It reminds me of "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson. Don't read that until after you leave.

I guess you could look at it like she is trying to tell you to "get the heck outta Dodge" sooner than later. Maybe, like a cat who wonders off to die away from its loved ones, she wants you to leave and let her die in peace.

I,of course, do not believe what I just wrote cause I love your digs! After all your love,time and investment are you sure you want to go?

I'm sorry you feel that way, because it seems like you love your home (and it shows) but don't be fooled into thinking that there aren't going to be issues in any home. Even new ones are being constructed with things that it seems are impossible to source except from China and do not hold up (like your new light fixture). It's probably the same for new water heaters, just like it is with the carp they are making for appliances now.

Perhaps she just wants some new jewelry and will be satisfied when it's replaced?

I know exactly how you feel. I live in an cira 1870 schoolhouse. I feel like I'm more its caretaker than the owner. Ever since I moved in 36yrs. ago it's like I have this obligation to see that the school makes (or tries to make) another 100yrs. because of its history to the area. Perhaps I'll get almost a year between problems but even if I try to keep ahead of them, something happens.

Sounds like you have always tried to do your duty as well. Good luck.

Oly - I do love my home very much but I'm afraid that I am an 'In-Town' w/ no children kind of gal. Not that I don't like children - I just want our children to have more land to roam, explore and have adventures. I'd rather worry about random whack jobs that might happen upon our land instead of 150 strangers living w/in a 1 block radius.

And while I enjoy living on the edge of in-town I'm ready to NOT be surrounded by people all of the time. Although I will miss not hearing my elderly neighbor yell bless you from inside her house when I sneeze inside of mine!

No, the next home is much older and predates our current 115 yr old home by an additional 118 yrs. and I'm sure is chock full of a whole lotta work! Or at least so I hear. Still inhabited but too much & too big for the current elderly owner to continue to keep up w/. It is DH's Grandmother's old home and will be getting the first piece in the puzzle of getting/ buying back as much of the land as possible as was in their family before financial hard times hit them in the 70's.

We are far more comfortable taking out loans to make repairs on that home since we will be there forever.

Schoolhouse - Oh my did you hit the nail on the head for DH! He's tired of being a caretaker in a home that he no longer loves nor has time to relax in and enjoy.

No you're not crazy but maybe projecting a bit ;)
Now that we know there is a family heirloom home up for grabs; I'd say that trumps whatever heart tugs are going on either way with your current house. Get the water heater-a cheap one- and call your real estate agent to list. Don't get a new rug til you're in your grannies old house.

I agree, install the new heater and sell before something else breaks :-)

We've lived in our house 13 years and I wanttomovesobad! It seems like we're not getting any surprise repairs, just things are wearing out as expected and needing replacement. The house has NEVER spoken to me. Or I am deaf!

It sounds like you're moving on to your forever project home, save your money to make that place amazing!

Foxes, how long will DH's grandmother stay in her house? Are there plans for her to move into a senior community or assisted living arrangement?

If moving is possible within the next year or so, I agree with the others to do only needed repairs on your existing place and keep that rug money for your new/old house.

You are fortunate to be able to keep the old house in the family!!!

No, I don't feel that homes have a soul, but I think they have an essence that I like to get the most out of. We have gotten the essence out of three houses, and are helping with a fourth: my son's new home that hasn't seen a thorough cleaning and fresh paint in decades. I can sense it reviving from the dead as we wash off cigarette smoke & grime & give it young colors & gleaming, squeaky clean surfaces. I spent 3 hours steam cleaning their family room carpet yesterday. It will be ripped out within perhaps 6 months, but doesn't matter -- it must be made clean! The house will be a pretty, welcoming, sheltering home for my son & DIL, their black lab, & a baby arriving in 12 weeks. We can see the transformation & are psyched. Happy vibes in that house again.

There is probably another home out there that would love to have you come to its rescue. It's calling to you!

"The house has NEVER spoken to me. Or I am deaf!" Melle_sancto, lol!

Foxes, do you have a love/hate relationship with your current house? It really shows the loving care you have put into it and I know it must pain you to have to put money into things like water heaters and wiring just to make the house functional.

I agree with the others...now that we know you have a family home to eventually move into, I'd wait about purchasing a rug unless you absolutely know it will work in the new house and you'll be moving into it soon. Good luck, and keep whispering gently to your current home! Maybe she'll settle down.

