A Christian Woman Thinks (And It's Dangerous)

For Jennifer - Part of Our Story

I was asked how we came to be in the situation we are in now, selling our house & building with my mom to live together... so I thought I'd share a bit here.

My mom has long been concerned about our school system here. She has also disliked our house mainly, I think, because it's small, needs a bit of work, and is about a half hour from her house. My younger brother lives about a half mile from her house, and I think she kind of likes that.

We tinkered with the idea of somehow living together for quite a while - selling both our houses & buying a bigger place, putting an addition on her house, etc. The best idea we could come up with was putting an entire second floor on  her ranch home and living together there. The second floor would be for our bedrooms, office, bathrooms, and laundry area. We would share part of the downstairs - the kitchen & living room - and the rest of the downstairs would be hers for a bedroom, a living room area, a bathroom, and a laundry area.

Hopefully this helps us all out - my mom can use some help with simple things like putting out the trash, bringing in the groceries, etc. She has a problem walking as she needs a surgery and is in pain often. By moving it also helps us - we get a bigger place, the kids attend a school we are familiar and comfortable with (I attended these schools), and hopefully there is enough space so everyone is happy and out of each other's hair when needed!

My mom has already refinanced her home to start building the second floor. We need to sell, put our money away and buy the house from her when it's done. We are hoping to make enough so that when we buy we can put a lot down & keep our payments at ALMOST what we pay now - maybe a little higher. We should have a home that's worth $250,000 to $300,000 or better in today's market for less than half of that amount. We could never purchase this amount of home on our own. This is a gift from my mother, in that she is giving up her home and privacy so we can do this! In return, we have to promise never to put her in a nursing home, heh heh.

My younger brother is the general contractor. He is a great penny pincher, and will probably be doing a lot of the work himself. Otherwise, what we want done could not get done on the $100,000 budget we have. This is another gift. I don't think I could babysit enough to make up for this gift.

It wouldn't make sense to pass up this opportunity. We will be able to sell our house for almost double what we paid - there won't be a better time than now, we think. And as our older daughter, Joy, enters middle school, we don't have to worry about her attending a school where you can get condoms from the nurse.... (this is the middle school, friends). By the way, if the condoms don't work, when you hit high school here there's a nursery/day care for your kids so you can keep attending.

I don't mean to make it sound like this is the only area where this is a problem in the schools - there are other issues here, too. I work out of the home, and do not homeschool. We need to find a good school for our kids.

So, friends, thanks for listening, that's where we are right now. We had hoped to move before school started to get the kids enrolled in the new school system. We are still hoping to move this month, and to have another offer on our house. Please remember our project in your prayers!

And Jennifer, thanks for sharing about your project. What a blessing from your father in law! Is the addition almost done? Do you have photos to share?

Untitled Comment

{ 02:21, Tuesday, August 8, 2006 } { Posted by southernbelle }

~enjoyed reading what yall are up to. Isn't that terrible about the schools?!!

WOW!!

{ 07:25, Tuesday, August 8, 2006 } { Posted by Anonymous }

I feel so famous! My name is in the title of a blog entry! he he

It sounds like your family is all onboard with what you all plan to do. What a neat opportunity to serve the Lord. I'll be praying that things will go smoothly.

We have some family members that are becoming somewhat "jealous". It's tough. They live far away, and we are the ones who are "here". We don't want S's dad to go to a home when he reaches the point when he shouldn't be alone anymore. This is the best solution and yet it feels like we should be apologizing! Oh well...family...what are you going to do?

Jennifer

Ooops

{ 07:29, Tuesday, August 8, 2006 } { Posted by Anonymous }

Didn't answer all your questions! The addition is coming along. Nick B. is here taking care of the electrical. We have to wait on that to get to the insulation, sheet rock, etc. There will be a deck off the addition, wrapping around the 26 year old pool fil gave us 3 years ago...so that is being worked on this week. My kitchen is going to get pushed out 5 1/2 ft...more floor space and a bit more counter space. Trust me--VERY needed!! :) Our deadline is some time in September...we shall see! I'll bring pix on my digital Sunday...if I remember! ha!

Thanks for sharing

{ 10:30, Tuesday, August 8, 2006 } { Posted by teapots66 }

Hi, Jennifer --- you should just register so you can leave your name when you post!!!! Thanks for sharing. I know what you mean - I feel bad sometimes that my brothers will get nothing out of this house deal, but my mom has some other things to leave them. Don't feel bad. It just works out for you, take the blessing. You'll have to take the trial if it comes, too, should he need care later on - and they won't feel bad or jealous of you then! Heh heh --