Step 2: Buy a house and business

Picture this: everything is going well - we are in escrow on the business, in escrow on a house nearby, all is going well.  Then, BOOM! The seller of the business decides that he doesn't want to sell after all, and we are back to the beginning.  Except now, we have moved to Kentucky and were living in a hotel waiting for the house to close.  You know, the house that we no longer want (even though it is perfect) because we need to find jobs or a new business, and it's not ideally located for that.

So, time for plans to change again.  We made our way around the surrounding cities in Kentucky and Southern Ohio, trying to find a place to live that would be nearby plenty of other opportunities.  After much searching, we ended up in a suburb of Dayton, Ohio.  Instead of a ranch house in the country, we bought a 100-year-old farmhouse in the city on 2 acres!  Life has a funny way of mocking your plans.

So now we have a historic house that needs pretty much everything, and hasn't been updated in any way in 50 years.  Oh, and did I mention that there is a toilet in the kitchen?  Time to roll up our sleeves and get to work!

Step 1 - sold the house!

Well, the first step in this process was to sell our house.  So, we cleaned everything up, got rid of lots of junk, and scheduled the real estate photographer.  Then, literally the same day, a pipe burst in the bathroom and pretty much destroyed everything.  As in, down to the studs in the master bath and master bedroom.  We were devastated.

But, like all things, it passed.  We filed an insurance claim, fixed the house, and three long months later finally listed the house.  Luckily, timing was on our side, and because our local real estate market had gotten hotter, we listed for $20,000 more than we initially planned.

The first day we had the house listed we held an open house, which was well-attended.  We received multiple offers, and were officially in escrow on day 2 of listing!  We were happy, but then realized we hadn't solidified plans for where we would land, and were about to be homeless!

So, off I flew to Kentucky to buy a business and house.  No pressure, right?

The end, and the beginning

This blog is being created as a record of our attempt to change our lives for the better. Currently "we" are Stephen (husband), Krystal (wife), Jack (son), Toby (dog), and Roxy (cat). The adults in the family both work 40 hour/week jobs, and commute to our house in the country.

 For Krystal, that is 25 miles each way, and takes about 90 minutes each way. For Stephen, the commute is 35 miles each way, and takes about the same amount of time. That means we each spend 15 hours per week commuting - nearly half of the time spent actually working! As the traffic in the Sacramento, California, area continues to worsen, the commute time is only growing. In this area, we simply cannot afford to move closer to our jobs. We could rent an apartment, but that is not the kind of life we like to live, either. 

So, we have decided to take the jump and make some serious changes. First, we will sell our house/property. It is a modular home with 10 acres. We then plan to use the proceeds from the sale to buy a house and business in cash in another state. We originally planned to go to Tennessee, but have since decided on Kentucky.

 This blog will talk about the benefits and challenges involved in such drastic changes, including the difficulties of a 2,500 mile move and restarting our lives in a strange new place. Here we go!