Saturday, February 26, 2011

I had an epiphany

The day before I posted about moving I spoke with another board member who is a Realtor. I decided that some insight from professionals may help me in making the decision on whether to remodel or move. Is it worth investing more money into this house based upon its location? Should I start viewing larger homes on the market to help me envision ourselves living there as opposed to the bungalow? Our time line is such that we would neither remodel or move for another three years, so would I be wasting someones time to look at houses now?
Perhaps it seems as though I am putting the cart before the horse, but I am a planner. If we are going to stay I need to start the design process, and get an estimate from my former boss for the construction. Even if we wouldn't break ground on the project for a few years, the design could start up to a year in advance. I could get all the finishes ordered in advance; I could start searching for salvage, including the urinal.
There is also the few remaining rooms to which we have done no work. I don't like to do things half assed: the carpet in our bedroom should be replaced, but if were going to tear our the carpet and pad we should paint first, but I haven't painted our bedroom because the painted over wall paper should be stripped first, and I anticipate that the plaster walls would require some repair after that, so something simple becomes much more involved. Therefore I wait until we have the time and money to do it all right the first time. I'd like to know where we will be in the future before I complete these remaining room.
Last weekend we rented a beach house in Tolovana Park; staying at the beach to commemorate my father's birthday has become a tradition for my family. I'd spent most of the week racking my brain about doing fertility treatments or adoption for our next child, when would we start either of those, and how does that impact whether we move or not? The beach trip helped in that Mr. W and I were relaxed enough and had some time to discuss our plans.
And then one sleepless night while I was nursing, I had my epiphany. Even if we convert the basement to living space, the support piers in the basement would only allow for a family room that is half the width of the house. The furniture configurations I have for that room would still be tight to get enough people in there comfortably to watch tv. Does it make sense to add more bedrooms to a house to fit in more children that can't even be adequately accommodated in the living room? The answer I realized is no. Even with more bedrooms, the public rooms in this house are too small. Moving really is the better option.
Yikes! This changes my whole world!

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