time investment, emotional investment

i am spending a bunch of time working on a deal to possibly buy a house through my parents.

we have found one that meets my needs, and is in a pretty good price range for our newly canadian average home price fucking marketplace...

(house prices have more than doubled in the last 3 years - we were chronicly underpriced against canadian average and even where we should be

well - not any more

the house is in a half-assed Ok area of town. it is an area that is next to be on the upswing because it is half-assed OK and half-assed affordabel - therefore young families are buying in the area. various slum landlords and non-profit agencies are cashing in their housing stock in the price boom, so the rental properties (and the less than desireable tenants that went twith those properties) are now becoming owner properties

so we found one. it is in shit shape. it used to be owned by a, um, non-profit dedicated to the housing needs of a visible minority underprivileged ethnic group. structurally sound but the interior is trashed. holes in walls, filth, no interior upgrades in decades - a hole in the bathroom floor from leaking water that is so old it has eaten through the lino and 2 and a bit layers of 1 inch plywood... i may be a lefty and a bleeding heart, but this house (among many) was owned and operated by the leadership of this minority ethnic group - it was in as bad a condition as mnay slumlord properties i have seen. i am appalled at both the maintenance and the destructiveness of the occupants... (not that much because i've been around the block helping "these kind of folks" before - but it still rattles my sensibilities)

the house needs a full gut. 2-3 months of almost full-time work - this is no cakewalk - it will be hard work and shitty work. every piece of drywall in the entire house has to come out. son and daughter will help me. son's friend T took a basic homebuilding course and is available as well. my parents long-time contractor/handyman guy (whom i first met when i was maybe 9 years old) is semi-retired and willing to take a project that involves someone else doing the really hard labour and him being able to supervise and do as much buying and building as he wants - with others to take up the slack. a good arrangement and one that is perfect for my needs - this guy has been working on renovating houses like this for longer than i've been alive - he knows his shit - it will decrease my anxiety a lot. i am capable, but less than fully experienced at all of this.

but the house does make the grade

even after the cost of renovations (because of all of my [and kids'] sweat equity) it will be about the net proceeds of my eventual settlement. that means i will be either payment free or almost payment free.

a good thing

it is a little small - but more than enough for 1 person and 2 part-timers (or even son as a full-time, if that comes to pass).

i am spending my time, emotion and inspiration trying to make it happen - and have not been blogging much.

i do not actually expect the deal to happen - it is just "too good to be true" that this could work. Smitten says that now that i am with her i need to get used to things "just working out" - some "laws of attraction" thing.

if it does work out it will be a run of positivity that will be unprecedented in my life

here's hoping

here's not expecting

but hoping