Wednesday, January 28, 2009

3 years ago this week


3 years ago this week our house in New Hampshire got the offer and we finalized our move to Ithaca.
We had been in this cute little grey house for over ten years, but the property tax bill quadrupled to 8000 dollars a year, the missus lost her job and there was some kind of crazy drug dealer up the street. TIME TO GO. We listed just before Christmas 2005, had many customers, and got the offer January 31, 2006. Everything was FAST in the gogo days of the real estate boom in New England. The guy wanted to close in 4 weeks, February 28, and we did, and packed our uhaul and 3 dogs and 2 cats and drove off....I think the real estate boom ended the day after we sold that house. We still own all the woods across the street from our old house, and it is beautiful, and you can contact me if you wanna buy 3 beautiful wooded house lots in New Hampshire up the street from a pretty lake and a crazy drug dealer (you kinda figure that dude has finished the job of burning down his house--yes, they almost managed it once, maybe it is a meth lab--either that or he is dead or in jail----the most unlikeable person you have ever met which sounds very un-Christian of me, and Denis met him and will agree).
Then we came here. Our money went a lot further here, and we got a much bigger house for less money. We lived in my parents' barn from March 1-31 and have been here now nearly 3 years.
Dang, we are sooooo fortunate.

18 comments:

~ Sil in Corea said...

You sure got the better end of that deal! The further off from the insane "d.d." the better, I'd say. I can see why you laid a false trail when you "got outta Dodge."

Those blue mugs with the faces are really lovable. I like both the handles, but especially the one on the left. It looks like my thumb would rest comfortably on the top, for good leverage.

Warm Hugs from Cold Corea,
~ Sil

WheresMyAngels said...

Holy cow, I cannot believe the taxes you paid on that. But I sure do love NH. The White Mountains are my favorite place. I love to visit all the falls. I have a few friends whom live there and they complain about the taxes also!! lol

If I ever win the lottery I'll buy your lots and let my husband take care of the drug dealer!! lol

Crafter of Khnum said...

All the d.d. near me must be sane and keep a pretty low profile. There is an old (i.e. from the 60's) couple living near me that grow a healthy crop of hemp every summer. They grow it in the middle of a swamp on their land, and the only reason I found it was because I went exploring with Rane on my shoulders when he was two. Needless to say, we don't explore in that direction anymore. I'm not afraid of them, in fact they often come to the neighborhood wide parties. It is just a weird feeling that I get when I know someone is a criminal. It must be the "boy scout" in me, even though I was never a boy scout.

Gordo said...

You definitely got the better end of that deal, Gary. Keeping the other land was smart, too .. :-)

Gary's third pottery blog said...

Listen, that land is for SALE.

Anonymous said...

The purple house is wonderful, Gary, and I like to think of you all snuggled up on a winter's night, snow and all.

But... the little grey house is perfect. You and Missus P must have shed a tear when you had to leave. Keep the woodland if you can and one day, you never know...

Fiercely good pots coming out of your studio just now... :-)

Hilary said...

You sure are fortunate. It's a wonderful feeling to be content with your surroundings. So was the house already purple, or did you paint it?

Gary's third pottery blog said...

Twas purple, freshly painted. Nobody wanted it at first, then 5 couples inclusing us, all on the same week! Ours were the best terms for the seller. :)

Just Me said...

Have you ever thought of changing the color?

Both houses are really cute.

Gary's third pottery blog said...

Hahahahaha, change the color?????

Farmer*swife a/k/a Glass_Half_Full said...

Well, an eclectic potter and his happy household should live in an equally eclectic house. ;-)

Anonymous said...

i'll definitely vouch for the crazy neighbor. just walking by his house was a scary thing to do.

although i'm glad gary and maude moved to a much better place i'd still rather they had stayed in NH because ithaca is so darn far! (is that being selfish of me?) but i'm glad they are friends with my wonderful goofy friend kim.

Anonymous said...

I'm not goofy!

Anonymous said...

goofy or not, i love you kim.

Reb said...

If you don't have to sell those lots Gary, hang onto them. You never know what markets are going to do from one minute to the next. BTW, I love the purple on your house.

Anonymous said...

Ha! You tell us about 3 beautiful wooded house lots and in the same sentence about the dd neighbors!! Like that's gonna sell your property! Heh. If you hadn't moved, maybe you wouldn't have blogged and then we wouldn't have all met you (well, Denis knew you already).

Now if you told me you had a lovely wooded lot in WA....

Linda Starr said...

Hey Gary, send some of that house selling luck my way, I could use it.

cm said...

Time flies, eh? Hard to believe I'm on my second job since then. :-S

denis, careful with your declarations there, celeste might be listening.