We would like the opportunity to complain - if only for one post. We know we live in a dream home on the water, so we promise to get it all out and not do it again.
This is the most expensive house we have ever purchased (obviously). It is also in the worst shape of any house we have ever purchased. Every time we finish a job another one surfaces. So far we have had to:
- Get an exterminator (absolutely first on the list)
- Replace our stolen washing machine.
- Tile our bedroom floor (it was parquet flooring and had huge holes)
- Paint our bedroom (semi-cosmetic)
- Replace the pool pump and timer
- Replace the leaking kitchen faucets
- Fix the leaking garbage disposal
- Fix our well pump
- Fix about 3 pipe leaks
- Have tons of electrics done (replacing rusted out lamps, getting new flood lights, fixing fans, replacing wiring, new light sockets, new light fixtures, etc...)
- Re-plaster a leaking bedroom
- Re-paint above bedroom
- Re-tile above bedroom (parquet flooring again)
- De-rust and paint gas container
- Re-concrete the sea wall
- Replace some of the wood beams (yes we just discovered termites which is a problem in a house full of Abaco pine)
- Replace dishwasher - what kind of crazy money waster buys a $4,000 Bosch dishwasher that you can't get parts for here and no one knows how to fix. It really hurt when we threw that away.
- Fix our oven (waiting for the parts from the US)
- Fix the guest air-conditioning (luckily we lived on the ocean and haven't had to turn it on yet but apparently we will when it's August - or so we are told)
- Get that exterminator back for the termites
Now all these are only the things we wanted to get done for our own comfort and lifestyle - which, with the exception of the pool, isn't that fancy. Our goal is to turn this house in to an "Executive Rental" so that we can rent it out in retirement and travel on the income. OK so we have some time before we'll be ready to retire, but is that enough time to turn this house around? The kitchen needs to be replaced, the master bathroom expanded, the landscaping updated, the.....
The moral of the story is that even the seemingly ideal life takes attention and hard work. The state of Mark's hands make that clear. Without true grit you won't achieve anything in this world. A conclusion everyone must come to at some point and a lesson we are trying to help Emily learn now as she copes with her new school.Oh well - back to the cement mixer.
4 comments:
You seriously had your washer stolen??!! That's a rather interesting and unwieldy item for someone to walk off with!!
So even livin' the dream takes a bit of elbow grease, eh? Nuts. That certainly is a long and rather labour-intensive to-do list! Just remember it doesn't all have to get done all at once. It'd be nice, but not that realistic!
(I tagged you for something over at my blog.)
Oh! How crazy this has all been for you! It started back in November with your crazy move story! Now all these repairs! I'm sure it's going to be fantastic when it's all done...
The good news is...you could be up here in the north digging your self a tunnel through the snow to get to the mail box! OK so I'm exaggerating a little...but still. All problems are relative. =) Try to keep it in perspective....this too shall pass!
Oh, fun. That's how living in this house has been for us. Fortunately, this is a rent house. Unfortunately, the landlord doesn't care to fix anything. So we fix the things that matter to us, and the rest of it he can do when he's trying to dump this place on someone else.
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