Hasty home buying...the troubles, the perks.
When we bought our house here in southern New Hampshire I knew that it would be a little more "woodsy" then where I grew up in the suburbs of Boston. I mean we had deer in our backyard when I was a kid and my parents even maintained a small farm so I really didn't think that our little 2 acre parcel in Wilton NH was going to be that far from what I saw growing up in Hopkinton. I should also state that I honestly didn't have a clue about where I was moving to. When we were looking to purchase a house we were living in Virginia and had all of a 3 day trip (me alone with a infant and a toddler) to find and make a offer (basically give them what they wanted because we didn't have time to F around) on a house.
Purchasing a home with a crunch deadline is by far one of the worst things you can do. It leads to trouble undoubtedly. Basically the same thing that happens to everyone happens to you multiplied by ten. You LOVE the house when you are at the open house, you LOVE it when you ogle the MLS listing repeatedly, you even LOVE it when you do the final walk through. Then you sign your name to 1,000,000 pages of legal mumbo jumbo and slap that 30 year mortgage on your back and that house you LOVED a hour before...it just doesn't seem to look exactly as you remembered it. The basement seems wetter, there might be a funny smell in the bathroom, and that awesome barn, well it's full of 100 years of other peoples crap that you now are responsible for getting rid of.
I will admit that I didn't realize until closing day that 50 feet from the end of the driveway our road became a dirt road and that all the roads after that were unpaved as well. Oh and the 3 blue markers nailed to a tree across the street from my now front door were the markers for the beginning of the Russell Abbott State Forest. All 900 acres of its wild glory. I also didn't realize that after some rain the basement becomes the Russell Abbott State reservoir. A nice full and thorough investigation of the home would have revealed all of these things but who the hell has time for that right? We always liked to learn things that hard way. :)
Fast forward 2 years and I would not change a thing. Sure I miss the 5 minute drive to Target now and then but I would not trade the privacy and wilderness for any of those conveniences urban dwellers have. From the bear(s) that me and my children have been able to watch in the yard, the baby foxes that played around across the street for weeks, the wild turkeys (ugly as they are) that flock in mass to my yard, the horses that come by almost as frequently as the cars, and this morning a full grown male moose was standing on my walkway. Pretty amazing stuff.
Purchasing a home with a crunch deadline is by far one of the worst things you can do. It leads to trouble undoubtedly. Basically the same thing that happens to everyone happens to you multiplied by ten. You LOVE the house when you are at the open house, you LOVE it when you ogle the MLS listing repeatedly, you even LOVE it when you do the final walk through. Then you sign your name to 1,000,000 pages of legal mumbo jumbo and slap that 30 year mortgage on your back and that house you LOVED a hour before...it just doesn't seem to look exactly as you remembered it. The basement seems wetter, there might be a funny smell in the bathroom, and that awesome barn, well it's full of 100 years of other peoples crap that you now are responsible for getting rid of.
I will admit that I didn't realize until closing day that 50 feet from the end of the driveway our road became a dirt road and that all the roads after that were unpaved as well. Oh and the 3 blue markers nailed to a tree across the street from my now front door were the markers for the beginning of the Russell Abbott State Forest. All 900 acres of its wild glory. I also didn't realize that after some rain the basement becomes the Russell Abbott State reservoir. A nice full and thorough investigation of the home would have revealed all of these things but who the hell has time for that right? We always liked to learn things that hard way. :)
I'm not shitting you about the basement
Fast forward 2 years and I would not change a thing. Sure I miss the 5 minute drive to Target now and then but I would not trade the privacy and wilderness for any of those conveniences urban dwellers have. From the bear(s) that me and my children have been able to watch in the yard, the baby foxes that played around across the street for weeks, the wild turkeys (ugly as they are) that flock in mass to my yard, the horses that come by almost as frequently as the cars, and this morning a full grown male moose was standing on my walkway. Pretty amazing stuff.
The baby is standing behind the mama
See I wasn't too too close. ;)
4 legged traffic
Picture was taken with a iPad and personally I think I could sketch a better shot. Do you think you can find your camera when something amazing is in your yard...no.
Home sweet home.
So please somebody...(Amy?)...when I am maimed and eaten by a black bear who is pissed that I don't stock the birdseed like the previous owners did while wearing my bathrobe and Dov's work boots trying to get a good picture for Facebook, make sure this post somehow is read at my funeral. Thanks.
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