After eating, our son-in-law took us driving, looking at homes for sale in the area. Our top three favorites, located out of town near a lake, are sketched above -- two of them are log-style cabins! We would like to find a smaller home with a large detached garage or outbuilding to turn into a woodshop for Bill when he retires later this year -- two of these had such buildings already on site.
So after driving home to Kansas, we called a realtor friend to start the process of finding out what our building would sell for. We renovated a small 1920 apartment building in 2000 - 2001; originally there were four 1-bedroom apartments, but we combined two of them into a large 3-bedroom apartment for ourselves. Rent from the apartments easily paid off our loan in short time, but it's an unusual building to put on the market -- nothing similar in the area.
This is going to take some time and answered prayer to accomplish! Meanwhile, I'm still looking at possible towns in Texas to relocate to. An older, smaller community that would be an easy drive to Austin, north Houston, and Richmond. Preferably with an H.E.B. grocery store. And definitely with a REAL lumber yard for Bill (rather than a mass-market box store). He's a wood furniture artist, not a weekend crafter.
Hi Vicky,
ReplyDeleteit´s very strange for me to move somewhere, (we are not such a big country, anyhow), but I admire, how you can make a decision in such a thing and then do it! I´ve moved when I got married and it took some more years for me to get to accustomed to new place! I am thinking about it in these days, I think it can be hard for you...
I keep my fingers crossed! All three houses look interesting and cosy! And I like this page!
Jana
Hi, Jana! This has really been a LONG TIME coming --- at first, my husband said he would never leave Kansas (Other than when we lived in California, Washington, and Oregon when he was in the Navy).
DeleteOur daughter took an engineerng job in Houston, Texas right out of college 16 1/2 years ago. A few years later, our eldest son and his wife moved to Sugarland, TX after college; he was a lab rat at a cancer research hospital for a year before switching to teaching physics.
Follow that with our second son and his wife moving to Austin, TX when her company moved her to their new store. Over the years, we have had 5 grandchildren born in Texas. Then our youngest son, after serving 6 years in the Navy, chose a college in Texas.
10 to 11 hours drive is getting VERY old; it would be so much easier to live within an hour or two of each of our kids! And we have had 16 years of visiting Texas to get used to the idea. Our kids have been asking us to move for years.
(Seems more like an adventure to me!)
Yes, Vicky, now I understand it better, well, have a good luck!
DeleteJana
Thanks! We are trusting God to guide us as to when and where . . . and to find a buyer for our properties here in Kansas (both our small apartment building and our old plumbing business building).
DeleteHope you find one you like real soon and that your current home sells quickly. It will be quite a change, but not as much as if you were moving into Houston proper. We will miss you being close enough to KC for us to see you, but there is still email and telephones.
ReplyDeleteMike & Georgia
Hello, Mike and Georgia! How are the two of you doing in this heat?
DeleteWith my mother still here in Wichita so we'll still be coming to Kansas now and then --- probably timed around the Williamson Christmas party? So we will hopefully get to see the two of you.
Nothing is set in stone here anyway; we aren't sure if we can get what we want from selling this building. A realtor is coming to talk with us tonight after she did some research. It's an unusual property to sell.
Hi, Vicky, been missing you on Flickr, and figured you had moved already.. But today, Warren, my son, said he met you in KC at Urban Sketcher's group! So glad to find your blog...did you quit Flickr? So many left Flickr when they sprung the big change. I joined Ipernity, but find there aren't many people I know, so I do more posting on Flickr. Maybe I can touch base with you here. Hope things go well with your house sale and a purchase.. I think we can depend on God to work it out in perfect timing for you! Miz Dee
ReplyDeleteMIZ. DEE! How I have MISSED YOU! Warren casually mentioned today where he came from and I said I had a dear friend from there . . . who turns out to be his mother??? How funny! I have been following his blog for quite some time, and you often mentioned your son in Kansas City, but I never put the two of you together. He is an amazingly talented artist and such an interesting person to talk with.
DeleteYes, I did delete my Flickr account. I just wasn't happy with all the changes (the new look gave me a headache!). I miss being able to simply click on contacts and see all yours and others' sketches posted together though.
I am actually much happier having simplified my on-line presence -- in keeping with my trying to simplify my life overall. I kept this blog since it is connected to several group blogs where I am a correspondent. And I have started posting things on Facebook, where so many former Flickr users post their sketches. There are many things I don't like about Facebook, but it is easier to deal with than Flickr has become.
Bill retires October 31st, his 62nd birthday. We still don't know when we will move to Texas, or even WHERE in Texas, but are trusting God to know and put it all together. We've talked with a realtor but haven't yet set a price and listed our small apartment building for sale. It's a bit unusual of a property to sell, but there are several interested parties waiting to hear what we price it at. We are thinking we could sell it, then just rent from the new owners until we have a place in Texas to move to.
I would love to keep in touch with you, but can't make comments on Flickr without an account (forgot about that when I deleted mine). Can't figure out how to privately send you my email address . . . . Meanwhile, I'll just be a "lurker" of your account.