Houses

[days_unfolding]

I'm dubbing the Urbana house as the "pretty good house". It's nice and I see why I liked it when I rented it, but it's not magical like my mom's house. I made a list of pros and cons for each house.

Urbana House
Pros:
I can keep my therapist. This is a big one because I had a hard time finding a therapist who's simpatico.
It's in Urbana, which I

Comments

[sweetmeow]

From a dispassionate onlooker, I can see how difficult this decision is! If I was to boil the issue down to one phrase, it's the decision between head and heart. Your heart wants your mom's house. But your logical brain knows there are advantages to the Ubana house

[days_unfolding]

Good questions. My mom's house is in a city (the Detroit suburbs). It has more amenities than the Urbana house, but not within walking distance and more traffic.

[days_unfolding]

I'm going to have to do all the clean out and delayed maintenance anyway to sell the house. If I keep the house I'd be doing it for me though. But there's the ongoing maintenance of the lawn, gardens, and house, which would be considerable.

It would be gut-wrenching to have my mom's house gone to me. I don't think that I realized how much I love it until now.

[sweetmeow]

I recognized this as I was reading, but I didn't want to state it to put ideas into your mind that might not be there. You must see it for yourself and realize the strength of your attraction to your mom's house. I saw it -- from the very beginning

[one_raido]

No advice to give, but I loved those pictures of your mom's house.

[days_unfolding]

Thanks

[sunshine_two]

if your intent is to own a house, then I'd go with your mom's. It's hard to get in to the real estate market these days and likely not to get easier. The saved rental expenses could go towards the updating of your mom's house.

[days_unfolding]

I'd want to pay off my mom's mortgage, so it wouldn't be entirely free, but it would be cheaper than anything in Urbana. I'd put my saved rental expenses toward retirement (and some travel :))

[jaelle_n_gilla]

What I'm hearing is that your heart has already decided ;-)

If not: Try weighing the Pros and cons. Meaning, you give each topic (e.g. transportation yes/no, lovely garden yes/no) a rating how important it is for your choice. All ratings combined can only add up with 100%. And then a number between 1 and 10 of how much there is of it. Like, no garden would be 1, small garden a 5, lovely garden an 8 or something.
If you multiply % * rating you get an idea how many percent each house gets. The heart thing can factor as high as you like it, because you decide how important it is for you <3

[days_unfolding]

You're probably hearing right :)

[lenine2]

This is a tough decision. The house is charming and is obviously a place you love. The memories can't be transferred to the Urbana house, but can you do anything to the yard there to make it an oasis? An older house and a big yard that requires maintenance is not something I personally would want to take on at my age. A laundry sink can be added. Walking distance downtown is huge, in my opinion.

My mother's house is going on the market next week. Fortunately, no one in the family has any use of a house that big, so no decisions to be made.

[days_unfolding]

I'd have to buy the Urbana house first to upgrade the yard (or buy another house, preferably in Urbana). I had thought of adding a fire pit with chairs (someone already built a fire in the middle of the yard based on the charred pieces) and a "patio pond" (large pot or barrel with a pump and fountain). The back yard is shady though, which is nice for sitting out but lousy for a garden.

The front yard has some raised beds in which someone was growing tomatoes, and I'd like to fill them with flowers.

So yes, but it won't come close to what my mom had.