Tag Archives: mortgage

DINKS on the Farm

May 2007

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Tuesday, May 1, 2007 – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo – BUT WE OWN A FARM!!!!!)

Passed a milestone last night: I cried from all the stress. Brock and I made a list/chart of all the decisions we have to make re: our house, and I was a little overwhelmed by it all. So I called my mom & dad, and dad told me what to do (in-floor heating, powered via wood stove and water heater, concrete floors stamped to make them pretty, etc.).

Our options include:
FLOORING: laminate, hardwood, engineered hardwood, concrete, etc.?
HEATING: wood stove, pellet stove, furnace, etc.?
WATER: on-demand or water heater?
and then we can get to work on the blueprints. Ugh.

Also: I start my new job Monday!!! EEK!!!

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Friday, May 4, 2007 – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo – BUT WE OWN A FARM!!!!!)

I’m so excited about the farm. I’m not usually one to regret my decisions (even if I really should), and the farm is no exception. Everytime I see a condo or whatever for $400,000 I think, Why would anyone buy that? Especially when you can get an acreage and a whole new life style instead? I sort of understand that some of you think farming = hell, what with the physical exhaustion and weather-based stress and etc., but I feel more and more that my new life is the right one for me. I suppose we’ll see, once I’m actually a farmer and can’t have my 2 hour naps after work each day . . .

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Sunday, May 6, 2007 – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo – BUT WE OWN A FARM!!!!!)

Today Brock is cleaning our apartment. Which is fair, since yesterday I messed it all up by making 3 apple pies (as thanks to my references) and a pumpkin pie (for Brock), and lasagna (which is now in the fridge, waiting to be cooked).

House-wise, I sent Dad Brock’s latest houseplan, discussed geo-thermal heating, and now I’m researching U-Pack. Where the hell is U-Pack in Victoria?? I know it’s out there — I’ve seen the crates in people’s yards. But the only google results I got were American. I suppose I should check the phone book . . . how retro. Brock’s convinced that the best arrangement ever re: storing our crap for June and July (between leaving the penthouse and moving into our new home) is to stick it all at his parents. Poor parents. The very thought of moving our sectional sofa or king-size memory foam mattress (with boxsprings) down from our apt, to Duncan, then into Debbie and Randy’s house and up their stairs to the tv room . . . ugh. What a waste of energy! So I’m committed to making a case for U-Pack. If I can find out how to reach them.

In other news, I start my new job tomorrow!!!! I can’t believe I’ve officially left government employment. I always talked about it, but I suspected that the lure of the Golden Handcuffs might trap me for at least a decade or two. Luckily for me, I met and fell in love with a nutter who wanted a farm . . .

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Tuesday, May 29, 2007 – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo – BUT WE OWN A FARM!!!!!)

I’ve been a naughty DINKS On The Farm updater this month. I have no idea why we think we’ll have the “spare time” to actually build & manage a farm . . .

Anyhoo. Things we have accomplished this month include: packing (our condo is a mess of cardboard), we held a garage sale (made $23 and gained a coat rack and bell — I’ll use the bell to call Brock in from the fields for dinner, or something like that), started my new job (the cause of my poor updating — too busy at work!!!), signed the mortgage papers ($300,000), discussed insurance (Banker Nils and I want it, Brock refuses to pay the extra cash), met with our accountant & learned about farm write-offs (yippee!!!!!), got a business GST number, and . . . . lots of other mundane details. It’s freaking exhausting. I’ve been sleeping a lot, whenever I haven’t been commuting on the Malahat or working. We sort of have some vague idea of what needs to be done in order for us to have a home August 1. Here, in case you’re fascinated, is the process:

1. finalize our house plans and where we want to build.
2. get a sanitary permit from the Septic Guy (aka Tony).
3. apply for a “Home Builders Exemption” from some office in Vancouver.
4. wait 10 days until they send us a form. Fill it out and get it notarised.
5. get a statement of land title to show we own the property (June 1).
6. give sanitary permit, land title, Vancouver-office form, and properly-drawn blueprints of our home to the Cowichan Valley Regional District office.
7. Wait for them to say “Okay.”
8. Install a septic field (hi Tony).
9. Excavate and pour the foundation (we still need to find someone to do this).
10. Get my Daddy Bob, Brother Joe & Dylan to build the house.
11. Get hydro and the well hooked up.
12. Move in.
13. Arrange for mail delivery.

