I love real estate.  Always have.  I love going to open houses on Sundays and looking at houses.  I love looking at what is for sale in my neighborhood (and in my old neighborhood in Australia) online.

My fave HGTV shows are Design to Sell, House Hunters (International), My First Place, Curb Appeal, etc.  I love those shows.

I used to always say to a friend of mine when we were in Grad School, that all I really wanted to do was sell real estate.  She wanted to own a flower shop.  Neither of us are doing these things.  Or what we went to grad school for.  Go figure.

So, why am I not selling or doing anything in real estate?  Well, a lot of has to do with real estate agents.  No offense if you are an agent, but so many of them are super smarmy, money grubbing, liars.  Not all, mind you.  I’ve met, and know (and are related to) a lot of nice ones.  But even still, very few will be up front and honest with you about a house.  They are trying to sell it or get you to buy it after all, which is what pays them.

This is the problem.  I know I couldn’t be that person.  I could not sit there, all smiley-faced, about a house, that some naive young couple is about to put all their hard earned money into, that had a bunch of problems that they were just to inexperienced to see…so I could make some money.   I couldn’t sleep at night doing that.  We have a very successful agent in our neighborhood that will tell you how wonderful a house is even if a wall fell down while you were looking it (“Oh, that can be easily fixed”, she would chirp merrily, the smile never leaving her face).  Can you tell how much I like her?

So, the other issue is being associated with that group of people, the unscrupulous ones.  It’s something I will have to get over if I want to try it though.  I will have to seek out the good ones and learn from them.

I could probably be a buyer’s agent, which is what we used when we bought our house.  A buyer’s agent doesn’t sell houses, they only help you buy one.  So, part of the double edge is gone.  You are not selling any houses.  You listen to a client and try to help them find the best one for them.  Our buyer’s agent was a big help to us.  He was older and pointed out things about houses we would have never thought about it.  Some things we were willing to live with, but at least we knew what we were getting.

If I had the design skills, I would love to be a stager.  I don’t know how many houses I’ve gone into where I think, “Don’t you watch HGTV?!”.  I mean, it’s crazy.  I helped my sister pack up and stage her house when they sold.  It wasn’t fancy, but it looked TONS better when we were done with it.

I would also love to try my hand at house flipping.  I live in a neighborhood that is full of that going on.  It can be pretty fast money if you do it right and price it to sell.  I see mistakes being made all the time, both in a house and with the pricing.  People get greedy and the houses just sit because the flippers don’t understand our neighborhood.  I am confident I could do a great flip…just not confident enough to put my money where my mouth is right now.

When our boys get older and are in school, I will probably look into pursuing these options a bit more.  It’s something I would love to try my hand at.  In the meantime, I will just keep watching the shows, practicing on my own house and learning.

What about you?  Is there something you’ve always wanted to do, but aren’t doing?  Why not?

We had a great weekend!  The boys’ new swingset was delivered on Thursday and on Saturday, my Dad and brother-in-law came over to help my husband put it together.  They got most of it put together and then hubby and I were able to put the rest of it together Sunday morning while Little C was taking his nap.

Saturday night we had a family BBQ to finish off the day of hard work.  We had burgers, corn and veggies cooked on the grill, pasta salad, and fruit salad (watermelon, strawberries and blueberries).

It was a great BBQ and after we finished the swingset on Sunday, Big D played on it for nearly the rest of the day.  He just loves it and we couldn’t be happier with it.  It’s the perfect size for our yard and not too over the top.  Totally worth the money.  We know that the boys will have loads of fun with it for years.

I didn’t do a lot of posting last week, but I did do some reading.  I’ve been in my head a lot lately, for various reasons that I will try to post about.  But, I’ve also been trying to focus on different things.  Simpler things.  It’s hard for me since I’m a dreamer.  Always have been.

Anyway, here are some of the articles I enjoyed reading last week.

Man vs Debt wrote about “Should Retirement Really Be the End Goal for Gen Y?” over at Virology -  I am hardly Gen Y, but I think this sort of thinking is hitting home with a lot more people these days, including myself.

