Home envy; I gots it.

[PNWguy]

I visited my sister for a week to celebrate my big 5-0 birthday.

Her and her husband are great people.  He works on the family farm and was born into substantial wealth.  But he is a farmer so works his butt off for about five months out of the year. She is a stay at home mom with three kids.

They built a new home a couple of years ago that is just amazing.  5k square feet, best of everything, and done in the latest trends.  At first, I was just blown away by the quality and luxury.

After a week of staying there, I got used to it.  Then I came home to my 1400sq ft craphole...

Now I just am completely ashamed of my house.  I bought it three years ago for $115k and the only improvements I've done are gutting and rebuilding a guest bedroom, installed a mini-bar, new wrap around deck, new privacy fence, and a firepit.  But the interior needs a ton of work.  The single bathroom needs gutted and expanded.  Tough to do when you only have one bathroom.

Due to Washington going full retard politically, I'm planning on selling after the interior is updated and move to Idaho, anyway.

But ever since I've gotten back from my sister's, I've just been particularly annoyed by my house.

Her house...

 

 

[paul45]

So...

Stop buying guns and accessories and get serious about fixing your place up?

[PNWguy]

1 minute ago, paul45 said:

So...

Stop buying guns and accessories and get serious about fixing your place up?

[ASH]

its the people that make a house a home .  when you are not  around i guarantee  they got problems just like everyone else.  my family could afford alot more then we got .. but it would not make us happier .   i reckon im lucky i do not have envy of anyone .  

looks like a nice house  , spread out to wide for my liking .  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PNWguy]

2 minutes ago, ASH said:

 

looks like a nice house  , spread out to wide for my liking .  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My sister is a saint and designed the house so everything is on one level and accessible by wheelchair for when my parents get too old.  All of the doors are wide enough for wheelchairs and electric scooter things.

But it is spread way out and I have gotten momentarily confused as to where I was and taken some wrong turns, lol.

[gwalchmai]

Every journey begins with a single driveway...

[jame]

I grew up in one of those mini mansions, and they aren’t all they’re cut out to be.  As things age out, repairs get extremely expensive.  Heating and cooling can be ungodly expensive, keeping in mind that HVAC takes on a whole new face when it’s in a big place as opposed to a small one.  Cold spots and hot spots are common, as are drafts.  

Oh, and don’t forget you get to clean it now and again.  All of it.

I built my home to be 1/3 the size of that of my parents, and I’m delighted.

[ASH]

2 minutes ago, gwalchmai said:

Every journey begins with a single driveway...

some going downhill    ?

[PNWguy]

Just now, jame said:

I grew up in one of those mini mansions, and they aren’t all they’re cut out to be.  As things age out, repairs get extremely expensive.  Heating and cooling can be ungodly expensive, keeping in mind that HVAC takes on a whole new face when it’s in a big place as opposed to a small one.  Cold spots and hot spots are common, as are drafts.  

Oh, and don’t forget you get to clean it now and again.  All of it.

I built my home to be 1/3 the size of that of my parents, and I’m delighted.

They use a heat pump system of some sort.  Two of them, actually.  My BIL said their monthly utility bill was around $280, which isn't too bad.  Mine's $96.

As for the cleaning, my sister has a lady come in once a week and do the floors, bathrooms, and dusting.  My sister still does the laundry and kitchen.  

[crockett]

A custom home done with high quality materials, by skilled and trained workers and with enough room for future endeavors really enhances your life, as long as you can pay cash or the monthly payments are on the smaller side compared to your steady income.

I was still not able to find the lot of my dreams and with Florida almost turning blue I'll give it another 2 years to see how things will be. I rented the current house for a few years just to make sure that I like the area, but just bought it. This will not be my final home, I'm just not willing to waste any more equity. Closing is on 12/31, right in time to file for homestead exception 2019.

This is a new house, build in 2014 with plenty of water in my backyard, in a good community, but not what I permanently want. Will rent it out as soon as I have found my final destination in the form of at least 10 acres and a custom house with some 3,000 sqft. Plenty for me and my hobbies. I do have the floor plan already.

 

 

 

[tadbart]

51 minutes ago, PNWguy said:

My sister is a saint and designed the house so everything is on one level and accessible by wheelchair for when my parents get too old.  All of the doors are wide enough for wheelchairs and electric scooter things.

But it is spread way out and I have gotten momentarily confused as to where I was and taken some wrong turns, lol.

Tinkering with plans for a Colorado house. Probably around 3500 sf. Definitely building to ADA standard with wider doorways, shower rails, single level, etc.

