I had a long list of things I needed from a house.
If I was going to spend all this money on buying a home, it needed to check off all the boxes.
First of all, I wanted someplace away from the bright lights of the big city. Second, I needed to own some land. Not just a home, but property to expand upon and put up some secondary structures like barns or work sheds. Last but not least, I wanted to find a place that felt like home the minute I saw it. I wound up buying an old fixer-upper that lacked a lot of things, including a modern HVAC system. This place was old enough that the furnace in the basement was made from wrought iron, and was older than me by a decade. The fact this old furnace still worked so well was astounding to me, and offset the fact that the A/C didn’t work at all. The furnace also served as the water heater for the house, and without question it was the best furnace I have ever used. I actually had to turn down the thermostat on the water heater, because the water was too hot! I like a hot shower, but I don’t want boiling water falling on me! Since the furnace will keep working for many years to come, I don’t want to invest in a central air conditioning system. I feel it will be easier to install a couple of window-mounted air conditioners to cool down the first floor for me.