We got the keys to the new house last Tuesday. A few observations:
It has a garage, but it’s of little utility for its intended purposes because it’s not very accessible by car. It’s connected to something that’s more like an alley than a street. I also doesn’t have an automatic door and cannot be unlocked from the outside. It actually makes me wonder why - when they were building it - they didn’t just incorporate it into the house. It would have added significantly to the square footage. I’m not sure what extra expense there would have been, but I’d imagine it wouldn’t take long to recoup in higher rent.
That said, it works out perfectly for us. Moving from a larger house to a smaller house means we have extra stuff that needs to be stored. So even if it were a room, we’d probably still be using it for storage. This way, at least, there is a huge door that makes it easier to move stuff in and out.
It’s the little things you notice when you buy a “new” house that was put together by non-developers. There’s no toilet paper roll. There is no mailbox, though they have agreed to put one on there.
I noticed the lack of a toilet paper roll, and remembered that I had not yet taken any toilet paper over there… at an inopportune time.
We’d hoped to hire the realtor’s unemployed brother to help us move stuff. It’s… pretty hard for me to pack with a baby attached to me. I mostly just wanted some help putting stuff into boxes and moving heavy furniture. They wanted $1,600, I was not willing to may much more than $1,000. So after having got used to the idea that I wouldn’t have to move everything, I started having to get used to the idea of moving everything.
We’re going to miss having a yard with a fence. Where we are moving to means that I am not going to be able to let my dog out on her own. Too many streets with too much traffic and too many rabbits that might tempt Lisby into traffic.
Congrats!
>We’re going to miss having a yard with a fence.
Yes, this is an issue. We don’t have a fence, which means we haven’t let “Buster” out when he needed to go out, and he’s done his duty upstairs as a result a couple of times. Not having a fence means we have to be more rigorous in making sure he gets his breaks outside.
Comment by bobvis — February 9, 2013 @ 11:31 am
The hard part for us right now is when we’re going to be gone all day. Even with our current yard we can’t leave the dog out because someone will open our gate. But we can let her our on her own for a little bit. Even if we leave the gate open because as long as we’re inside, she’s not likely to wander off and she’s not smart enough to know that the thing she is barking at is actually accessible if she just goes around. Without any gate, though, I’d be worried that she would see a rabbit and chase it into the street.
Comment by trumwill — February 10, 2013 @ 9:12 pm
> not smart enough to know that the thing she is barking at is actually accessible if she just goes around
[embedded Picard facepalm slap]
Have you given any consideration to an electric fence? There are some folks here who have used it with success. I haven’t summoned up the confidence to try it yet. If we had one, I’m sure I’d be constantly looking to check that he hadn’t wandered off somehow.
Comment by bobvis — February 12, 2013 @ 1:42 pm
She’s a smart dog, but her spacial sense is rather poor. Don’t electronic fences have to be dug?
Comment by trumwill — February 12, 2013 @ 3:09 pm