Okay, so we've slept on it..
Okay, we've found a house/property that we just absolutely LOVE beyond belief... however, while the main house is somewhat occupyable, not really what you'd call livable, there are two other buildings, one of which is mostly finished, and would be very useful (and we could sleep there), and the other one is large, just ready to finish on the inside (not a difficult thing), and would make a lovely guesthouse. The land is a quarter acre, fully fenced, private, lovely, on a landing/shelf, nestled into a hillside, with lovely mature & young evergreens, a young madrone, and it just has really good energy.
We've lived through much, much more extensive rebuilding/remodeling than this place would need.
However, we are just past the 50 mark, and wondering if we really want to bite off such a tough chunk.
It has location. Fabulous location. It has privacy. Amazing privacy. The yard has so much potential, and excellent sun exposure, shade, orientation...
But, we know that the first major investment would be a new septic system. The asking price on the place is low enough that factoring in the cost of the septic (about $20k I'm estimating) would still bring the property "price" up almost to market value. We are actually cool with that (and it will probably end up being a bit less than that), but that's really just the start.
It is, though, just the sort of place where we can envision ourselves retiring. Making it just perfect for us.
Our other option, right now, is move into an apartment, get our existing house sold, and keep looking for a place that needs less intervention and "medical treatment"...
It's scary, thinking about taking on such a large project. But the rewards...