August 14, 2012

Auction

I actually woke up excited to workout this morning... because it was my last day of the Wii Active 30-Day Challenge! I was super excited to finish it, just for that sense of accomplishment.

The rest of the family was sleeping, so I quietly turned on the Wii Active, and was greeted with this:
It said I had only completed 18/20 workouts. It took me a second to realize what had happened. The stupid game didn't save yesterday's workout! It was as if I had never done #19. I was pissed, and there was no way to override it. The only way for it to register that workout was for me to do it again.

I was so looking forward to finishing the challenge today, so I made up my mind to do BOTH workouts today and get it done. So I re-did #19, and then it wouldn't let me do #20. Luckily, today is day 29 of the 30-Day Challenge, so I can still finish it tomorrow (assuming that today's workout was saved). Anyway, here is my proof that I'm done with #19 (again):
I think once I'm done with the challenge, I'll do a full-body strength training workout two times a week. I may end up buying the Active 2 and do that challenge as well.


In 2003, just before Jerry and I got married, we bought an empty lot in our neighborhood and put up our house. There were actually two lots for sale, right next to each other, and we only could afford to buy one of them (the asking price was $30,000 on each lot, and we offered $25,000, which they accepted). The next door neighbors ended up buying the lot that was between ours and theirs.
For years, we begged our neighbor to consider selling it to us. We don't have a garage, and Jerry wants a garage really badly. But our lot isn't big enough as it is, so we really wanted to buy the extra property. Our neighbor refused, saying that it added value to his property when he was going to sell it.

Well, the neighbor ended up dying, and his sister let the house (and the lot) go into foreclosure. The house was purchased, and Jerry and I assumed that the empty lot went along with the house. Then a couple of months ago, we got a notice in the mail saying that the lot was going up for auction. We were shocked.

We called to find out how much was owed in taxes, and discovered that the taxes owed on it were $2,500--which was also the opening bid on the property! So the property we would have bought for $25,000 from our neighbor was going up for auction for a tenth of that price.

We tried really hard not to get our hopes up about buying it, but we've been talking about it ever since we got the notice about the auction. The auction was today.

Jerry took the day off of work so that we could both go. We were nervous as hell, because we'd never done anything like this before. But we wanted that property sooo badly! It was at a hotel, and we had to take the kids with us, which didn't make it easy. I had to sit in the hallway with the kids, because there was no way they would hold still and be quiet during the whole thing.

Our property was #30, so it took a while to get to it. I was listening to the other auctions, and I kept getting more nervous. Some of them were starting out at $1,200 and then it would end up selling for $40,000! Finally, I heard our property being called out with the opening bid of $2,500, and Jerry bid on it. I was praying nobody else would bid, but some random guy in the back bid on it. (I have no idea why anyone other than US or our next door neighbors would want this lot).

Anyway, the guy bid up to $3,400, and we ended up winning with a $3,500 bid. Not the $2,500 we were hoping, but still one hell of a deal! We would have paid our neighbor $25,000 back in the day for that same lot, and he said no. We had to borrow the money to be able to buy this lot, which definitely doesn't help with paying off our debt, but this is one debt that I don't feel bad about--it's a good investment in the long run.

We won't be able to put up a garage for at least a few years, but at least it's something to look forward to. Jerry is thrilled. Our ninth wedding anniversary is on Thursday, so I guess this is how we're celebrating ;)

36 comments:

  1. Great news! Congratulations, I bet your family is relieved this land is finally yours!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's awsome! It does sound like a good debt to have :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Congrats on the auction!! Guess good things come to those who wait!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Congrats on the lot! That is so awesome, what a deal! I live in southern California, and there is NO WAY you'd get a lot for that price!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congrats! That is a spectacular win!

