*I’ve been writing these as we went, but thought I’d wait to post them until I had several together.*
For years Justin and I have talked about buying a piece of land where we could have a bigger garden and escape our HOA. Somewhere that you can have a farm fence instead of a very specific (very expensive) pre-chosen style of fence and tomatoes in the front yard, if that’s where they need to be to get sun.
In the summer of 2020 we began to look in earnest, searching for a place that was feasible for him to get to work, had the space we wanted, and fit our budget
We found there was nothing in our budget that would keep us close to where we are now, so we began to look in other areas that are still accessible to work for him.
We’ve found lots of steep hillsides for sale. Some drop off into waterways, others tower up high in rocky peaks, but every now and then something would look like it might work.
We took a big leap and started to refinance our house. That was a difficult journey!
We started off well. Our house had appreciated greatly since we purchased it and interest rates had dropped. We could refinance and have the same number of years on our loan as we currently had left, with approximately the same payments.
Then the waiver for our appraisal fell through because there had been FEMA events in our county last year. Neither one were in our zip code, but it was a county based rule. Not great, but the problem came when no one could figure out how to order an appraisal when the waiver was originally granted. It was long and drawn out, but we finally had cash in hand by the first of the year.
We lost the first lot I fell in love, which sold before we could get an offer in on it. I wonder what all that rock had been piled there for.
Then we spent several days driving past hills that would be next to impossible to build anything on and lots that would sell faster than offers could be worked out.
We’ve both had our favorites here and there. Now to settle on one.
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