what am i?

Written by

Adam McLane

in

Risk taker or ostrich?
This house-hunting has exposed some things about me and Kristen that I’d like to share.

Risky business
There is little doubt that buying “this old house” would be a massive risk. It’s more house than we can afford [though the mortgage guy is happy to loan it to us!] and it has more projects attached to it than I would know what to do with. I guess that it has 75-100 weekend projects. All kinds of stuff from ripping out the bad part of the barn to redecking a porch or two to splash guards in the kitchen. There are just oodles of little projects like that.

I look at it and say “for every dollar you invest, you get $2 back.” Kristen looks at it as a money pit. The naysayers in our lives say “you don’t have time for that, it will eat you alive.”

All true. But it may be our one chance in our lifetimes where we can take a risk on a “This Old House” candidate and see it pay off. While the naysayers see risk, I only see reward.

Rewards
I mean more than investment income. (Though I do mean this as well.) There seems to be a lot of reward in fixing up your own house. Like Napoleon Dynamite, I’ve got some skills. I look at this and see working on things with the kids and with Kristen. I see them enjoying the barn and the big yard. I see teaching them how to do stuff and learning a lot along the way.

No lone ranger
Just like in ministry. I have to weigh all of this against the impact on our family. This whole idea of risk taking stresses Kristen out. I have matured enough to know that I can’t just bulldoze through her emotions. I don’t want to take a risk that all of us aren’t in on 100%. A big thing I’ve learned here is that while I am a “wild risk taker” Kristen may only be a “risk taker in theory.” A lot to think on!

But, but, butt…
Yeah, there is that. This afternoon we are going to look at some other stuff in the village. Things that need less work, but aren’t quite so cool. Scattered all over are tons of bungalows and ranches. Not as sexy, but a lot less work. We need to at least give this a look.

Money
So I talked with a mortgage guy. For the first time in my life someone told me I had good credit. He said we could even afford a much heftier mortgage than I am looking at… No way! But it was nice to finally hear those words “you’ve got great credit, don’t worry.” Wow.

Comments

2 responses to “what am i?”

  1. ensie Avatar
    ensie

    Thanks for the encouragement on my blog. It’s very nice to see that my husband and I aren’t the only ones going through this house-buying thing. I keep telling myself that house-buying, like childbirth, is something that many, many people survive all the time! What a beautiful old house. I’m convinced that although it will be a struggle, buying the house that we really love will be worth the money and the effort it takes. Good luck!

    Reply
  2. ensie Avatar
    ensie

    Thanks for the encouragement on my blog. It’s very nice to see that my husband and I aren’t the only ones going through this house-buying thing. I keep telling myself that house-buying, like childbirth, is something that many, many people survive all the time! What a beautiful old house. I’m convinced that although it will be a struggle, buying the house that we really love will be worth the money and the effort it takes. Good luck with yours! I’ll be excited to see what decision you make!

    Reply

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