TIME FOR A CHANGE OF ADDRESS?

Deep breaths Kerry. I'm a bit ramble-ey.

Gary and I are on an auction list for property. Every so often we get a listing in the mail, and often the house (or houses) look appealing. Usually they are on the other end of the earth, or have a deposit equal to the maximum amount we could pay.

Today however, we got this:It has SEVEN bedrooms, four bathrooms, on SIX acres.

The deposit is exactly what it should be to sell within our price range. Holy crap!

The only thing wrong with it is that it is located about 20 miles from our beloved Hometown. It's close to a property we were considering before buying our current home. Our broker at the time had us talk to friends of hers who lived in that town and they advised us that any money we saved by buying a house there would quickly be spent in gas traveling to our Hometown. That was her advice, back when fuel was a whopping $1.53 a gallon.

We have been trying to cut down on our driving, so it is possible that making one or two trips into town would be equal to the daily trips around town. And the kids are older now and we don't drive around as a way to keep sane anymore. Yes. I used to resort to "going for a drive" on those really long days.

Heck, we have had the same address for 5 years now. People are starting to worry, "Why haven't we gotten a change of address card from Kerry and Gary...have they died?"

Really the only thing that has me worried is giving up my neighborhood and being that much further from my friends, but know what? This amazing house has an in-law apartment (YES!) that our friends could come and stay in!!! How much fun would that be? Lots, that's how much.

I'm willing there to be something wrong with it, because so far it seems perfect, and I'm freaking out a little bit inside. I do NOT want to pack. Packing stinks.

Did you see all those porches? How about what looks like a walk up attic? I'm told it's a walk up FINISHED attic!!! 4500 square feet of living space. It really is perfect, is it not?!?!

Later: We drove out to look at the house. It isn't as far out as I thought it was. The neighborhood was perfect. There are about 8 houses on the street and it dead ends shortly after this one. There is a circular driveway, brick walkways, and a humongous back yard. It really is nice. There are some negatives though. The gutters were not on the house, but in the back yard. The house is painted clapboard (although now that I think of it, that isn't a negative!), and there are copper pipes in the front yard. My concern is that the former owners tried to strip the house before leaving. If there are no pipes, that would explain the affordability, but why would they be in the front yard and not long gone? We have to get inside to see what it looks like. My guess is that it's a mess, but a mess might be good to scare away other buyers. Everyone liked the house, including the location of the house.

I don't know how we could possibly make it work. With an auction you don't get the normal back outs that you do with a normal purchase agreement, and the owning of two houses is far outside of my comfort zone. So. If you hear of anyone who wants a four bedroom house in-town, give us a call.