WE'RE BUILDING A HOUSE IN LA CRUZ!!!
That's right... We're not going anywhere anytime soon, because we are now the proud owners of this ready-to-build chunk of dirt. (These are just the perimeter/exterior walls...it's empty inside.)
Some backstory:
We've had a casual eye on the housing market since we moved to La Cruz three years ago, but never really saw anything the two of us could agree on. Ty would often get goo goo eyes for acres of raw jungle land in the hills (only accessible by 4-wheelers, of course) imagining a sprawling, eco-friendly, self-sustainable, Mexican "ranch"... And then I would kindly remind him that there was no access road, no public water, no internet or electricity service...and that we'd blow our budget on just getting it ready to build and have no money left to build a house.
I'd also remind him that he's about the least handy man on the planet (he's a self-proclaimed "idea guy," not a do-it-yourself guy) and that building and maintaining a "ranch" would be a ton of work - none of which he'd actually want to do. Twice in six years, he's insisted we buy the worst house on the block and then says, "Okay, now fix it!" And then I'd spend 6-12 months remodeling said fixer-upper while he "supervised."
Our Portland house...
Super tired and pouty!
Our Auburn house... Here we go again!
Conquering a rotted shed... Haha.
You get the point.... Needless to say, I put my foot down this time. I told him that buying a fixer-upper was one thing, but if I have to buy a machete to ward against jungle snakes - then we ain't buying it.
We chose to move to La Cruz for a reason... We fell head over heels in love with the little fishing village when we first vacationed here in 2013. That trip was also the first time Ty said, "I could live here one day." Little did we know at the time that "one day" would arrive much sooner than anticipated! So, I didn't want to settle on buying something on the outskirts of town (a.k.a. the jungle!) or in a neighboring pueblo when it's La Cruz that feels like home to us and it was our inspiration to live abroad in the first place. We've looked at properties in Bucerias, Higera Blanca, etc., and it always came back to, "It's a nice house, but do we really want to live anywhere other than La Cruz?" The answer was always a resounding, "NO." So... We kept looking at properties from time-to-time until we pretty much had all of the listings in La Cruz memorized.
We got more serious about buying property this year, after trying to decide whether or not to renew our yearly lease on our current (super bland) rental house which is up next month... Fast forward through a bunch of uninteresting negotiating, document-gathering, wire-transferring and legal property-buying mumbo jumbo and lo' and behold... We're property owners again! (If you're interested in learning about the actual process of buying property in Mexico...scroll up to the top of the page for a reminder that I'm not in the business of being helpful, because that's much too boooring for yours truly to scribble about.)
So, there you have it... We're building a house! After 3 years of living in other people's houses filled with their personal belongings, we'll get to finally create a home of our own again...and we couldn't be more excited!
I'll be documenting the building progress only somewhat on this blog... I have a million do-it-yourself projects and design ideas rattling inside my head that I'm sure I'll want to write about, and I'm guessing no one wants to read about me learning how to tie macrame plant holders or what color I'm going to paint the bathroom, so I'll spare you the details. (You're welcome.) BUT, if you are someone who's interested in all things DIY and interior design... I'll be reviving my old home-remodeling blog here >>> Martha Stewart...in Black (For an explanation of the blog name, scroll back to the very first post. Haha.)
Okay, now back to Pinterest-ing!
Felicidades!
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