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Our Retirement Home In Town

Dateline: 22 February 2017


After my recent 9-part series about building our dream home here in Upland, and mentioning in the end that we might like to retire to a home in the rural Village of Moravia (6 miles from where we are now), I decided to look online to see if there were any possible retirement-home-in-town candidates for us.

I was surprised to see the house above was for sale. I've always liked that house and it's location. It is a Craftsman-style home built in 1900. The woman who lived there for the last 50 years recently died.

I have never in my life looked at a house that was for sale by a real estate agent, but this house intrigued me. I contacted the real estate company and we viewed the property a couple days later.



Marlene and I liked the house. You can See Lots of Pictures Here

The location is excellent... it is next to the town library. There are three churches on the street. The post office is at the end of the street. And the local undertaker is practically across the street!

The lot is kind of narrow but it's deep in the back, with a creek in the way back. There is room for a garden. And a very sizable old carriage barn at the end of the driveway...



The house has been well maintained, but it would need a lot of work. A new kitchen, two new bathrooms, new windows, a new heating system, insulation in the attic. It is a classy old house that hasn't been messed up with vinyl siding, or divided into apartments. A diamond in the rough, you might say.

To give you an idea of just how interested we were in this property, Marlene and I actually went to the local bank to see about a loan. If you have read this blog for long, you know that is totally out of character for me. 

Our idea was to buy the house and gradually fix it up, then move in when we were older and ready to move to town. Our thinking was that it might be better to put our savings into a tangible piece of property than to keep it in the bank. 

We were going to make an offer on the house (quite a bit less than the asking price). But as each day passed, and we thought more about it, we changed our mind. 

And that's the story of our retirement home in town. 

It was fun to consider.


15 comments:

  1. There sure is something to be said for the stability of having made a final decision after a period of back and forth planning. :D Onward and Upward, God Bless

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  2. It is beautiful! Your wife might have to get rid of the wallpaper, but if looks great. Why a new kitchen? Appliances too old? Anyway - it sure is gorgeous, and I know you will both love it.

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    1. Susan,
      You're right about the wallpaper. Marlene didn't like it either. So we're looking for a house with wallpaper that we like. :-)
      Thanks for the comment.

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  3. I'm more of a single story guy, but I do like it.

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  4. Oh my, I do LOVE the butler's pantry. Such fine built-in's and woodwork. Looks fairly well maintained. I would love to have that vanity in the bedroom (dresser w/the round mirror). Seems like a refined lady occupied that house. Would have loved to know her.
    I truly can't see you in town...but then again...you never know.
    Cheers,
    Pam

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    1. We realize now that we will probably not get to town for a long time, if ever.

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  5. It is so cheap - housing in Australia is nearly 3 x that price. I should move to USA...oh wait - I'm not allowed in.

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  6. For 117 years old....it's a cool house...old...but cool and those built in's and wood trims! A house like this in my town (Anacortes, Washington) would sell for close to $400 Thousand (as is) and after fix-up it would easily hit a million.

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    1. I was hoping someone would comment with a comparative value from other parts of the country.

      I predict that the house will not be purchased by a local person. It will probably be bought by someone who has a high paying job in Ithaca, NY, like at Cornell. Moravia is becoming something of a bedroom community for people who work in the Ithaca area.

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  7. I hate to throw a dash of reality onto your plans...but, after spending 6 years caring for my mother-in-law and grandfather, I have a few concerns. MIL was bipolar with Alzheimers, 82 yrs. when she came to live with us and 88 when she died. The last 5 years she could not walk, feed herself or do anything for herself. Gramps was 93 yrs old and falling regularly.
    Make sure to consider in your planning the likely need for wheelchair/walker ramps, widening every doorway and hallway and making at least one bathroom, the kitchen and laundry area handicap-accessible. And be prepared to abandon the use of an upper story or basement, unless you can install an elevator or one of those stairway lifts. Trust me, this is VERY expensive, especially when you start with an older home. And unless you make the necessary changes before you need them, you probably won't be in any shape to do the work yourself or have the income to make the needed changes.
    I have seen so many elders forced into assisted living or nursing homes because they just couldn't manage living in their non-accessible home. Its something we should all be thinking about and planning for.
    PlantLady

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    1. Hi Plant Lady—
      Great comment. The old house is not handicapped accessible and that was on our mind when we decided not to try and buy it. As I understand from the obituary, the elderly woman who lived in the house passed away at her camp on a nearby lake. I have a feeling that property may have been more accessible for her. Now we're thinking seriously of adding on to one end of our current house to get a handicapped accessible downstairs bedroom and bathroom. The house is already low to the ground and a wheelchair ramp would be an easy thing to build. We are on the same page with you. Thanks for the wise words.

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    2. Herrick: Thank you. I try to share what I learned during our elder care years (aka The Twilight Zone Years) to save others from having to learn the hard way - as we did, as we went along! One thing we did right was design the wheelchair ramp in a C-shape (three 8' runs with a landing at each corner), rather than one long straight 24' run. A long straight run in a northern climate is pretty much a high-speed luge run in winter! And safer in good weather - you can't get up nearly as much speed in an 8' run if things go bad (hehe).
      Widening all doorways would be a big help, too. We replaced and widened the exterior doors, but didn't widen the interior doors (ran out of money and aren't builders). Could get the wheelchair through, but very tight - and my knuckles still bear the scars from scraping off the skin constantly.
      PlantLady

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  8. Elizabeth L. Johnson said,
    Wow I appreciate Plantlady's insight! This house is something else! But, it ain't no Upland. Oh, well, right now you haven't chosen this place, but it is fun looking around, huh?

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    1. Yes, it was fun looking and thinking about it. And now that we are not buying it, I won't have to change the name of this blog. Moravia is in a valley. :-)

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  9. I think you have an excellent idea in the house you already have. Why change something that has worked for so long - and is home. You built it yourself, and it is yours. I wouldn't leave.

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