On not buying the ranch

The Ranch

There’s a ranch that I’ve been coveting.  It’s a cool six acres on the southeast side of Dallas with two barns, an outdoor arena, and a cute, baby blue ranch house on it already.  The property can stable 21 horses and backs up to a trail system that you could ride for days.  Amazingly, it’s only 15 minutes from downtown Dallas; you can see the skyline from the pasture.  I could have Ryon eating grass in my backyard and still get to work within half an hour.  I’d get a tractor, set up my own jump course, and populate the extra space with a dog / chickens / goats!  My mind has already jumped ahead to imagining myself sitting out on the wraparound porch in a rocking chair, watching the sunset.  I even took it so far as calling the realtor to see if I could schedule a walk through.

A month ago I was so excited about the ranch; I had to tell everyone about my harebrained ideas.  This month, you couldn’t pay me to even think about moving, renovating an entire house, and figuring out the livestock situation.  I can barely summon up the energy to swim through the Texas heat and drop off beer and supplements at the barn for Ryon.  Would I be able to wake up before the crack of dawn for morning feedings and then do a property check at night before going to bed and still work a 12 hour work day?  What about during a thunderstorm / extreme heat / freezing cold?

Realistically, this is Texas and there are plenty of plots of land like this available (although maybe not as close to town).  The question is whether or not my life needs a drastic lifestyle change like moving to a ranch or will something like a new haircut do the trick.  I’m god-awful at sitting still, particularly when it seems as though everyone else’s life is filled with forward progress.  People are buying property left and right, building homes, renting them out, and I’m still in the same apartment building I’ve lived in for the past three years.

There’s another home that I’ve been coveting; I just found it yesterday online.  It’s been completely remodeled and has a huge oak tree in the front yard.  There’s a built in, wall-to-ceiling wine rack in the dining room, a mudroom (perfect for my mess), and beautiful new pergola outside.  It has an open floor plan and is perfect for parties.  The house is a quick drive to my office and the barn, and I wouldn’t need to get on the highway to either location.

To say I’ve got the house hunting bug would be an understatement.  I like the idea of buying a home, decorating and furnishing it, and having a place to host people over.  But like most things, as people tell me, it’s a solid amount of work, not all of which is fun.  You've got bugs, landscaping, cleaning, and a whole host of other issues to deal with.  Maybe it’s time to get that haircut.