Left Turn-Under Contract

I've written about the book, "Who Moved My Cheese" before. If you don't know it, you should check it out. It's less than 100 pages so it would only take you an afternoon to read it. It deals with change or how we deal with change. Change is scary. When it's not your choice, it can definitely piss you off but eventually, you have find a new source of cheese or "you can become extinct."

My cheese has been moved a lot this past year and it hasn't been fun. My house was taken from me. I moved into a rental and that was taken. I moved into another rental and then that was taken. In the book, the author suggests we should take change not so much as an end to something but a beginning of something else. Sounds good, right? It's kind of simple and it doesn't really address the sense of loss but it is a valuable lesson. The other thing is how much cheese has to be moved before you crumble? I mean, constant change, especially traumatic change, doesn't really allow for much peace. The bottom line, someone or some people have moved my cheese so now I'm making my own.

I just signed a contract on this house. I'm tired of the rug being pulled out from under me so I'm doing something about it. Yeah, I know. Look at the photos and you might ask, "What the hell are you doing?" Looks more like moldy cheese, right? Well, here's the deal. I'm an independent contractor that doesn't show a lot of income. I don't have anyone to co-sign a mortgage so this is all I can get.

Disgusting, right? I know. The guy that lived here was a hoarder. But here's the deal; as much as I say this is all I can afford, it's also kind of a blessing. I'm serious. This house was to be listed by the trustee of the hoarder as a complete tear down. I got it for $60K! Yeah, I know. It's a ton of work but $60K!? 

Since I first looked at it, all the garbage--even in the garage--has been thrown out. What was left behind was kind of gross but you have to look past that. Everything comes out but the beauty is, there's still some good bones and a new sewer hook-up and hot water heater. The lot alone is worth what I'm paying. 

The house was original built pre-1900. My guess is it was built for a miner. At some point an addition was added as well as a new roof and siding. The foundation has settled so the floors are far from level. BUT, that can all be fixed.

This is going to be a huge project for me and the scary thing is I'm going to be doing it, for the most part, by myself. I do have friends in the construction world; mainly Stephen Caldwell, who will help point me in the right direction, but I will be doing the designing and the majority of the work. It's scary but it's going to be fun. This winter will be a challenge. Come along on this left turn with The Montana Dream.

Keep 'em where they live...

P.S. I'm still guiding and work as much as possible. I'm also still hunting.