Skip to main content

Seeing Dollar Signs

The numbers match up.

That's the good and the bad news, all wrapped up in one.

Contractor number two emailed me today with the rough estimate on the two story house. By his estimate, the house would be anywhere between $280-340,000 depending on the types of finishes etc.

Did your jaw just hit the floor?

Mine didn't. Not this time anyways.

I already had a pretty good idea what his numbers were going to look like due to contractor number ones estimate.

The good news, is that both contractors numbers are pretty close. This means that they are likely giving me pretty solid, honest estimates.

The bad news, of course, is that we cannot, will not, are not, ever going to be able to afford anything that expensive.

So right now, we will continue looking for a floor plan that is much more within our reach.

I am still thinking about a one story plan with a bonus room like this.

Or.......

There's also the old farm house I mentioned briefly here.

I just always keep coming back to it. It's a two story, five bedroom, one bath house. We believe it was built around 1920.

The thing is, I have loved that house from the first day I laid eyes on it.

Everyone keeps saying it's more work than its worth, but there is no way it is over $300,000 worth of work. Renovating that house would mean, real wood floors, original doors, two stories, arched doorways and over eight foot ceilings.

All the things that are going to cost me some serious $ to build new.

The Hub's and others may see dollar signs and time consuming work where I see beauty, but I will not give up that fight until the very end.

So I guess what I am saying, is that nothing is set in stone. I am still considering every option out there. Renovating, building new, two story, one story, there are so many options to still look at.

I want a safe, warm, house for my family to call home. I will get there, it will take time, but I believe that there is a compromise that will work for us.

I may have to spend hours going over plans, and days going over pro's and con's. I may have to spend a year or two working out the details, but in the end it will be entirely worth it.

The blizzard continues here, so I guess I'll spend some more time browsing pictures here and floor plans here.

Have you ever fixed up an old house or built new? Which would you recommend?

Have a lovely day!

Source unknown

 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Changes

I was cleaning today, which gave me time to think, and thinking always leads me here. The house is 'weekend messy', so decided to clean my floors, because The Nester says if your floors are clean the rest of the house feels clean too, even if it isn’t.  I have found that it is pretty good advice, so when everything else feels chaotic, I clean the floors. Of course for me, cleaning the floors also means picking up the toys, shoes, clothes, etc. so that I can even begin to vacuum, which naturally leads to a cleaner home as well.  While cleaning up I began to think about how this blog has evolved over the years, from a desire to write like The Nester about home, into what it is now.  I started writing this blog when I was dreaming of building a new home. Then plans changed, life took turns, and we ended up in a home so different than I expected and so perfect for our family. Somewhere along the way I realized that home wasn’t in the walls that went up or in ...
13 comments
Read more

Ordinary Magic

I am still here. Despite all the challenges of the past year, you are reading this and I am writing it, so we we made it. I won't even try to wrap up what we have all been through, I am just going to acknowledge we all lived and processed through the past year by whatever means necessary.  As I look back on it, it's crazy to think how much fear and heartache the last year held but also how much joy and ordinary life as well.  It's been quiet here on the blog as some of you have noticed and checked in on me. The quiet gave way to the most exciting thing though, I am now a published author, along with some incredible friends! The devotional, Lighthouse Collections— Beacons of Light in Life's Storms, is a work of passion and prayers. My dear friend Megan Miller contacted me last year about contributing to a devotional and I was thrilled to be included. Between going back to school for my Masters degree and writing for the devotional, I had not found the time or the words t...
2 comments
Read more

Happiness

I am a New Years girl. I love goals and check lists and I love the feeling of a fresh start, but resolutions have never been my thing. A few year ago I began picking a word for the year and I found that it works really well for me.  Setting a word for the year has helped me to focus on a quality that I want to grow in myself. Last years word was ‘ intentional ’. It was a full year and in a lot of ways a really hard year. Being intentional with my words, thoughts and actions helped me to really lean into the relationships in my life. The past year felt somber though. It was good and I grew more than I could have imagined, but it also felt serious and deep. I need some relief. This year after praying over it and considering what I would like more of in the coming year, I knew that my word for 2019 had to be 'happiness'. I want more laughter, more spontaneity, more fun in 2019 and none of those things come naturally to me. I thought about words like joy and contentment b...
Post a Comment
Read more