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a great deal!!! Congrats on the extra land. Congrats on the anniversary. And boo on the Wii Active for not registering your workout :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. That's fantastic!! Congrats on the lot and your anniversary coming up! What a bummer about your workout not being saved :(

    Bridgette

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have Wii Fit and like it, but haven't tried Wii Active. Have you been happy with it? Seen results?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great news! What a great anniversary present to yourselves.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Congrats!!! You should have an anniversary picnic in your new lot!! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. That is really good news!!! I love getting things for a steal!!! Congrats!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wow, what a great deal- congrats!!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Congratulations! What a steal!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Your? Wii picture looks just like u!!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Congrats on the new land!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. What an awesome story! Congrats on the auction purchase!

    ReplyDelete
  17. That is awesome! Real estate is usually a great investment. You essentially have $20,000 sitting in the bank, even if you owe $3,500. A mortgage is good debt!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Awesome!!!!!! It does make me wonder what that other person wanted to do with the lot....I am glad that you got it!!!!!!
    ~Laura

    ReplyDelete
  19. That is wonderful! So excited for you and your family. Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I am so excited for you guys. We have a double garage and two smallish sheds and they are all full of STUFF. Then about 3 years ago we put up a 24x36 shed on the back of the property, (we have a 3-acre acreage), and guess what? It too is full of stuff. I don't know where we would put all that stuff without 3 storage buildings and a garage! I also wonder why we have so much stuff! I know how much you guys will enjoy having that garage. Take out a home equity loan and build it now, I bet you could even add that $3,500 you paid for the land to the garage building loan!

    ReplyDelete
  21. OH wow! CONGRATULATIONS! That is an amazing deal! This post made me smile. I was so nervous for you while reading it. What a fantastic deal! :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. That's awesome! I'm glad you were able to buy and and its a steal! :)

    Sorry to hear about the PITA workout. Good thing it was just the one workout it didn't save, right?

    ReplyDelete
  23. that's a great deal!

    ReplyDelete
  24. I like Monica's idea of having a picnic on your new lot for your anniversary! That's awesome that you got it for such a great deal!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Congrats on your garage-to-be! Man you saved a TON of money waiting all these years! I guess it's true what they say, good things come to those who wait, eh?! :D

    ReplyDelete
  26. Wow, Congrats! What a great deal!

    ReplyDelete
  27. WOW! That's incredible! A huge congrats. My Garage: I LOVE it...luv, luv, luv it! Congrats again!

    ReplyDelete
  28. First off congrats! What a steal~

    2nd, I found this recipe and thought of you;

    Beets & Bloobs Overnight Steel Cut Oats

    Makes one serving

    1/4 cup boiled beets
    3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
    1 TBSP chia seeds
    1/4 cup steel cut oats, raw
    1 handful blueberries
    stevia or other sweetener of choice

    In a blender, puree beets and almond milk together until smooth. Pour into bowl and mix in chia seeds, oats, blueberries, and sweetener.

    Let your beautiful purple bowl of oats sit in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, you will have a beautiful bowl of beet and blueberry steel cut oats exploding with flavour!

    ReplyDelete
  29. What a sensational day! You will have plenty to celebrate tomorrow, too. It was a great day for my family yesterday, too, as it was my daughter's birthday. Enjoy a glass of champagne!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Wow! What a steal! So exciting that you got that lot for that amount. You are going to be so happy with your garage. Things like this happen for a reason... ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  31. That's awesome! We just got some good news ourselves today; The boyfriend's grandmother called him and told him that it was finally official and in stone that he gets her house when she passes, that way we can finally make the move to Tennessee!

    And what a deal you got! And I feel ya on the hotel thing, I had to couped up in a meeting all day in the Holiday Inn lol.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Don't know why it posted me as Anonymous....this thing's been acting weird!

      Delete
  32. What an awesome deal you got! My in-laws didn't have a garage for a while but they ended up saving the money and built a garage themselves (with the help of their children, my husband being one of the helpers). They have an awesome garage now!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Congratulations!!! That is a spectacular win! Land is always a great investment!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  34. My god. Congratulations. Good things come to those who wait!

    ReplyDelete

I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

Featured Posts

Blog Archive