I feel your pain. Currently the bottom of our fence is 5' from the house. The top of the fence is 5" from the house. Once we get that and the backyard done, we have to repaint and do the flat parts of the roof. Work starts next week.

Three years ago it was termite work. Two years ago we had our main drain relined. I just grabbed my ankles and told them to take what they wanted.

Last year we had all the wood windows repaired and rehung.

We re-wired when we did the addition three years ago so that saved us money since they were already working. Appliances, kitchen and one bathroom also came out of that work so they will all go around the same time. Other bathroom was redone in 2010.

My husband, who hasn't owned a home before, keeps asking me what else...as we avert our eyes from the sloping floor in the dining room.

But I still prefer old homes. Hopefully the home for old broke folks will be old too!ðÂÂÂ

Lol - whisper to her and maybe she'll settle down! I love it. seems to work w/ my kids after I regroup and get my wits about me - maybe it'll work for the house!

DH's Grandmother's house was sold back in the early 70's after they thought that she was going strong health wise. The land was originally 100+ acres of wooded land, farmland, farmhouse, cottage and barn bought in the 30's as a Summer getaway. DH's parents moved into the cottage. When it became apparent that his Grandmother was in great health they began building their own home elsewhere on the property. Then his Grandmother suddenly became ill and passed away & they family had to sell the farmhouse, cottage, barn and 3 1/2 acres.

The family who bought it went through divorce and the wife kept the property. Her children are grown and do not want it so years ago out of the clear blue sky she asked DH and I when we were going to take it off of her hands. We couldn't at the time and she said that she would wait for us. DH was ready and looked up the property value on Zillow and it said that it went into foreclosure and we never heard from her for almost a year. We stopped by, called, left notes but nothing. Then on New Years Eve I told DH to try calling one last time and she answered! So we're back in contact and will work it out w/ her hopefully sooner rather than later.

I called DH at work after I wrote this and insisted that he let me help pay for the water heater which is good because apparently it will be 2x as much as what we anticipated. Of course.

Outsideplaying: Yep - total love/ hate w/ my house. I remember the weekend that my Dad took to fix an 8" hole in the wall for us while he babysat. That same week after he left to go back home a new hole developed right above the one that he just fixed. Our kids aren't allowed to touch the walls anymore.

It sounds like our last home. We were there 30 years when we sold her. Yes, we put a lot of time and energy into her. Remodelling in the mid-90's. And before we left we replaced windows, installed a new roof, and two water heaters, a dishwasher and a number of other appliances decided to up and quit. Three nights before we moved out she sprung a leak which required us to have to call in a plumber and also a painter to fix the wall below the bath even while we were scheduled for an estate sale. I told my husband that I thought the house was mad at us for selling her.

In spite of that the new owners who we are now friends with are taking very good care of her. They have done more to upgrade her than we would have done. But even they had some issues upon moving in: Another leak after they moved in from the second upstairs bath. All I can say is she is in good hands now.

And we have moved on and are waiting to move into a brand new forever home.

We've lived in 3 old homes, have considered ourselves caretakers and have left each home in better structural condition than when we began as caretakers. I love old homes!

Do you think the caretaker feeling will lessen when you get to grandma's? I would expect just the opposite to occur.

dup

This post was edited by jmc01 on Sat, Jan 17, 15 at 5:43

Foxes, didn't you have or had planned to put your house on the market about a year or so ago?

When can you put it on the market and buy the other home?

Your home is beautiful! You have amazing taste. I bet it will sell quickly and for top dollar!

As the say "the heart wants what the heart wants."

Houses are like that.

I loved my last house irrationally. I was so sad to leave.

A few nights ago, I mused to DH: "I wonder if the new owners appreciate all the work we did."

DH: "No. Like all new owners, they will discover all the things we DIDN'T do. They will also discover that the heater is on its last legs, that they will NEVER be able to grow grass on that brown spot in the yard, and they will eventually find the pan in the attic that catches the drips from the leak in the roof. And they will curse us just like ALL new owners curse previous owners."

In reality, it's not the owners. It's the houses. They just know.

Yep, yep, yep. It's Monster House. Broken pipe in yard, basement flood during heavy Sunday rain. Have to dig up yard. Is that a smile in the mirror or gritted teeth?

