rehab a house.

...there’s this white, two-story farmhouse about 15 minutes away. It’s been abandoned for years.

The windows have all been boarded up, and there are “no trespassing” signs on them. It’s surrounded by weeds, unmowed grass, and overgrown shrubs, but it’s in a nice, quiet area next to a three acre field.

It reminds me of the Windsor Plantation in The Notebook.

I drive past it whenever I visit my mom, and I always think, damn. I want that house.

I have no clue how I’d be able to acquire it. The title is probably for the land and not the house itself, which means more expense than I can possibly afford, (There’s no way in hell I’d get a loan,) not to mention the rehabbing costs…

But… I want that house. :(

And those are just a few of the reasons why I’m interested in rehabilitating a house. You see, I’m an urban planner, and I’ve been instructed that all the old, decaying parts of cities need are people like me. We’ll move in, add a few coats of paint and a new counter-top and voila! That old dingy neighborhood is now attractive and desirable.

On a more serious note: this is something that I do want to do.
I love the details of construction. The nitty-gritty assembly of wood framing, siding, roofing, and windows. Cities in the “rust belt” contain many beautiful homes that are falling apart because of disuse or neglect. In a housing market that is not friendly to sellers, the only time-tested way to improve value is to actually build it into the structure.