I am no longer a spring chicken. In four or five years I actually hope to quit my day job and go to contracting. To that end, Lorena and I have started to look for a house we can buy in an area we want to live. We have a good idea about the area of the country where we would like to settle, but no idea at all about specific neighborhoods. So, what we think might work as a start is to buy a small, older house on a normal sized lot in a neighborhood somewhere in that area. The idea is to fix the house up enough so it is livable, but not so much we will not be able to sell it easily, then live in it for two to three years so we can get to know the neighborhoods in the area. If we find a neighborhood we like, we can take our time to find a house to remodel or a lot on which to build without a whole lot of pressure. It really fits in to our “no debt” mindset, too. I have actually started looking at houses and talking to contractors. I do not know when or even if we will buy something, but it certainly does not hurt to get started.
