At Home In The Woods

[EddieWalker]

Interesting thread, and one I look forward to following.

I came real close to buying a trailer to move into when I got divorced. I had the land and had built a barn on it, but that was about it. I decided to live in the barn and work on it 24/7 to make an apartmen along the side of it. For awhile there, I didn't have a bathroom, but it was warm enough outside that I took a shower with a hose and dug a hole for a bathroom. Since I was messed up about the divorce, I really didn't care, so it all worked out. In hindsite, buying a trailer might have made life a little eaiser, but it was good therapy building the apartment.

My current house is onloy 1,000 square feet, and I built it without taking out a loan. One day we plan on building a nice home twice the size of this one, but until then, we're comfortable and appreciative of not having a mortgage.

Eddie

 

[czechsonofagun]

61 rural ac??/ NO...Don't sell it! That is a beautifull tract of land, & you will regret selling. We are an hour away from Knox and that's too close for us. I spent an entire career in a big metro area....never again! I'll spend the rest of my time here...when I go, someone can use the FEL to drop my corpse into the compost pile.

Our creek:

Is it an Airedale?

 

[two_bit_score]

So now we own two pieces of land, the 61 acres on the Cumberland Plateau 1 1/2 hour from Knoxville, and 30 acres 30 minutes from Knoxville. Since we don't need both, we have recently put the 61 acre piece on the market. The 30 acre tract is where we will make our home.

Obed, it is, of course, your choice to do what you think is best for your situation and I'm sure you are able to make the best decision for your family.

That said, I'd like to just offer this experience. I've always regretted selling any property that I have sold. No matter how convienced I was that it was best to sell it when I did, I have always regretted it later. I have never regretted keeping any of the property I have kept.

Looks like things are working out well for you ad I look forward to reading more about your interesting experiences.

 

[MotorSeven]

Czeh, thast's Murphy, one of our Welsh Terriers. We have Annie she just had a litter this week....5 pups! They are really neat dogs.....very acrobatic.

RD

 

[Obed]

Jim and two_bit_score,
The Cumberland Plateau property was my dream property. When we saw it for sale within our price range, I immediately fell in love with it. The Cumberland Plateau property really is a special, hard-to-find piece. Yes, there will be regrets to sell it. However, I feel blessed to be able to keep the 30 acre property where we are building our house. We like this property enough to be happy to live on it until we die. With so many people struggling these days with the economy, I'm very thankful to God for what we have.

 

[Obed]

Eddie,
You are extremely wise to build your place without a loan. I'm sure you realize how wierd that makes you seem in our culture. However, with the recent real estate deflation and recession, you now look like a genius. I'll bet you sleep well at night.

Obed

 

[Obed]

Tonight my realtor called me to let me know he will be showing the plateau property tomorrow afternoon. The prospective buyers sound like the ideal people for the property. I've got my fingers crossed. The property has been on the market about a month. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high.

 

[Obed]

So why are we trying to sell the 61 acres? When we were shopping for property near Knoxville closer to my work, we considered buying a modest house and keeping the plateau property as a weekend getaway and plan to move there when we retire. But here's the twist. During our 12 year camper living spree, there was a 2 year period where we bought and lived in a small house in eastern NC in the country on 8 acres. My wife fell in love with country living and just couldn't bear the thought of living in a subdivision ever again. Thus we ended up buying a bigger tract of property in the Knoxville area, i.e. 30 acres, making it seem rather extravagant to keep the 61 acres on the plateau.

 

[Obed]

In 2003, we bought the house on 8 acres in eastern NC at an estate auction. The house was in terrible shape. It had been empty for 3 years. All the appliances, water heater, and well pump had all been stripped out of the house. We completely renovated the inside of the house including tearing down walls and fixed all the wood and siding rot on the outside. The wife and I did most of the work but hired some of the work out that we felt over our heads. We spent 6 months fixing the house, lived in it for 4 months, then I got a contract job 3 hours away in Charlotte, NC. For the next 1 1/2 years, I travelled home on weekends and lived in the camper in Charlotte during the week. My wife stayed in our house during this time. We finally sold the house and 8 acres and then my wife joined me in Charlotte. Here are a few pictures of our little house (1040 square feet).

 

[valley]

Looks good Obed. Looks like you're pulling it all together.