I'd much rather a "smaller" house than a larger one with wasted, unusable space as I get older. But then again, I've also got plans for a 25'x40' shop, too.

[KWalrad]

1 hour ago, PNWguy said:

They use a heat pump system of some sort.  Two of them, actually.  My BIL said their monthly utility bill was around $280, which isn't too bad.  Mine's $96.

As for the cleaning, my sister has a lady come in once a week and do the floors, bathrooms, and dusting.  My sister still does the laundry and kitchen.  

$280? $96?

 

Holy sheet! That's cheap. 1700 sq. ft forty year old shitbox.  But it's my shitbox, and I'm proud to own it.

 

Life isn't about having what you want, it's about wanting what you have.

 

[jame]

55 minutes ago, KWalrad said:

$280? $96?

 

Holy sheet! That's cheap. 1700 sq. ft forty year old shitbox.  But it's my shitbox, and I'm proud to own it.

 

Life isn't about having what you want, it's about wanting what you have.

 

Well said, Brother.....

[Foxterriermom]

It would be very easy for me to get caught up in comparing what I don't have compared to what others have as far as housing goes, but when I start going down that road I remind myself that I probably have something nicer than at least 75% of the the world's population and I become ashamed of myself.  I've learned it's easier to count my blessings and be thankful for what I do have than it is to lament over what I don't have and think I need.  A house doesn't make a home - people make the home.

[Maccabeus]

15 hours ago, jame said:

I grew up in one of those mini mansions, and they aren’t all they’re cut out to be.  As things age out, repairs get extremely expensive.  Heating and cooling can be ungodly expensive, keeping in mind that HVAC takes on a whole new face when it’s in a big place as opposed to a small one.  Cold spots and hot spots are common, as are drafts.  

Oh, and don’t forget you get to clean it now and again.  All of it.

I built my home to be 1/3 the size of that of my parents, and I’m delighted.

Exactly!

I suppose if you have more money than you can spend, why not have twice as much roofing to replace, ductwork to clean, flooring to refinish, walls to repaint, yard to keep up, appliances to repair, other people to pay for upkeep, etc., etc. 

After all, it's only your limited income and the unknown finite number of hours of your life that you are burning away the more stuff you accumulate.

I try to accept the "less is more" theory when it comes to possessions.

"After all, what good is it for a man to gain the whole world and yet forfeit his soul?"

 

[tadbart]

1 hour ago, Maccabeus said:

 

"After all, what good is it for a man to gain the whole world and yet forfeit his soul?"

 

"I already have a guilty conscience. May as well have the money, too."

~W. Earp

[Maccabeus]

18 hours ago, crockett said:

A custom home done with high quality materials, by skilled and trained workers and with enough room for future endeavors really enhances your life, as long as you can pay cash or the monthly payments are on the smaller side compared to your steady income.

I was still not able to find the lot of my dreams and with Florida almost turning blue I'll give it another 2 years to see how things will be. I rented the current house for a few years just to make sure that I like the area, but just bought it. This will not be my final home, I'm just not willing to waste any more equity. Closing is on 12/31, right in time to file for homestead exception 2019.

This is a new house, build in 2014 with plenty of water in my backyard, in a good community, but not what I permanently want. Will rent it out as soon as I have found my final destination in the form of at least 10 acres and a custom house with some 3,000 sqft. Plenty for me and my hobbies. I do have the floor plan already.

 

 

 

Interesting design.  I can't decide if I really like that or really don't.

Three questions:

Edited December 20, 2018 by Maccabeus

[racerford]

3 hours ago, Foxterriermom said:

It would be very easy for me to get caught up in comparing what I don't have compared to what others have as far as housing goes, but when I start going down that road I remind myself that I probably have something nicer than at least 75% of the the world's population and I become ashamed of myself.  I've learned it's easier to count my blessings and be thankful for what I do have than it is to lament over what I don't have and think I need.  A house doesn't make a home - people make the home.

I would venture it is on the high side 95%. We underestimate how fortunate we are compared to the rest of the world. Having travelled to other parts of the world, I was stunned at how most people lived, even in developed countries. Our houses are massive by comparison. We have central heat and A/C and full sized refrigerators, and dish washers and clothes washers, dryers, etc.

We should be thankful every single day.

[crockett]

49 minutes ago, Maccabeus said:

Interesting design.  I can't decide if I really like that or really don't.

Three questions:

 

This is a plan I found a long time ago. My version will be based on this idea for the most part. Those are AC condenser and the wall would be rather a fence which I would skip entirely.