
If we just had ONLY these things done, we're closing in on $30,000. That's a LOT of money to pour into an already old house and that's not everything on that list nor is it factoring in things that could be discovered during the other work.
What we're weighing now is at what point do we start pouring money into an old house that could give us even more problems we don't currently know about a few years down the road versus just starting over with a newly built house that might be reasonably trouble free for another decade or two?
2nd Man enjoys his cooking, I want to get more into canning and do crafting projects, but the house as it is now is just way too small for that. It's about 950 square feet. The kitchen is very small. Our apartment is actually bigger and has more storage. Another consideration is our comfort of living. If we did all of this work, there is still only one bathroom (not ideal for having family at the holidays) and there is NO laundry room nor even a place for one (and we have to have a way to do all of our laundry). It's fine now as a place to go on the weekend for a couple of days but we have to start looking at it as a place to live full time in a few more years.
SO...we're thinking it might be time to look into what would be involved in getting something new. We're fully furnished so we have the interior decorating side of things ready. It would not be anything huge either, not even two story. In fact, we'd have a house in the same position, at least the rear and the right side. As for the front and the left side, the yard in those places is empty and so something new could be bigger and move out in both of those directions. But again, nothing huge, just more livable for the way we live. 1500/1700 square feet. 3 bedroom 2 bath with a large kitchen and a laundry room.
We'd like a fireplace or wood stove too.
And a big porch.
Granted any house can have problems, even new ones. But nothing so major as sinking thousands of dollars into it and having something else happen right after that. A new home also has expenses we'll have to do that we don't currently have to worry about. The biggest would be a new driveway (we share the entrance driveway with 2nd Family and we don't want construction trucks damaging that).
We're looking at all options. Modular, log cabin, bardonminium, even a local company that makes homes out of shipping containers.
It's still early in the process and there is a LOT to consider. But before we keep putting sweat equity into the house, we need to decide if the house as it is now will be there when we're ready to retire.
If we make the decision that new is how we'll go, we can focus more on the property now and not worry about correcting things inside and trying to keep up flowerbeds around the house and do things like an outdoor shower, porch furniture, etc.
This does NOT impact the garden or the barns or the fruit trees or having bees or anything like that. In fact, it would just allow us to put more time and effort into THOSE things and not worry about the house right now. The little house has served us well so far and will continue to serve us as we transition to something new/different at the farm. We still have a place to go spend the night a few nights a month when the weather is nice, it's a safe space from the rain and the heat when I'm working outside (in front of the window unit, ha). It's still a place to relax on the porch and plan and daydream.
EDIT: SO many wonderful and thoughtful responses will start replying to them tonight. Keep 'em coming!
