build, buy, or borrow?

for quite some time now the lingering question in my life has been whether i should buy a house. but then, as often happens, that begs another question ... should i build a new house or buy a "used" one? well, after months and months of analyzing, researching, dreaming, and stressing, i FINALLY made a decision.

this will be my new house. get used to seeing it, i'll be posting a LOT of pictures of it over the next months, years, whatever. i REALLY wanted to build a new house with a study nook and arches and all of it's grand newness, but i finally came to the conclusion that i really couldn't afford it. i also decided i didn't really need three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a two-car garage like the standard American family. sure, it's nice to have all that room to put my stuff in, but do i really need all that stuff even? reducing size to match my budget truly seemed the better choice.

two bedrooms, one bathroom, one car garage, a small room for an office, and a big yard. it'll be perfect. closing will be at the end of August. location is .7 of a mile from my mom, on the same street even! and work will begin as soon as i have the keys. here are the pictures from the real estate listing.

when i say work, i don't mean major construction. i mean smaller things that will still cost money and take time, but i can actually live in the house while it's happening. i want to put a passthrough window thing between the living room and kitchen. i want to add a wall in the garage to make the washer and dryer feel like they are part of the house instead of part of the garage. i'm so considerate. :-) i also want to revamp the kitchen and bathroom. a patio out back would be nice, too.

this will become my new project, the thing that gives me reason to blog. i'll share before and after pictures of all the work and with interesting stories to match, i'm sure. so, if you care to follow along, come back soon. :-)