If you follow me on FB you’ve heard more chatter about us selling the cabin and our other properties and building a new home. Well the big day has arrived we starting putting our things on the market….the first is our 30 acre vacant parcel. As you can see by the photos it is heavily wooded, we’re actually debating on logging it off before we let a buyer have it. There’s 4 wheeler trails cut all through the property, but not by us. We are constantly kicking people off this spot. I don’t know why they feel the need to take it upon themselves to cut down our trees for fire wood or to cut trails into the property so they can ride their toys. Apparently they’ve never been taught to keep off property that doesn’t belong to them. By the photo it almost looks like we have the start of a flagstone pathway, but I’m sad to say that’s not the case, it’s where someone hauled a load of shingles in and disposed of it on our property.
Hubby has even found bums living in makeshift stick huts, he normally hands them $100, tells them to clean up their mess, leave the property and never come back or he will call the law. They always take his money but never clean up the mess…..go figure! On the up side there’s many beautiful oak, maple, and cherry trees on the property as well as all kinds of wildflowers. It would be a beautiful setting for someone to own. We actually have a blueprint with the property sectioned off for 50 homes, a green area, and a clubhouse. This would be a good spot for a developer to pick up, and it’s the largest piece of property left in this town that’s available for development.
At one time we had planned on building small homes here and sell them to families that just wanted decent living without the pressure of a McMansion, but as we get older we don’t want to tackle all that work. Hubby would never hire it done so the adventure would be up to us. It sounds fun but I’m sure we would tire of it quickly, especially with 50 home builds. We even considered building the first house and raffling it off at $250 a ticket. We wanted the homes to have all usable space, and show how a family can live with less square footage and survive.
For now we’ll let someone else have the dream. We just want to sell what we have and built 2 new homes (one for us and one for our son) and use it as our retirement and forever home. I’ve been looking at homes with 1,000 square feet and I just can’t see that being possible, so I’ve bumped it up to 1,500 and that seems more doable for us. Our current home has 3,600 square feet so it will be quite a downsize. As long as we have a huge barn, where hubby can have his man cave and I can have my office I think we can make it work.
The next thing to go on the market is our guest house. The realtor said she could have it sold in 3 days. Right now my parents are in it for the summer so we will wait and list it once they go back to Florida, don’t want to kick them out. Once those two things sell we will put the cabin and another vacant property piece up for sale and start looking hard for a place to build. We would like 100 acres if we can find that big of a chunk that isn’t farmland. We’re looking for some clearing, wooded area, and a pond or stream would be nice. If it all works out, it could shape up to be a very busy fall.
I admire you that you have made the decision and going for it….too many times we talk and talk about it and it takes forever to make a decision…..believe me, I speak from experience. The property is beautiful….sorry that you have had the problems with trespassers…I look forward to your new adventure and the plans for your new homes.
Shirley I’m ready for a change but it will all depend on how quickly things sell. The market is pretty crappy in this area, so it may take longer than we plan on selling things. But we need the money out of those things to start over again.
What an exciting time in your life! Look forward to traveling with you thru this adventure!
Judy
Thank you Judy I hope things sell quickly and we can get moving on the new place.
Hi Dawn,
I did not realize how much property you have. Hope a nice home developer will buy and build some nice homes. I know you will find the land to build your retirement home on. Lot’s of new things ahead for you. The property is beautiful so I think you will have it sold in no time. Good luck with this new venture.
Kris
Thank you Kris, yes we picked up things along the way as income when we retire. I guess the time is now to unload it all.
This all sounds so exciting and it will be fun for all of us to take part in the adventure with you.
We downsized to our little beach cottage as our retirement home nearly 18 years ago. It is just under 1000 sq. ft. We could not live in this small of a space if it was not for the climate we enjoy. Our garden serves as the great room for our house year round. And, if we didn’t have pull down stairs for attic storage, our house would be stuffed to the gills.
Have fun with your project.
Carol, yes we will have a full basement so that will add to the square footage, for storage. I never realized your place was that small, it’s just darling.
Having the property near town sold will be a good start. Is your guest house near your house? And are you still planning to move out of state for your retirement home? Hopefully by next year there will big changes to move forward. Have a beautiful day, Kathleen in Az
Kathleen our guest home is on the property with the log home, so we will parcel it off. Right now we will stay in Michigan for job reasons.
Wow you are going to have a lot going on! I pray that you all find just the right property and are able to sell the others quickly. Such an exciting time and what fun getting to build a new home.
Alicia thank you for the prayers I hope it all goes quickly too 🙂
Good Morning,
Just reading your blog regarding your newest adventure! How exciting, wishing you all the best. Just curious, as a fellow Michigander, where do you call home? I live 35 miles north of Detroit in a little village called Romeo and we have a summer place further north in Gladwin on Smallwood Lake. Looking forward to hearing more as your dreams unfold and also trying some of your DIY ideas.
Linda I am in southern Michigan 45 minutes north of the Indiana border near Cereal City Battle Creek in a small town with the population of 1,000. My hubby works in your area often, recently he’s been working on the Ambassador Bridge, we know Detroit well 🙂
Dawn, this sounds like such a wonderful adventure! My husband and I did something similar a year and a half ago. Sold our home of 15 years and moved into his childhood home, a 1600sf mid-century modern that we had 2weeks to remodel (yikes) and we bought a cabin in the pines about 3 hours away in the White Mountains. It’s also 1600 sf. We did this so we can use for an investment when we retire. Even though we still have 3200sf of homes, I LOVE living in a smaller home. It’s so much more manageable on a daily basis. I look forward to following this adventure of yours
Lynne I hope we can downsize enough for a smaller home, with our business one 16X16 room is nothing but office and we have to have a huge barn for our equipment. I’ll have to have a garage sale and get rid of lot’s of home decor items, but that’s ok with me. I sure hope things sell fast.