![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The Joy of Property
30/7/05 17:02I own my parents' home in the Berkshires. It is an amazing and a lovely place, a barn which was converted into something approaching House Beautiful--45 foot ceilings, 20 foot high windows, slate floor in the kitchen, a rope hammock in the front hallway. We have a terrific tenant there, which makes me feel twice as comfortable about owning the place--and now and then my father comes down from the community where he's currently living and checks it out. Since we live 3000 miles away, all this makes it easier.
On the other hand... We just replaced the furnace, water heater, oil tanks, and various ducts and wires and things, to the tune of $13,000. Granted, the old gear was 45 years old, and it really was time. Still...ouch.
And then, today, I get a call from our tenant. The water is running black, the plumber has been and declared that it is all beyond him, and probably we need a new well. God knows what that's going to cost.
It's a beautiful place, and my heritage and all. But I have to say that being a property owner at a distance is a little less than no fun at all.
On the other hand... We just replaced the furnace, water heater, oil tanks, and various ducts and wires and things, to the tune of $13,000. Granted, the old gear was 45 years old, and it really was time. Still...ouch.
And then, today, I get a call from our tenant. The water is running black, the plumber has been and declared that it is all beyond him, and probably we need a new well. God knows what that's going to cost.
It's a beautiful place, and my heritage and all. But I have to say that being a property owner at a distance is a little less than no fun at all.
