We sold our house in Philly early this year. So while we have plenty of places to live (our boat and 2 cabins) they are all in pretty remote areas. And our investments had no direct real estate. In the meantime my kids been going through a rough spot and needed some help. So we decided to buy a house and have him be our care taker. It works out all around; he has a place to live, we diversify our investments, and we have a place to crash when moving through the states and a place to be should we need some medical crap. Problem is it needs to be in New Jersey, yuck!!!
It all came together, My Son and Wife (his Step-Mom) found a real decent place they both love and I have to admit it is far better than I had expected. For once in my life I did not need to be the one pushing something forward and making it happen, it just did, a very weird feeling. So, we bought a house. Sight unseen since we are in Canada. My kid did all the work turning it up. We will be closing in 2 weeks, remotely. How weird is that?
It is a 1956 bungalow, 1,050 sq ft, 3 BR, 1 bath but on a fully wooded one acre lot. You can not see the house on Google Earth, the trees completely cover it. All adjoining lots are of similar size. Quiet street.
Not a bad little place from the pictures.
Newer kitchen.
1/2 finished basement, not counted in square footage.
Roof, windows, AC, and sone other stuff new since 2018.
Working fireplace first floor and basement.
Just now getting a new septic system as it could not be sold with the old system.
No garage, but tons of space to park my contractors trailer which will serve as my work shop.
We are still not resolved that this will be our “retirement” home. It can be a family compound, a good interim, but too suburban for our liking. We can not find any place that is “perfect.” Here in Newfoundland is pretty good, but March is 6 months long, winters are dark, and its pretty isolated being an hour to a small town with modest services. For now we will continue to split time between Newfoundland and the boat and deal with a “retirement” home when that need arises. In the meantime we have a “good enough” family base we can count on. No more couch surfing for a couple of weeks when we visit.