Over the past few years, my wife and I have been looking for a larger home. For part of this time, we actually were looking at homes in North Carolina. We finally realized that being close to family here in Ohio was more important than better weather.
This past week, driving my daughter to school, I passed a home that was listed for sale last year. I was interested in this home when it was listed before, but the price was too high. This time it was listed for sale by owner. I noted the phone number on the sign and called the Seller. I told him I was a real estate broker, but I wasn't calling to list his home. I was actually interested as the buyer. He invited me to stop out and see the home. We made arrangements and my wife and I went for the tour.
Here are a few pictures of the home:
Here are the details on this home...
- last year it was listed for $995,000, now it is listed at $699,000
- the main home is 5,300 square feet
- the separate carriage home is 2,000 square feet
- 3 car garage
- horse stables
- 6.5 acres
- in-ground swimming pool
- parking for 50 people with space for a full basketball court
- sand volley ball court
- baseball field
This home is really an estate home. Combined it offers 7 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms. It is spectacular! You won't believe this when you read it, but I'm telling the truth. As we were in the living room of the home with the Seller, two deer walked up to the deck of the home. The Seller has some kind of deer feeder in their flower bed. He said the deer come every day for lunch. I almost started laughing because it reminded me of the Chevy Chase movie "Funny Farm." In the movie, they held deer in cages until home buyers were touring the home. Right at the precise moment, the cage was opened so the buyers would see the deer walking on the property. The timing of this moment was absolutely perfect during our tour.
This home could now be purchased for less than $100 a square foot. It's a deal. However, we decided not to buy it.
It was a very tough decision. The more we thought about this lovely home, the more we realized that it was too much for us. We don't need a sand volley ball court. We have a beautiful park less than a mile away from our current home that has a sand volley ball court. We can use this court for free anytime. Same goes with the baseball field. The city we live in also has two multi-million dollar swimming pools that we have access to for under $100 a year.
In addition, we estimated that it would cost around $1,200 a month just to have the landscaping maintained. This doesn't count the ongoing maintenance required for the two homes, garage and horse stable. It also doesn't count the utilities on two separate homes.
Wouldn't it be better to invest the $1,200 a month instead paying to have grass cut? Over time, we realized this home would have become a noose around our necks. This wasn't very appealing to me or my wife. Nobody wants to have a noose around their neck.
We simply decided to stay in our current home and have a pool installed here. I realize the pool is an unnecessary expense. However it's a lot less expensive than buying a larger, higher priced home.
Less really is more...
P.S. Thank goodness my kids weren't with us during our tour, because the deer would have put them over the edge. They would have nagged us until we bought the home...
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