It's been a while since I posted here. We've been through the wringer and back, but I'm happy to say that things are getting better. We are on a new adventure, and I'd love for you to come along with us as we make some major life changes!
After we lost our beautiful homestead,
we ended up moving to Orrville, Ohio and renting a home.
We signed up to do a rent to own, but when it came time for us to get financing, it just wasn't possible so soon after the foreclosure. I have been happy in Orrville, it's a beautiful little town. It's the gateway to Amish country, which I love, and a nice place to raise our son and for our teens to live. Scott, however, didn't share my enthusiasm. After his heart attack, he went into a major depression, feeling very "useless" in his words, because he could no longer work. He is now disabled. His dream was to get back to the country, where he could spend the rest of his life happy and content. He is not a city boy by any stretch, whereas I grew up in a suburb of Cleveland, so I am able to be content in a small town. He wanted space, and we are sorely lacking that in Orrville. Once I knew that we couldn't purchase the house we were renting, I decided to take another approach--my first consideration was to move to Akron in an area that is in the midst of revitalization, where home rents and sale prices are cheap. Needless to say, Scott was not willing to go there. So, I switched gears again. The biggest issue we face is expense. Rents are very high, and living on a fixed income, most anything we have looked at in a better setting for Scott would take at least 1/2 of our monthly income, almost always much more than that. So renting a house in the country or the suburbs was out. Now, I grew up and have spent most of my life in beautiful old houses, that is always what I've looked for in a home. Even a mid century house would be ideal, but I've always turned my nose up at the newer construction and wouldn't even consider modular/manufactured homes. Until now.
I started searching for rentals in mobile home parks, something I've always been a little 'snooty' about in the past. My biggest concern with a mobile home, though, has always been stormy weather, tornadoes were my biggest fear. But I did research on actual risks and in the long run, it's no different than any other type of home--in the area we live in now. If we lived in Kansas or Oklahoma or the like, I probably wouldn't consider it.
I then started searching around Craigslist and different manufactured home sites online, and we saw that living in a mobile would greatly reduce our expenses. Then we started thinking, if we bought one, we would OWN our home again! Our only obstacle was cash, and generously, a few family members offered to help us with that. So, we were looking around for great deals, something that wasn't more that 20 years old, it could need some work, because we can fix anything. Opportunities started popping up all over the state, and we had to decide, are we willing to relocate possibly further away from our kids and family. Then one day, Scott says, "hey hon, there is a 3 acre piece of land for sale, near our old homestead, and the owner is willing to finance!" There it was, the perfect opportunity just landed in our lap! So we drove to the site to look at the plot. It is beautiful, quiet, Amish neighbors, flat land, no drilling or fracking, no flood plain, no trains, no highway, no traffic, no light pollution. It is partially wooded, which we wanted as well. And so peaceful.....so, we called up the realtor and jumped on it and here we are a week later, officially land owners again!
Now, our plan was to find a mobile home that we could purchase and then move onto the property. We researched the zoning laws for that township and found there are size requirements, no single wides allowed. Ok, so we have to look for double wides, no problem! We found a great one on Craigslist, we lined up the cash from a relative who was willing to lend it to us and called to go see it, and of course, we missed it by 24 hours. I started looking around again, I found one, in a family friendly park, that could be feasible, the asking price was more than we had, but another relative promised to lend us some money to make up the difference, so I went to look at it, hoping to talk him down some. The owner just bought a house and wanted it sold. Scott and I went to see it, it was perfect! It needs a little work, but nothing major and nothing we can't handle. So, I made him an offer and he accepted!
So, less than two years after losing our homestead, we own our own home and a piece of land to put it on! We couldn't have done it without help, and for that we are so grateful! But, once we are out of the Orrville house, our expenses will plunge, and the next goal is saving up money for putting in a septic system and a well, and also, moving the house to our property. We will have to live in the mobile park for probably a year, but we will be going to our property often, we have to clear it, put in a driveway and build a permanent foundation for the house--and then it will no longer be a mobile home, it will be a fixed, permanent home.
If you read all that, you rock, lol. So, now that I have the backstory told, from here on out my blog will be our story and we will record our journey to get to our land, and then it will go back to being a homesteading blog. I'll also be blogging about my crafts, my foods, homeschooling and family in general. I'd love to have you join us on our journey, I will guarantee, it won't be boring, because our life rarely is boring!
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