This has been a busy weekend. I had a friend over to look at several projects -- including, adding a new zone on the irrigation system while I cleaned up the yard.
I moved the fix-up projects outside because we have been having some remarkably nice weather. I managed to clear out some ferns and overgrowth in the rose garden and the rock garden. It looks better, but there is always plenty to do.
While doing the yard work, I started rethinking one aspect of this move. My idea was to leave everything behind when I move south in May. I did not want to have a house and possessions that would act as a lifeline if I found the going tough in Mexico. (I fully expect that I will hit topes. After all, I am moving for the adventure, not the comfort.) That was the reason for all of this immediate activity: to get the house in shape to sell.
But something did not strike me as being right. The goal was to get the house in marketable shape, and I would not do some of the things the same way if I had decided to stay. I almost felt as if I was insulting the house.
Tie that to the fact that the general economy is worse now than it was when I started this project a month ago.
So, here is what I intend to do. (And it goes against half of what Kim of Boston has been advising me.) I will do some of the repairs on my house -- those that I would do if I were staying. I want to add French doors from the library out to the back yard. And I need to replace the windows on the south side of the house. My brother can help me complete those projects.
I am going to have dinner with a former work colleague in the next few days. In the 90s he occasionally house sat for me. He has been looking for a small house, but they are rare in this market. He has tentatively agreed to house sit for me while I head south. It would work out well for both of us -- economically. And, because I do not intend to buy a house in Mexico in the near future, I can bide my time and put the house on the market when the cycle is back up.
Of course, as many of you have warned me in your own moves, everything is open to change. Who knows? Maybe the housing market will have a sharp swing up in a few months. Or maybe blue fairies will simply give us all pots of gold.
But that is this week's plan. In any event, there is plenty of work to do before I am on my way to Melaque.
I moved the fix-up projects outside because we have been having some remarkably nice weather. I managed to clear out some ferns and overgrowth in the rose garden and the rock garden. It looks better, but there is always plenty to do.
While doing the yard work, I started rethinking one aspect of this move. My idea was to leave everything behind when I move south in May. I did not want to have a house and possessions that would act as a lifeline if I found the going tough in Mexico. (I fully expect that I will hit topes. After all, I am moving for the adventure, not the comfort.) That was the reason for all of this immediate activity: to get the house in shape to sell.
But something did not strike me as being right. The goal was to get the house in marketable shape, and I would not do some of the things the same way if I had decided to stay. I almost felt as if I was insulting the house.
Tie that to the fact that the general economy is worse now than it was when I started this project a month ago.
So, here is what I intend to do. (And it goes against half of what Kim of Boston has been advising me.) I will do some of the repairs on my house -- those that I would do if I were staying. I want to add French doors from the library out to the back yard. And I need to replace the windows on the south side of the house. My brother can help me complete those projects.
I am going to have dinner with a former work colleague in the next few days. In the 90s he occasionally house sat for me. He has been looking for a small house, but they are rare in this market. He has tentatively agreed to house sit for me while I head south. It would work out well for both of us -- economically. And, because I do not intend to buy a house in Mexico in the near future, I can bide my time and put the house on the market when the cycle is back up.
Of course, as many of you have warned me in your own moves, everything is open to change. Who knows? Maybe the housing market will have a sharp swing up in a few months. Or maybe blue fairies will simply give us all pots of gold.
But that is this week's plan. In any event, there is plenty of work to do before I am on my way to Melaque.
