A New Steem Space? (Moving to an old house in the country to practice a more self-directed, anarchic lifestyle)
My family and I went to check out a house we are considering renting today, about 20 minutes outside of the city.
The place is huge, with about 6 bedrooms spread out over two stories. The house is old which is a major turn off for most of the market here. It must have been absolutely gorgeous in its day (indeed, it still is gorgeous in many ways), which would have been in the 70s and 80s.
The landlord, whose ancestors have lived in the area since the Edo period (1603 - 1868) was amazing. She’s offered us full use of whatever furniture is there that we may need (much of which is in the beautiful Japanese traditional style), tools in the shed, and said we can pretty much do whatever we want with the adjoining lawn/garden/grassy lots. She’s also said that having a dog in the house is no problem, which is a huge bonus for my son!!
Go-jiyuu ni douzo, were her exact words to us, which mean: “By all means, do as you please.” This turn of phrase makes me feel awesome every time I hear it!
The main reasons we are moving are as follows:
My son is active and needs more space than a cramped apartment in an urban area can provide.
We want silence so we can hear our own thoughts. The place we are considering is surrounded largely by bamboo stands, hills and forest, and nestled into a little pocket at the end of a small street.
I want an office from which to Steem, write, create and crypto, and some land on which to garden/wander.
My wife wants to continue her massage business in a more serious way, which requires a little more space.
We want to be able to entertain more people, hold meetups, not worry about neighbors, and do pretty much whatever we damn well please.
MY SON WILL BE RIGHT DOWN THE ROAD FROM THE FREE SCHOOL HE WISHES TO ATTEND.
If I move here, I would also be able to give English lessons if things ever got rough, seeing as there are plenty of rooms available and open spaces where students could gather. The place is essentially two houses. One on the second floor with its own kitchen and bathroom, and another complete living set up on the main floor.
That all sounds great, right? Well here are the potential drawbacks:
Old, cold, and drafty.
Muddy! The water runoff from the nearby mountains comes out right where the house is. When it rains, as it was today, walking around the property is a pretty muddy affair.
Possible mold problems (we have to ask about that)
Saggy, uneven floors in some places.
All that said, the benefits seem pretty strong, and after all, we’d only be renting! Same price as our current quarters but about 5 or 6...or 7?...times the space! I’m pretty sure I already know what I want to do, it sounds like, huh? :)
~*~
~KafkA
Graham Smith is a Voluntaryist activist, creator, and peaceful parent residing in Niigata City, Japan. Graham runs the "Voluntary Japan" online initiative with a presence here on Steem, as well as Facebook and Twitter. (Hit me up so I can stop talking about myself in the third person!)
Go for it mate, it sounds like the larger space will be beneficial for the whole family.
You can get some decent heaters to warm up and dry out the place. IT won't be muddy all year round so you just need Wellington boots for the whole family when it is, no biggie that.
I'm sure in the summer the outside space will be fantastic for your boy to play out on as well as yourself and your other half.
Yeah mate, do it.
I concur. It sounds wonderful even with the draw backs. If there was a serious mold issue, you'd be able to see it. I have the black mold on the corner of a backyard shed. It's not a problem to me because my kids never go in there, and I rarely go in either.
The place is affordable? If it is run down and needs some work, that just sounds like some price negotiation in your favor. Run off in the yard could easily be fixed by putting in some shoveling work and a trench? How long do you have to decide?
Share more photos of the place if you could. I'd love to see them!
Thanks, @finnian. Really appreciate that.
Welcome! Man, there were a lot of editing errors in my reply. How?! Oh well. It should be fixed now.
Thanks man. Much appreciated advice and thoughts :)
It is quite comfortable to live outside the city and as you pointed out it has many advantages, especially if you have kids. And you can enjoy all the benefits while the city is not too far away.
I used to live in Okinawa, Japan when I was young. My father was in the military at the time. I loved my time there. Love Japanese culture. And I actually watched Dragon Ball Z when it just came out—in Japanese before all the American kids back home learned about it :) Concerning moving to the country: if it's possible for you to do your work from home, I highly recommend it. And since you do Steemit and crypto stuff, you can definitely do all that from your house. What a huge blessing. We also live in a small town. We have space. A good-sized yard. The kids can be kids. There's a small grocery store in town, but if we want more stuff we can go to the bigger grocery store about 20 minutes away. We live in South West Michigan. If we need to do serious shopping, we'll drive to Chicago, which is just 1.5 hrs away. Anyhow, I encourage you. No place is perfect, but working from home in a small town, is pretty close to it. Cheers.
Saggy uneven floors is a sign the water runoff is doing substantial damage to the foundation. Is the basement level? If not and there are cracks you also, depending on where it's located have to worry about radon gas, which is a gas in the ground that can seep through cracks which can have serious health consequences that can kill you later on. Some times, also depending on where you live at, you can google it for your area and see if radon gas is a issue where you live. If it is then you should test the air in the basement before deciding to occupy the dwelling. Mold is, like you explained a very serious consideration. I too tried to escape the city, it didn't last long, the house had mold issues and after a couple months I would cough endlessly trying to sleep at night. The amount of run off too of the water as in if it wasn't raining as hard as it could have been observed by yourself, the more rain the worst the run off. I would check out the mold and radon issue if there are cracks in the foundation, does it smell musty? If nothing seems out of the ordinary I guess the biggest question would be how often it rains where you are or how much do you like mud...(lol)...versus peace of mind.
Is radon gas a big issue (bigger, perhaps?) in places that just have crawlspaces?
Yes, crawlspaces and basements where the gas can build up underneath a home and seep in. If the house does not have a crawlspace or basement I would doubt there would be much concern. Not every area has the necessity or elements needed to produce the gas either so that is why I said if the house had a basement or underground lower level that would be utilized quite a bit it would be important to check out what the composition of the earth beneath the home is compromised of.
Oh man I'm jealous, reminds me of my neighbor totoro for some reason
YEAH!!! :)
one always wants to leave a very peaceful life especially after retirement and outside city is best for everybody
Seems like a good place where your family will be happy. Having said that, I urge you to have a professional look into the possible mold problem if you have concerns about that. I live in the Gulf Coast area in the U.S. where we have to deal with mold. It can cause serious health issues and probably won't be detected unless you bring in a professional. Good luck to you.
Thanks for your concern. Yeah, we really need to be careful about that. Cheers.
One advantage of renting is that the problems are someone elses.
Depends on if that person is a good landlord or what's known as a absentee landlord or slum lord.
Very true!
That is a lot of space with the ability to definitely setup mini business ventures etc. Hopefully you decide to get it, or find something just as good asap so you can get settled and all moved in mate.
Great space! Love Japan and all the culture that it comes with it!