That Close

9 Comments

Comment by Robert A. Combes on January 14, 2009 at 9:55am

Well. There in lies the dilemma. Many homeowners around the nation have seen a steady decline in their home values, you are not alone. Florida has been a Mecca for transplants, and so the state grew by leaps and bounds as you well know. At the start of the latest boom many Floridians saw a way to fleece those that were coming to the state as well as many that had dreamed of home ownership, and so the bubble began. I to was among the speculators that saw a way to supplement my income by "flipping houses". I held a real estate license and had financial backing and so it began. At first it was a modest enterprise and before I knew it there was pressure from the financial backing to increase profits. Hurricanes rolled in and there was more money to be made. It became insane. Many of us asked the question, how long can this last? We now know the answer.

Around 1998 my wife and had a dream of building a log home in Port Charlotte on a half acre we own there. We were saving money and making decisions on the layout and the look. In the meantime houses we being constructed the many know as "McMansions". and our dream died, after all, a log home would be sorely out of place.

The dream was modified.

We and friends would meet and during time together there always seemed to be a lament of the state of St. Petersburg. More crowding, traffic, and a meanness , we no longer wanted to live there. Solution, move. My wife and I were fortunate enough to have sold our home in St. Pete at the right time and for a modest gain. all of us decided to move to E. Tennessee. We bought 11 acres and have developed it to accommodate three single family homes. Ours is complete and the others are in various stages of completion.

Dreams are good to have, but we must be willing to modify them with reality, and sometimes reality bites, hard.

Peace

Comment by Shelley S on January 22, 2009 at 10:42am

Joe,

I don't think you're stupid!! We're in the boat with you & just as you, we refuse to give up on our dream. We will one day be living in our very own log home in the North Carolina Mountains. We, too, are hoping to sell our current home sometime later this year. At this point, we've decided not to worry about it. We're going to get what GOD wants us to get. In the mean time, we are enjoying the time we have together now planning, window shopping, dreaming, and talking about what we want or don't want. At the same time, we understand that in reality, we will most likely have to make some adjustments/compromises; but isnt' that what all of life's about? I think one of the most important aspects of dreaming is having the determination to NOT GIVE UP!! Those who stop dreaming.....die!!!

Comment by Ted on January 22, 2009 at 1:47pm

Hi Shelly. We live in Florida too (Sarasota that is). We're sitting around the house today and freezing. In our minds it's just not cold enough to turn on the heat. I just looked and the temperature in Waynesville, NC and it is 47 degrees (outside) while the temperature in my house is 57 degrees. My wife and I were just saying how much nicer it would be in NC right now just sitting around a roaring fireplace, reading a terrific book and having a hot toddy. A heck of a lot better than just sitting around in "sunny" Florida.

You are right with your observation that we must be realistic with our dreams and plans regarding building our log homes. We can't abandon our plans, we simply must get more realistic with how to proceed. In our case, being that we own the property in NC, we will need to downsize the house we will build. The original plan called for a 2400+ square foot house. Now we are looking at reducing the desired layout to about 2000 square feet. We will need to make some changes on the inside too ... gone are the plans for the farm sink, the wrought iron door hardware, the expensive kitchen cabinets, the top of the line granite tops ... and on and on. The difference in savings will be about $70,000. That to us will mean that we can take $70,000 less for our Florida house, which will make the log home doable.

By the way, I make again the following point since it has worked out being the best course of action for us. I probably wont work for everyone but I have been investigating construction options for the past two years and have found that the most cost effective way for me to build is by using a local NC builder. And I mean right from the outset and for just about anything except for interior finishing, i.e. wall finishing, electric and plumbing finishing, buying and hanging cabinets, buying and hanging light fixtures, plumbing fixtures, interior doors, staining, wood floors (buying and laying) all that kind of stuff.

It seems that you and I think a lot alike. I guess that you are also filling your closets with cabin related things in a effort to keep the cost down at the back end. My house is so crowded that we can't have overnight company any longer. In the next few weeks we are going to go out and rent a storage area just to clean up the place. Of course then we will make room for more "stuff".

Well it's been fun chatting but my wife is calling that lunch is on the table so I had better sign off for now. Ted

Comment by Shelley S on January 22, 2009 at 7:16pm

Joe,

Wow!! You're right we do think alike. We, too, have decided to go with a local builder, log siding instead of full log - I know it seems like we're cheating but if it's done right, only we and our builder will know. Besides, not too many of our visiting family & friends are log home experts. No farm sink or granite countertops (I'm actually looking at the new Wilsonart Formica - nice looking stuff) and drywall in more areas than originally planned. In speaking with several local builders, we may also be able to save money by choosing a flat surfaced stick up native stone instead of cultured. One builder told us he could put in 3/4 inch hardwood floors for $6.00 a sq. foot installed. I told my husband I'd rather put the bulk of our initial money in things that will be harder to change after construction: stone work, hardwood & tile floors, T & G ceilings and walls, etc. My husband is so talented when it comes to remodeling, the easier things like changing out counter tops or putting up wainscotting later won't be a problem. Our main goal now is to do whatever it takes to get up there.

You mentioned cold....here in North Florida this morning it was in the low 20's. Frost on the ground looked like a light snow had fallen. Our heater here for the most part has been off as well. Trying to get ready for the temperature change. Last week when we were in Bryson City for a couple of days - it got down to 7 degrees. We didn't see any snow but from what I hear the day after we left they were expecting 3-6 inches. I have to say it felt colder here in N. Florida this morning than it did there last week.

You also mentioned storage....one of the reasons for our trip last week was to open a climate controlled storage unit to begin moving items we've been storing in our closets, christmas stuff, extra pieces of furniture, etc., we also opened a local bank account, and met with 4 local builders. It was a busy trip for us, but It doesn't take much to get me to agree to go up there. Pretty much any excuse will do. And yes, we just bought our first light fixture - it's for our dining room. We got it on sale at Lowe's for $126. My husband also purchased our first appliance - a beverage cooler for the kitchen island - got it on sale at Home Depot for $200 off. When you see prices like this, how can you pass them up? These just give me two more reasons to have to visit there when I move them into storage.

Nice chatting with you. Have a great evening!!

Comment by Joe on January 22, 2009 at 7:31pm

Shelley,

Ken and I are both from Sarasota and both have hopes of building a log home I think you have us confused in this particular discussion. I, at first, thought my alzheimers was returning but I'm ok. I didn't comment in this area but do agree with a lot of Ken's thoughts.

Joe

Comment by Ted on January 22, 2009 at 9:02pm

I think you were commenting on my comments Shelly. Joe is one of the good guys too.

Ted

Comment by Shelley S on January 23, 2009 at 6:01pm

Joe & Ted,

Sorry guys!! I just get so excited talking about our dreams!!!

Comment by See Dirt Run! Inc. on January 31, 2009 at 8:47am

Hang in there, it will recover...eventually. :-)
Beth

Comment by JANIS KUYKENDALL on February 1, 2009 at 3:59pm

I can relate with all of you. we sold our investment home on the Outer Banks in October. Were so happy even though we took 100,000 less than where we started. We have been dreaming of a vacation home in the mountains of Va. for 4 years and bought the land in 06. Now we are on our way to building that log house. Nothing fancy. Just a 3 bedroom 2 bath with unfinished basement (no funds to do it now)! We decided to go smaller and have a big screen porch and pine floors and a stone fireplace. It's ok to dream and it will all come together when the time is right for you. Keep the faith, we did!

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