"Tony" Thought Journal 3.0

My family got home around 4:30 last night from the trip to South Carolina. They bought home a brochure and took photos of one houses that they liked. I looked through them quickly it seems okay, I prefer a house with a little more room between Neighbors.

They did some exploring in Greenville. They were impressed with a place called Bucky's which I'm told was a gas station with a convenience store, and a store that was a general store that I can't remember the name of, it was either Master's or Mast or something like that. My wife said they had a very large section of old-fashioned candy, she brought a bag full home.

I can already see there's going to be a few areas of concern about moving and getting the right house. For one my vision of a house and my wife and daughters are two different things. Plus they're more interested in the Aesthetics of the house, not the heating system, cooling system, whether it's well water, or city water or if they have sewers, or septic tanks. The house they showed me the laundry room is on the second floor, I won't be going up and down stairs much my daughter says she'll take care of the laundry. The master bedroom is also upstairs there is one guest bedroom down stairs that my wife and I can use but it's not much of an improvement size wise over our existing bedroom.

The property is half acre but it's very sloped. Walking around on it would be difficult for me. the rear deck is a postage stamp barely could fit a Grill on it. No trees, no shaded areas, I would like the outside backyard to be a little more interesting.

I looked at the floor plans I could find no reference to the Heat and cooling system. I did find a note that there was a stairway to the attic, so I assume the heating and cooling system is either in the Attic or the garage.

I think we're going to have to continue looking.
 
Tony Page said:
My family got home around 4:30 last night from the trip to South Carolina. They bought home a brochure and took photos of one houses that they liked. I looked through them quickly it seems okay, I prefer a house with a little more room between Neighbors.

They did some exploring in Greenville. They were impressed with a place called Bucky's which I'm told was a gas station with a convenience store, and a store that was a general store that I can't remember the name of, it was either Master's or Mast or something like that. My wife said they had a very large section of old-fashioned candy, she brought a bag full home.

I can already see there's going to be a few areas of concern about moving and getting the right house. For one my vision of a house and my wife and daughters are two different things. Plus they're more interested in the Aesthetics of the house, not the heating system, cooling system, whether it's well water, or city water or if they have sewers, or septic tanks. The house they showed me the laundry room is on the second floor, I won't be going up and down stairs much my daughter says she'll take care of the laundry. The master bedroom is also upstairs there is one guest bedroom down stairs that my wife and I can use but it's not much of an improvement size wise over our existing bedroom.

The property is half acre but it's very sloped. Walking around on it would be difficult for me. the rear deck is a postage stamp barely could fit a Grill on it. No trees, no shaded areas, I would like the outside backyard to be a little more interesting.

I looked at the floor plans I could find no reference to the Heat and cooling system. I did find a note that there was a stairway to the attic, so I assume the heating and cooling system is either in the Attic or the garage.

I think we're going to have to continue looking.
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House shopping is stressful to my way of thinking. First thing I do is check the foundation and the roof. A sloped yard may help with drainage. Age of furnace, water heater... Smell for mold in the walls...appliances included? How it looks inside can be changed with paint etc. and a good cleaning.
My husband had to DRAG me out of our last house. There are claw marks in the floor to the front door. I had made improvements myself: finished the basement, laid italian quarry tile....There was a laundry chute, which are now illegal as fire hazards, which I loved.
The house we settled on is too large for us now but I have no intention of leaving. It has a first floor laundry which I thought was odd, originally
. But as we are getting older, we will end up living on the first floor so it is a plus. One 3/4 bath is on the first floor which makes things easier. I finished the basement here and it is quite light and airy 'looking'. Quite cold in the summer so air conditioning will not be a necessity if energy becomes and issue...
Funny thing was I think we actually settled on this house because we were just too tired of looking. :rolleyes:
So many things to consider but some are more important than others at our age. I figure we can put a garden almost anywhere, right?
 
I would agree Tony, that place they showed you wasn't senior friendly and probably full of hidden problems. If the place had good water and you were in great health and younger, you could terrace the sloping hill and garden like the Hunza's. The thing about terracing on a steep hill, is if you make the walls the right height, you can stand up and garden. I think a terraced raised beds 3' wide and 3' high, would work out well.
 
Exactly how is the yard sloped, Tony? Like is it sloped toward the house, or away from the house? Is the house at street level? My brother's home near Atlanta had a very sloped lot; the driveway angled down from the street and was impossible to climb when there were icy conditions. It was a real job to mow his yard, too.
 
Beth Gallagher said:
Exactly how is the yard sloped, Tony? Like is it sloped toward the house, or away from the house? Is the house at street level? My brother's home near Atlanta had a very sloped lot; the driveway angled down from the street and was impossible to climb when there were icy conditions. It was a real job to mow his yard, too.
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The backyard is sloped away from the house I'm not sure about the front yard. When I was in the lawn maintenance business sloped properties were always difficult to mow. I had one that was very sloped and also had Zoysia grass, it was like I was walking on the side of my foot, My sneaker would pop off.

I became known as "Shoeless Tony."Haha
 
Tony Page said:
The backyard is sloped away from the house I'm not sure about the front yard. When I was in the lawn maintenance business sloped properties were always difficult to mow. I had one that was very sloped and also had Zoysia grass, it was like I was walking on the side of my foot, My sneaker would pop off.

I became known as "Shoeless Tony."Haha
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I remember that my brother and SIL just loved their sloped yard and 2-story back deck when they built their house (and were young). As they got older they realized what a mistake it was, though it still looked cool.
 
Tony, if you want to be near good healthcare, North Carolina has some of the top-rated hospitals in the country. The only problem is that there are more people moving to the Triangle Area than most anywhere else. There is little affordable housing in that area. But they are building like crazy in the more rural area near me. Some of them are more affordable than others. You might want to check some of them out.
 
Shirley Martin said:
Tony, if you want to be near good healthcare, North Carolina has some of the top-rated hospitals in the country. The only problem is that there are more people moving to the Triangle Area than most anywhere else. There is little affordable housing in that area. But they are building like crazy in the more rural area near me. Some of them are more affordable than others. You might want to check some of them out.
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Lots of building near me as well. If the economy is so bad, why is that? This used to be a very reasonably priced town. Not any more. I don't know why that is either. Houses sell like hotcakes and not cheaply. :(
 
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