We are land owners!

Friday, February 24th, 2006 at 9:30am was the moment of truth (or the 15 minutes of truth, as it were). We met at the seller's attorney's office in Troy and I bounced Emmet and signed my name a few times, while Wendy wrote all the checks and signed her name too.

And then, we were landowners! I find it astounding that the whole process ended so quickly, but I guess most closings I have heard of were house closings, and those have a lot of other services and inspections that have to be dealt with, as well as banks, which complicate things. But our people were extremely professional and efficient, and got the job done. Jan has promised that she will be dropping by to make sure we are keeping up on our plans.

In any case, once the closing was done, Wendy, Quinn, Emmet and I took a drive out to the property. Wendy and I jumped up and down for joy on it while Quinn watched from her car seat and Emmet snoozed in his. EVen so, I don't think it will sink in until we either start to make improvements or we have to pay the tax bill.

We went on to visit a modular home sales center in Whately, MA to look at their display homes. We are looking at using a (small) modular unit to top the detached garage. This will provide us a place to live while we build the main house, and also function as an apartment for Wendy's mom once we move into the house. SIPs are also in the running for that. We will have to do a bunch of research and see what works financially as well as time-frame wise. Our goal right now is (assuming everything else in our life works out to accomodate it) to be living on the property by the end of 2007.

So now we start the next steps! Everything we put off since the deal wasn't done yet can now be pursued. Look forward to us putting in a driveway, a well, a storage shed and perhaps even a septic system later this year (once the weather turns). We will definitely be camping up there as often as we can manage this summer, since we have the land and proximity to Grafton Lakes State Park (gotta renew our Empire Pass). Adios for now, we will be dreaming if you need us.

Nearing the end of the beginning

Much progess has been made in the scant 4 weeks since the new lawyer has become involved. The neighbors have signed a quitclaim deed, giving any claim they may have had on the property to us. This resulted in the title insurance company agreeing to write the title insurance, and now we are looking at being able to close on this deal within the next week or so!

It will be good to have this part of the dream behind us (somewhat over six months since the contact was signed) so we can move on the the middle. People keep asking us, "Have you closed on that property yet? What? You don't even own it yet?!?" I gotta say I have almost gotten to the point of being tired of explaining the situation.

Once we own it, we can start making the improvements needed to get to the point of living on the property. I am thinking we might need to get the driveway in first, because it is difficult parking on the side of the road every time we go up there. That will also facilitate getting the well driller in to where they will need to drill, as well as the equipment to clear the building lot and put the septic system in.

In any case, that is all the news for now, and we're not counting any chickens yet. Only once the paperwork is signed, sealed and delivered, and all the bills paid, will we rejoice in being "NYS landowners" as one of Wendy's relatives put it. Meantime, we wait, and practice our patient resolve. I'm sure it will be tested time and again as we continue down this path.