New House

Well. We did it. We bought a house! Let me back it up and give you the story - 'cause you know I am always full of long winded details :-)

View from the street of our rental property!

We were made aware of a house for sale in our approximate neighbourhood (1 mile away), kinda through the grapevine/in a roundabout way. Brian (always one for the grand plans) wanted to take a look. This was probably about 2 months ago. We really really liked it. Great street, great area, cute house.

A lady had purchased the home in hopes of remodeling a little and having it as a rental. During her brief remodel experience, she decided that this life was not for her (construction/landlord). She said she "didn't have the stomach for it". Not sure what that exactly means. Or says about us. We are currently both in the construction business, and landlords. lol. Apparently we're stomaching it.

the bathroom

So we set out on the course to see if we could buy the house from her and rent it out ourselves! With all the research we put into it, and working out financing etc, it wasn't necessarily the fastest deal ever to go down, but fast enough! We bought this house without a real estate agent, so we became much more familiar with the house buying process, having to do it all ourselves.

So we bought (another) house. Are we nuts?! Does this mean that we are suddenly some crazy rich people? Uh, no. In the short term, our monthly finances will be about the same as always (since we have to pay the mortgage). But we are trying to think long term here. The hope is that in about 15 years we will own 2 homes free and clear! So maybe in the long run this will be a good thing for us. Are we 100% sure about the housing markets and the future? No, of course not. But we are attempting to make the best financial decisions we can based on the resources that we have. Never having belonged to any sort of "high income" category we are just plugging along, doing what we can.

the back of the house, this part houses a back entryway, a laundry room, and a shed.

We have been very blessed with 2 homes that we could sell for quite a bit more than what we owe on them - even in this crummy real estate economy!

I'm very thankful for a forward-thinking husband. I'm too cautious and too much of a worrywart to ever make the big steps like this:-) It was his initial idea for us to purchase a duplex back in 2004. Looking at our finances, he knew we couldn't afford to buy a house, unless we could also make money off it. In the lean times (work wise), there is no way we would have "made it", had it not been for this house, and the income we get from it.

God has been so good to us, and we're grateful. We will try our very best to be faithful stewards.

I'll post a few more pics for the interested. It's a completely unfurnished home, so...not much to look at. It's about 1100 sq ft, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath.

The kitchen. The only thing we want to do is sell this gas range, and buy an electric stove, eliminating the need for gas to the house. That "thing" above the stove is an intricately painted range cover. Not sure if I'm liking it, Brian thinks its neat.

The breakfast nook. All the house has new quarter round, but none of it is painted. Job for Darla, I bet!

The laundry room is in the "shed" area off the back of the house. It is quite spacious and has 2 new appliances

looking from the kitchen, through the dining room and living room, to the front door.

The bedrooms are a very good size, despite the pic angles. It is just a little smaller (by about 1 bedroom) from our current house (lower floor only). It has much better storage than our current house!