As of this publication (!), Robyn and I are officially debt-free and homeless. There isn't a penny of debt in our names, nor is there a penny of home equity.
We feel that God led us to the house in Price Hill. Cliche? Perhaps. Some of you will understand, some of you will think I'm loopy, some of you will think both. Regardless, we still feel this strongly enough that much opposition hasn't scared us off. We have a vision for this house/block/neighborhood. The opposition has been twofold: (1) People and (2) the house itself.
(1) Well-meaning folks (who we love dearly) are encouraging us to walk away and look in a "safer" area. This should not come as a shock. Typical suburban common logic would say that it is foolish to move to an area with high crime stats when we can financially afford to live in a nice cozy 'burb. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I just don't buy into the whole "safety" argument. And at the risk of sounding somewhat morbid, I'd rather die young via stray bullet than go against what I strongly believe I'm supposed to do in the name of "safety". Does Toby complicate this belief? Yes, but he doesn't negate the belief.
(2) The house has some serious structural issues. Those darn termites ate a lot of wood! Don't worry, if we wind up purchasing, I assure you the structural integrity of the house will be restored before I ask you to help unload the POD. Currently, however, there is a structural support beam in the basement that is completely missing because... wait for it... IT FELL DOWN. It's not an easy fix... it's not a cheap fix... but it's not an impossible fix, either.
This whole ordeal has been interesting, to say the least. We knew how petrified many of our loved ones would be if we purchased a house in the West End ghetto. We have looked at total dumps, we have looked at nicer places. We have contemplated complete renovations. We investigated buying a city-owned property adjacent to lots on which now-razed homes once stood.
I thought all these little tidbits of life experience during the search were just singular tests of the Spirit... now I'm seeing that they were opening our eyes to the reality of what this Price Hill house was going to involve, both from a family standpoint and a structural standpoint.
I assumed all those family concerns and really crazy home scenarios were history when we settled on the Price Hill house. Silly me. I figured our families would be so thankful that we weren't moving to Over-the-Rhine... but Price Hill isn't "safe" enough, either. I figured bidding on an already-"nice" house would rid us of the need to do massive construction projects... but this house needs work, too.
Again, it will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
Sidenote: Moving day will now likely be July 28. If you'd like to help us load the POD, let me know. As of tonight, it appears we will not be moving directly into any sort of permanent location... we're probably looking at a month with the in-laws. And since I have the best in-laws in the world, this is in no way a bad thing.
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3 comments:
Hey Scott, if God is leading you to Price Hill, I’d say He is smiling on you and the family. The Hill is
the essence of the West Side. Where you hang your hat is your home. I thank God I had the
privilege of living out my youth in “East” Price Hill, as it is now referred to, back in the 60's. Yeah I
know, it’s no longer the Beatle era and the Hill ain’t what it use to be, but I’m excited about this
move. Lord knows the Duebbers will bring goodness to the ole hood. I say we load up the POD
ASAP..!
‘71 Grad University Of Price Hill
Dan Warnock
Do you all need help packing? Need boxes? We have alot of them! Let me know! Robin has my email...heck i'll email her about it!
How great is it that Mr. Warnock reads your blog? Very cool!
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