New Day, New Look, and Clarification
So I was farting around trying to figure out how to revert back to my previous blog design where the old posts were categorized in a nice format that seemed to work - I had eliminated some 'labels' and 'archives' a couple of the weeks ago in an attempt to clean up the look of the blog - and then I couldn't figure out how to revert back - and I tried on several occasions without success, - frustrating since I know it's just a click of a button somewhere.
In my experimentation to try and return to my old layout, I inadvertently changed the entire look of the blog, and then couldn't get it to go back, and then in some 'self-reverse psychology' where I trick myself that the new design is actually a welcome change, thus snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, I completely reinvented the look of the blog - for better or for worse.
Someone called me up yesterday and asked why the mini-cottage I bought the other day is cheaper than the new ones I am building - the reason is that older homes, regardless of the charm, quaintness and cuteness, are worth much less than newer homes (at least newer homes that have style). Take the cottage I was posting about yesterday exactly as it is - and then take a new cottage from Catskill Farms - and examine their respective worth and value.
The old cottage has small windows, smaller piece of land, needs to be painted on the inside, has a septic of unknown age, well of unknown depths, lower ceilings, and a host of issues that don't detract from it's perfectness - it's just a different kind of perfect, and it has to be fairly represented in the price. And, then Catskill Farms is a pretty motivated seller at all times, I know that this little old-fashioned cottage with small little bedrooms, small windows, a ceiling that is a few inches lower than 8', all combine to reduce its value - don't get me wrong, at $179k this house is 'best in class', but it in no way compares to our new cottages in terms of layout, functionality, warranty and general 'thought-outness'.
What's amazing though about this little sucker is say you put down 20%, and say you get a mortgage at around 5% - that means your monthly mortgage payment is less than $700 a month. That's pretty amazingly affordable, by any measure, in my opinion.
