This started some time ago, when we realized that the days when Linda's mother Lil could manage on her own were numbered. Hoping, as Linda put it, "to set a good example for our kids," we planned for her to occupy a room in our house. One problem: all the bedrooms were upstairs, and Lil couldn't manage them. We investigate options for remodeling, including turning Jim's Office into a bedroom. We even went thought about installing an elevator. After considering all these alternatives, Jim suggested that purchasing another house with an appropriate layout might be simpler. "But I like being near the creek," Linda complained.
So, that's where matters stood for several months until the Vandells next door begin displaying unmistakable signs of moving
out. Since Ron is now working in California, that made a lot of sense. Cautiously, we inquired about the asking price, and began seriously considering moving into our neighbor's abode. The master suite on the first floor would do nicely for Lil, and the house was still on the creek.In fact, you can actually see the creek from the upstairs balcony.
So, we bought the house, trading our nice, fully paid off old house for a new one with an obscene mortgage. Then the fun began. We discovered to our delight that we weren't the only people who liked our location. While we were packing up stuff in preparation for schlepping everything across the driveway, people started delicately inquiring about whether our house was for sale. We got messages on the phone like this:
Hi Jim and Linda. You may not remember me…Anyway, I was over at the pool and I heard that you may be selling your house. I know a couple with small children that would love the house. The best part is that they are good Democrats. Let me know…
One of these deals got involved an inspection of the house, which turned up the expected laundry list of problems. That deal seemed on the verge of collapsing, and we resigned ourselves to having to formally list the property, when another interested party showed up. In fact, she wanted to buy the house right there on the spot. We had already discussed the issue of selling a house to your future next-door neighbors and agreed that we needed to be careful, so we suggested that we meet to talk it over. These conversations revealed that the prospective buyers, a nice young couple with small kids, were really interested in leasing it for several years. Ultimately, we settled on a five year lease with the right of first refusal if (Jim says, "When!") we decide to sell it. So, now we are real estate magnates. Should be interesting.
As it turns out, right of first refusal has some value for houses on our street. We subsequently gave an option to the sister-in-law of our new tenants for our new house: right of first refusal for five years. We even got a case of imported beer as part of the bargain.
In case you're wondering about the wildlife that shared our old yard, we still have some of them around. The deer seem to be discouraged by the fence around the yard, even though they could easily get over it, and don't bother us any longer. (Hooray!) We seem to have even more birds at the new location, perhaps because the creek is closer, and several nice odonates.Cheeky, our semi-pet raccoon mother, decided to stay at the old place. However, we have a new family in the new yard. There are lots of raccoons in the area.