More building
Jan 10,2008 10:14 PM
Sorry folks, no fresh pictures my camera's broken.
I promise next time to put up pictures of the completed rabbit hutch.
I promise next time to put up pictures of the completed rabbit hutch.
Sorry folks, no fresh pictures my camera's broken.
I promise next time to put up pictures of the completed rabbit hutch.
We're embarking on some long-overdue construction right now. We built our little house with the idea that it'd be a temporary house until we built our "dream house" on the hill. To that end, we didn't allow room for an actual laundry room, and only gave it one bathroom. Well, the barn with those functions burned down after the house was already framed, leaving us in the awkward (and Beverly Hillbillyish) position of putting our washer and dryer on the front porch. Cool. When we were living in Suburban Mesquite six years ago, you never could have told us we'd be washing clothes on the porch...
Anyway, the little house is cozy and as our kids grow up and start thinking about leaving the nest, it's becoming our "not so big" dream house. We *do* need a proper laundry room, though. I finally got off my stubborn insistence that we do everything with our own hands and pay cash as we go. As much of a nice principle as it is, it just wasn't working in real life. I've got a job, we've got a business, and with a few hours in the evening and the occasional weekend, there's no way to make the kinds of changes we needed to make. We went to the bank that holds our land mortgage (there is no mortgage on the house because it was all built on Home Depot credit cards and gifts from Grandma), and asked for a home equity refinance to get cash to expand the house, build some fences, and improve some barns. They looked at the appreciation of land in the area and granted our request. Shazam! A real budget!
When all is said and done we'll have a lower mortgage rate and about the same loan payment as before, an extra bathroom, laundry room, and an office. I plan to get a camera soon to photo-document this process, something I failed miserably at when we were building the current house (because we were too busy building to take pictures).
It seems like winter just started, and we're already getting a burst of appointments for spring parties. We look forward to a fun year in the critters business, thanks to all of you who have made it possible to live this crazy dream.
Love,
--
Keb'm & Cathy
I promise next time to put up pictures of the completed rabbit hutch.
We're embarking on some long-overdue construction right now. We built our little house with the idea that it'd be a temporary house until we built our "dream house" on the hill. To that end, we didn't allow room for an actual laundry room, and only gave it one bathroom. Well, the barn with those functions burned down after the house was already framed, leaving us in the awkward (and Beverly Hillbillyish) position of putting our washer and dryer on the front porch. Cool. When we were living in Suburban Mesquite six years ago, you never could have told us we'd be washing clothes on the porch...
Anyway, the little house is cozy and as our kids grow up and start thinking about leaving the nest, it's becoming our "not so big" dream house. We *do* need a proper laundry room, though. I finally got off my stubborn insistence that we do everything with our own hands and pay cash as we go. As much of a nice principle as it is, it just wasn't working in real life. I've got a job, we've got a business, and with a few hours in the evening and the occasional weekend, there's no way to make the kinds of changes we needed to make. We went to the bank that holds our land mortgage (there is no mortgage on the house because it was all built on Home Depot credit cards and gifts from Grandma), and asked for a home equity refinance to get cash to expand the house, build some fences, and improve some barns. They looked at the appreciation of land in the area and granted our request. Shazam! A real budget!
When all is said and done we'll have a lower mortgage rate and about the same loan payment as before, an extra bathroom, laundry room, and an office. I plan to get a camera soon to photo-document this process, something I failed miserably at when we were building the current house (because we were too busy building to take pictures).
It seems like winter just started, and we're already getting a burst of appointments for spring parties. We look forward to a fun year in the critters business, thanks to all of you who have made it possible to live this crazy dream.
Love,
--
Keb'm & Cathy
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