Big News from the Shepards...

Eight days since my last post. Terrible!

But you see, things are rockin' and rollin' for us lately.

I know I’ve spoken a time or two or thirty about our desire to move out of our too-small townhouse and buy a home in Georgia or North Carolina. I’ve been talking about moving since before Dan was born, yet we’ve never been able to make it happen.

I’ve also discussed my concern about where Dan will start Kindergarten this August, as the school we are zoned for is unacceptable to us. Our only choices are sending him to a substandard school, risking a felony conviction by claiming a false address, sending him to private school (starting at $7000 for a Catholic school, and we’re Jewish) or moving. None of those options were appealing, other than a move. But a move wasn’t possible…

Like many others out there the economy has made selling our home impossible. In fact I heard last night that one of the foreclosed townhomes in our community just sold for $58,000, which is less than half of what I paid for it, over 30% less than the size of my mortgage and about 1/6th of what they were selling for 4 years ago. Yahoo.

So, a few weeks ago we decided that sometimes the best move is no move at all, and we’re okay with that. We still had not made a decision about Dan’s school, but we’d wrapped our minds around staying in our lovely townhouse that we can afford even if Pete worked at McDonald’s.

Last week we went to dinner with my Dad, and he made us an offer that’s changed everything. And it’s just too good to pass up.

A year after Sandi died my father moved from the home that they shared for thirty years to a condo on the beach. They’d bought the house in the late 70’s, when we were still growing up. This area wasn’t nearly as populated as it is now, and they chose the city because it had the best schools in the area. At the time it was the toniest neighborhood in the city, and today it remains one of the best. And if my memory serves it’s on 1.75 acres - a lot size you will never find except in these older neighborhoods.

The house has been on the market and sitting empty for nearly a year, despite my father dropping the price $150,000. He had one offer, but after the inspection the guy asked my Dad to take another $150,000 off the price AND make the noted repairs. Not happening. He’d also tried to get it rented, but those deals fell though, too.

So, my Dad asked us to move into the house, for a year or two - and possibly longer. It’s in an excellent school district, and Dan would be able to go to the same school as his cousins - a first in our family. We’d be going from a 2 bedroom, 2.5 bath 1400 sq. ft. townhouse to a 5 bedroom (plus a library that we’d use as a playroom), three bath 3400+ square foot house with a pool and a tennis court.

Yeah.

We of course could never afford this house on our own, but with the greatly reduced rent and the rental income from our townhouse we should be in good shape. His generosity is overwhelming us.

And it’s a win-win. We all know that given the economy this house would not sell for at least two years, and my Dad will be saved the house maintenance costs. Son will go to a great school, I’ll have an office instead of a pile of crap on top of the dog’s cage, Husband will complain that he has a fifteen-minute further drive to work (not to mention an office and a train room and a workshop), and there will be the sound of a child’s laughter in that house again.

So, not our own house. And not in Georgia or North Carolina. Not our dream.

But a terrific reality. Which certainly trumps that dream. At least for the next two years.