Foxes, sometimes you just gotta show your monster house that it's really just your b***h! This is what our contractor did yesterday to our hedge and fence!

Sounds like many things went bad one after the other. None appear connected to the other honestly. Sounds like the wiring was not done well on that porch light, take it off the wall and check the wiring, a connection is probably loose, AKA they didnt twist the wires together before they put the wire nut on. And the wiring job on the whole house shouldnt have been a surprise. If you had to replace just the panel for more breakers or had to upgrade to 200A that could be a surprise, but can I ask why did they have to rewire? You dont need to be an electrician to shut off power to a room, take off an outlet cover, and look at the wiring see if its knob and tube or missing a ground. They also sell outlet testers you can just plug into the outlet and they light up telling of any problems. Just playing devils advocate, dont want to sound mean.

There are some houses that have bad mojo but it would feel like some sort of haunting. Instead you are thinking the house is telling you what it wants based on random problems coming up. If you get an errie feeling inside a house while you are searching for a new house then dont buy it. I think spirts do exist and I dont watch scary movies, they leave a bad vibe in my house. I dont watch it anymore, but watch Travel Channel Ghost Adventues a few times, they are legit and debunk any findings that arent legit but they encounter a lot of crazy things.

The fact that your scared to leave is a bit odd IMO. I would think people living in a monster house would WANT to leave. Even if someone does gut it when you leave, change is hard for some people to grasp but in the end it will be better.

This post was edited by Vith on Tue, Jan 20, 15 at 17:46

1929Spanish - what's going on in your yard?

Trust me - I'm not afraid to move out. I used to struggle w/ what the next people would do to the home. Ours is one of the few totally intact homes in the bro. It hasn't been stripped of it's stained glass, leaded glass doors, glass and brass Victorian doorknobs and Victorian woodworking. That's rare for our area to have so much left. 2 weeks after we bought it someone knocked on the door and offered me $10,000 for the inner vestibule door. My Dad restored old and historic homes so I felt a great dedication to preserving this home.

I also can't unload the old girl w/ major work that would need to be done which seems to be every year.

Our home had the bones of great wiring because the hospital that used to be across the street bought it at one point and turned it into a nursing/ radiology lab or something like that so they rewired it to be able to carry the load of the equipment.

We have an awful Code Enforcement Department. Or should I say Notorious? You get my drift - it is a well known problem going back years.

The people who bought it from the hospital (the next owners right before us) did a real hack job on the wiring. He was an out of work electrician and now we know why he was out of work. There was some crazy stuff going on w/ the wiring. He had to undo and redo a bunch of stuff for it to pass inspection that was simply visible to the eye downstairs in the basement.

I also had additional lighting added to the front porch, hallways & mudroom in addition to adding lighting to the front porch.

We hadn't gotten around to doing the yard since finishing our addition in 2012. Like I said earlier, the fence and 8' ficus hedge were falling over. Yesterday we started the work and the hedge came out creating a 6' mountain of shrubbery in the backyard. All it takes is money and we can tame the monster.....telling it whose boss and making it what we want it to be.

Ahh that makes sense. Now I see why they rewired, previous owner probably had a ton of junction boxes, or worse, junctions without boxes all over.

I had a fair amount of junction boxes in my basement and I am in the process of finishing the basement and didnt want a bunch of junction boxes showing on the ceiling (some shady people would just stick it behind the drywall, big time no-no). They did a bad job on the connections in the boxes anyhow (didnt twist the wires before putting the nut on). I figured that out because I randomly lost power in a few outlets. I was a new home owner at the time and called an electritian because at the time I did not know how to fix it. After watching him I learned troubleshooting wiring is really not that scary or difficult. From there on I just kept learning all I could about how to be a home owner and fix what was within my limits.

I also discovered that some of the outlets on the main floor were grounded and some were not, so I decided to just rewire everything. Got rid of extra junction boxes, everything is grounded, and added more outlets in spots that would be nice to have them. Each room has its own breaker now also.

I can understand the history and character of the house and worrying about future owners makes sense, I would think the best way to help with that is to make sure you get a great price for the house and find a buyer that appreciates what is there and is willing to pay to get that. If they pay enough I doubt they would want to remove any of it. Easier said than done of course. It could list for a while, but who knows. There are a lot of people that are looking for character instead of cookie-cutter!

Best of Luck!