Larry is a really nice guy, a real estate agent who is house hunting with an Upcycler. I am the Upcycler searching for a house to do up and make a home.
I don’t have a big budget so I’m competing in a hot market full of bargain hunters who want to find a house to flip and make a profit in short order.
Two days ago I took a look at this house:
This house is in the small town where I’d like to live in an older part of town, not too far from the charming downtown. For an upcycler enamored with vintage look and feel, this house had good bones and would make a great upcycling project. The biggest attraction for me was the enormous garage ready to become vintage furniture workshop deluxe!
There was lots of potential workshop space inside the house as well. I spent about 8 hours obsessed with this house and the upcycling life I could see for myself here!
But… Reason prevailed when I talked it over with Larry today.
See the water?
This house is built on a flood plain with a basement that extends below the water table. In a small room you can’t see in this picture there was a cascade of water falling through pipes into a cistern. There’s probably a sump pump that works as long as electricity is on and probably used to be a generator to keep the pump going when the electricity failed.
Too much. I had to say good-bye to my fantasy and let go of my focus on this house and how to fix the problem so I could be the one to do it up into the fabulous house I thought it could be.
House Hunting Tips
You know, the trouble with looking at all these houses is that I’m really keen to “nest” right now. I’m yearning for a stable base of operations for my life back in the USA and the Skagit Valley in Washington State. So as I look I have a tendency to latch on to houses that are going to be too much for me to manage–or houses that are outside of my real budget.
So if I have any one tip for house hunters right now, it is, “Don’t be in a hurry.” Easy to say, right?
Larry asked if I am patient. My ex-husband chuckled (not sure what that means) and I decided that while I might not be a patient person, I do know how to exercise patience. And so I’ve decided to stay focused on what I want and can afford and can enjoy (as opposed to obsessing and worrying).
Re-Use and Re-Imagining
While I’ve been engaged in this process what has moved to the foreground in my thoughts and experience is:
Gratitude
:-D Gratitude for the experience I’ve had rehabbing houses in Australia. Although decades ago, I have a grasp of what need to be done and how much time and money it will take — and what is realistically DIY and what will take a professional trades person.
:-D Gratitude that my ex-husband is willing to help me get into a home and that I have friends that are good advisers.
:-D Gratitude that I am healthy and energetic enough to tackle it, re-using what I can salvage from a life rich with house hunting and house rehabbing and materials salvaging in this part of re-imagining this phase of my life.
What I’m finding out about what’s important to me and what I bring to the search is enlightening. I am confident that this is a process that will result in a good outcome and that I will get what I want and need. This is a huge step forward for me.
Warm regards,
Kate Williams: UpCycling My Life into something with new beauty and purpose.
Mount Vernon, WA – March 17, 2014
P.S. I will always value your comments and messages here in my blog and at my Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/UpCyclingMyLife
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