Whew. Someone out there (my coworkers for sure) are taking bets as to when we’ll actually be living in the house. My boss has September 1, I have August 1.

Our short-term plans are The Move Up Island. We’ve been packing, as I mentioned, and we take possession of the property June 1. I’ve booked that day off work: we’re going to the farm to sit in lawn chairs, drink champagne and roast smokies on a fire. Saturday is The Move (if we can book a van on the busiest moving weekend of the year). Sunday we’ll clean the apartment, and Monday we’re meeting with Ruth & Neil (the wonderful owners of this beautiful apartment) for the inspection, return of deposit/keys, etc. As of July 5, I am a resident of Duncan.

Not entirely sure how I feel about that yet.

But I’m REALLY excited about our farm.

DINKS on the Farm

March 2007

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Monday, March 12, 2007 a.m. – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo)

This page (and site) is still under construction — partly because our offer on The Farm has yet to be accepted.

But please stay tuned — bookmark this site — and within a day or nine you’ll be able to hear all about the exciting adventures of Brock and Heather, Canadian DINKS (Double Income, No Kids) as they revolutionize their Starbucks-card-holding lives and move onto 10 acres of dirt, which will one day be a really great organic farm!

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Monday, March 12, 2007 8:35 p.m. – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo)

Well, we are stymied. We heard back from the owners of our farm tonight (via realtor) and they’ve counter-offered . . . at $2,000 less than the asking price. We had offered $50,000 less than the asking price. Clearly there is some miscommunication here about the value of the property and/or our net worth. Brock’s on the phone with his dad, I’m here updating you. What to do?? Is it worth going DEEP into debt to live a pastoral lifestyle? It’s not like I have to kill chickens or anything, just weed gardens. I don’t mind owing thousands per month in mortgage payments, as long as I get to wear gumboots on the weekend.

Real estate is tricky. That is what I have learned today.

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Tuesday, March 13, 2007 8:15 p.m. – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo)

We met with Banker Nils at 4 pm today and he comforted us, petted us, and told us that everything would be okay. So we’re charged up and ready to do this real estate thing.

Also I bought seven Canadian farm magazines today at lunch to cheer me up and inspire me to freelance our amusing (albeit short, so far) experience of returning to the land. My Harrowsmith (Canadian version) describes us as “urban refugees.” Or “cidiots” (city + idiots), but I like urban refugees better. I never knew how inspiring an agricultural magazine could be. Did you know there are chickens that lay blue eggs? I want those chickens.

Anyhoo: negotiating the price of our new farm. We’re meeting the realtor at 5:30pm tomorrow, at which time we will make a firm, emphatic (yet reasonable) counter-counter-offer. We’ve consulted with Brock’s daddy, Nils, and my (gov’t) coworkers, and we’re ready to negotiate.

Assuming we do get this property, our next step will be choosing a small but comfy home to build. We’re going to have so much debt, this is nuts . . . I was in a stupor/stupour (Canadian spelling???) yesterday by the time Brock came home from work, I was so exhausted and excited and confused and frustrated and impotent. All I could do was lie in bed and think about how pretty yellow sheets are. I’m still dizzy, but I’ve concluded that this (debt-funded) farm existence will make me a lot more satisfied with my life. We’re a lazy generation. The thought of having to work (literally, not via office job) for my food is refreshing. I’m not a total back-to-the-lander, though — I’ll still need high-speed internet.

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Wednesday, March 14, 2007 8:52 p.m. – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo)

Negotiations are getting intense. We increased our offer by $25,000 — still $25,000 less than the original asking price. We also, however, got permission from the owners to get the land appraised, which will give us some idea of whether we’re totally cheap and/or ignorant of land values, or if the asking price really is inflated and goofy.