Free Pursuits did a guest post on Location Independent titled Jump Start Your Life of Location Independence With a Sabbatical – I love this idea.  In fact, I have a great friend, who works on Wall Street as a very highly paid executive recruiter.  I was extremely impressed when a few years ago, she was able to negotiate a 6-month sabbatical to go and teach kids English in Thailand.  I figure if someone on Wall Street can do it, then nearly anyone can.

On a side note, Australians and Kiwis, who work at a company for 10 years, earn what is called Long Service Leave.  This is an extra amount of of PAID sabbatical, usually 2-3 months long.  Unreal.  We are getting so ripped off in this county.   My Mom got a crappy camera after 10 years and something equally laughable after 20.

GuyNamedDave, who is also the creator of the 100 Things Challenge, did a great review of the movie, Up.  We took our son to see it a few weeks ago and just loved it.  Unfortunately, our son got scared at the very end (overstimulated is more like it), so I had to take him out and missed the last 15 minutes or so (hubby filled me in).  But, the the crux of the story definitely hit a chord with me and as a result I’ve been relishing in the more “boring” aspects of life and enjoying the little things.

After all, it’s the little things that often make the biggest difference.

On a lighter note, Making this Home tells us how to make your own marshmallows!  I have never even thought of doing this!  Now I totally want to do it for our next BBQ.   I mean, not super healthy, but at least you know what’s going into it and they are ingredients that can be pronounced, which is a big plus in my book.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend too, also full of little things, making big memories.

There has been a lot of Q&A happening around the blogosphere in the realm of Location Independence Living.

This has always been an interest of mine.  I love travel and feel cheated compared to the rest of the world with the measly of amount time off each year that US employees blindly accept.

I used to think about this a lot when I was working and how “there must be something better” than what seemed like the drudgery of the same thing day in and day out.  Just waiting until I could get the time off for a vacation or dreaming about a possible early retirement if I saved my pennies.

I realize now after reading, Free Pursuits’ article on the 5 Categories of Life Plans, that I was a ‘Deferred Lifer’ though I didn’t want to be.

The article states that the, “characteristics of this plan include a job with a modest salary or hourly wage, little vacation time and little control over how, when and where you work.”  He goes on to say that, “people who follow this plan focus quite a bit on their retirement options and look forward to that magic age (usually somewhere between 55 and 68) when they can enjoy life without working.”

I know that not everyone views their days and their work this way, but I always did.  It’s not to say that I hated my jobs, because I didn’t.  I always looked to find something to enjoy about my job and my days.  But, working the 9-5 grind was never a dream of mine and it still isn’t.  I love to work and even more so, to earn money.  I just prefer it to be more on my own terms.

Since our family is a dual nation one, it’s a dream of mine to become more location independent in terms of how we earn our living so we will have more flexibility with visiting family.

At my husband’s workplace, where he works in IT, they are about to launch a new work-from-home program where certain employees can choose to work 1 or 2 (or even more) days from home.  You are supposed to have a dedicated office in order to do this, of which we do not.

So, a dedicated office space (with a closed door) is now something that we are adding to our list of considerations when deciding whether or not to move or renovate in the next 2 to 3 years, in order to foster our working towards a more location independent lifestyle.   Once you can prove to your employer that you can successfully do your work outside of the office, it is much easier to then take it on the road with you as well.

Does all of this sound interesting to you too?  Here are some GREAT blogs with all sorts of things to get your thinking….or dreaming.

Location Independant has a great Q&A article with advice from all sorts of Location Independent People (LIP).  The article also mentions some great LIP who have families.  And, since we have two boys, this is of great interest to me.

There is a lot more to consider when you have kids.  The blogs they mention are Tumblewagon and Soultravelers3 (read their great Q&A post as well).  Soultravelers3 also has a great list of blogs of traveling families in their links section, though many seem to be done with their journeys.

Their seem to be quite a few families who save up financially to travel for a fixed period of time, but not as many who are more nomadic and work as they travel.

I would like to read more about those who work as they travel and how exactly they do this.   More about what type of work they are doing.  I like to read what others are doing because it helps me to think outside the box and stretch my idea of what is possible for us.

For a good start, Free Pursuits has a great list from the survey they conducted listing 64 Ways Location Independent People Earn A Living.  Fantastic list, though I don’t know what some of the jobs are.  I believe he’s planning on writing more about his survey results and go more in depth, which should be interesting.