The owners have until Friday pm to respond — I don’t think they’ll accept or even counter, but Brock thinks they’ll lower their price by another thousand or three.

Working farmland will be easy, compared to this.

Lego model of our future farm.

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Thursday, March 15, 2007 – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo)

While the appraiser checks out our property today (THANK YOU BANKER NILS!!!!!), I am browsing gumboots.

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Sunday, March 18, 2007 7:52 p.m. – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo)

We haven’t heard anything official back from the appraiser yet, but Friday’s rough estimate was $400,000. Today Brock and I decided that we want that farm, dammit, and we can make it worth whatever we end up paying — so we offered $418,000 today and we’re pretty confident that this offer will be accepted. It’s hard not to get too scared/excited. The sellers’ deadline for acceptance is 9am tomorrow morning, but the realtor is meeting with them RIGHT NOW so hopefully we’ll hear the answer before we go to bed, and therefore only be kept awake by exciting ideas rather than apprehension.

Also, the realtor says that there are assets to the property that wouldn’t have been apparent to an uninformed appraiser, so it’s likely we can get a higher appraisal than $400,000 and therefore qualify for a larger mortgage, which will give us more cash to establish our “farm.”

It’s all scary, the huge debt we’re taking on and this whole “farm” thing, when we’re basically operating on Brock’s adolescent memories of his parents’ organic strawberry farm and whatever we’ve read in Harrowsmith. But this is the best time in our lives to take risks: we don’t have any kids, we’re making a ton of money so qualify for mortgages and etc., and if everything goes to shit we can always sell the works to some retired oil tycoon from Calgary.

Or maybe we’ll be ridiculously happy, make a fortune selling raspberry pies and live in bliss until we die surrounded by our farm-loving grandchildren.

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Monday, March 19, 2007 9:59 a.m. – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo – BUT WE OWN A FARM!!!!!)

THEY’VE ACCEPTED OUR OFFER. WE OWN A FARM.

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Thursday, March 22, 2007 – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo – BUT WE OWN A FARM!!!!!)

Can’t sleep. Don’t know what to do about shelter as of June 1. Very excited about 10 acres of land, though. Yurt? Motorhome? Trailer? Build something new and tiny? Move a house from Nickel Brothers?

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Tuesday, March 27, 2007 – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo – BUT WE OWN A FARM!!!!!)

We’ve been so busy. I wish we could just stop working for a week or two so we can focus on the farm, and all the decisions we have to make, and daydream together on our couch about our future crops. Name the chickens, etc.

This weekend we learned EVERYTHING about motorhomes/RVs/5th wheels, which is one option we’re considering as shelter come June 1 (aka the day we gain a farm and have to leave our penthouse). Unless we’re prepared to live in it for two or more years, though, it won’t be financially beneficial — we’ll lose the GST/PST and the payments we make, which (for a $30,000 trailer) are in the $400/month range. Financially, it seems to make the most sense to build SOMETHING permanent this summer, and either camp on the farm or squat at Brock’s parents’ house for the summer. The problem with this, of course, is that neither of us know how to build a house. And once the house is there, we’re limited as to what else we can build, although A1 ALR zoning does allow a second house . . . anyhoo, this is so confusing. We need to figure out what we’re doing before April 18, which is the deadline to have our financing in order.

FYI, for a few hours we were totally sold on a $79,000 5th wheel that was bigger than most people’s apartments. We figured we could live there for five or more years. Until we realized that monthly payments would be $800. For a trailer.

Last night Byron called to suggest pre-fab homes — like the ones at Home Depot.

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Tuesday, March 30, 2007 – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo – BUT WE OWN A FARM!!!!!)

Coworker Lisa has suggested we have a worm farm. I thought she was on drugs, but apparently there is such a thing.

Also, the other day I saw an article on farming truffles (the mushroom sort). That’d be cool.