For those who don’t really want to be nomadic, but who just long for more flexibility in where they do their job (ie don’t want to be tied to an office), Muselife has an article about helping to arrange this within your current job that is quite good.

Then of course, one of the masters of Location Independence, Tim Ferris, and his book and website, The 4-Hour Workweek, is also a great read.  Not practical for most of us, but a lot of good tips in there for efficiency.

You can also find even more info by following the #LIP tag on Twitter.

Do you dream of being location independent?  If so, what are you doing to get there?  Or maybe you already are?  If so, share your secrets!

I am one of those super practical planners who had it all “figured out”, money-wise, even back in high school.

I would go to college, become a financial planner, make big bucks from my first job, save up $2500, while in school to start a mutual fund that would grow exponentially over time making me a millionaire by the time I was 45.  This was my plan when I was 18.

That was, ahem, many years ago.

I did not major in Finance.  Bored me to freakin’ tears and I nearly failed Advanced Financial Accounting.   So, I majored in Marketing & Psychology instead.  I worked for a year waiting tables after undergrad to save up for Graduate school, where I majored in Wellness, of all things.  Needless to say, all I got from my graduate degree was a better perspective on living my life and great friends.  Nothing to sneeze at, but it definitely doesn’t put money in the bank.

I did save up money, like I’d planned, and start a mutual fund in my early twenties.  It even grew a bit too.

And then my heart won out over my practical side.  After I finished my graduate degree, I took out all that money and all the rest of my savings, and moved to Edinburgh, Scotland.

Huh?  Yep, that’s right.  I worked mostly temp jobs and traveled around the UK, Ireland and Europe.  It was the best decision I ever made.  And, it was not in the least bit practical.  My parents thought I was nuts (they are uber practical people), but figured I “needed to get it out of my system”.

It’s not only where I met my husband (Awwww!), but I also a host of other wonderful people who changed my life, changed my perspective on what is important, and opened my eyes to a whole other world outside of the narrow one I grew up in.

This one decision showed me how valuable it can be to listen to your heart, gut, instincts, whatever you want to call it.  When we make decisions solely based on pros/cons or what we or others think we “should” do, we are potentially missing out some very fulfilling life experiences.

I still remember a friend asking incredulously, “So you are moving to Scotland to wait tables?  Why would you do that?”.  I answered, “Because I will be in Scotland…where will you be?”.   My move actually motivated him to leave as well and follow his own dreams.

So, have you done things that others thought you were nuts for doing, but ended up being the best thing ever for you?

I received a flyer about this house lottery in the mail today.  I love getting these flyers since they are like eye candy to me.  We hardly ever buy tickets to these sweepstakes, but we have when we’ve been in Australia, which is why we get the flyers.  It’s hard not to buy a ticket when you are actually in the house drooling over what all could be yours for only $10.  I know, sucked in.

We currently live in a house nothing like this one, but beautiful nevertheless.  It’s a historic (1930) house with beautiful wood floors and arches and plaster walls.  It has a lot of character and history.  I love the fact that someone lived through the Great Depression in my house, walking on the very floors that I walk on today.  I just think that is amazing.

However.  Our house is old.  And, it does still need a bit of work.  And when work needs to be done, it’s never just a small project.  It nearly always uncovers something else that needs to be addressed as well.

We are definitely NOT getting a house this old the next time we buy.  If we don’t buy new, we might go for something built in the 1950′s.  I have heard from home inspectors that homes built at that time were built better than those built before and after.   They also tend to have big windows in those homes and very clean lines, which I like.

My favorite room in our house is our sunroom.  Three of the walls are all diamond windows so it’s flooded with  natural light.  The walls are painted a bright mango color.  That room makes me happy.

I would love my entire house to be bright and airy like that.   Like an Ikea store!  That store makes me so happy!  That is why I love this type of Australian modern style and architecture.   Not all homes are like this (here are some selling where we used to live) but a lot of the newer ones are.  These homes are bright and extremely well lit and and open and have very clean, simple lines.

I’m slowly working on our house to make it less cluttered, simpler in design with more modern furniture and wall art/photos/accessories, and bright and airy feeling with paint and window treatments.

What about you?  What kind of house do you dream of having?