So often, in helping buyers find their first home, I can’t help but think back to my first home away from home. And, oh what a home it was! I was 21 years old. My first home was a mobile home. No, let’s just call it what it was, it was a trailer, a rickety old single-wide 12 x 60 foot trailer, that needed alot of tender loving care. It was downright ugly. It needed a good thorough scrubbing from top to bottom and a coat of paint.
It had red shag carpeting with red lights in the ceiling. The second bedroom was the size of a bathroom. It fit one single bed and a tiny little dresser. You had to practically climb on the bed to get into the closet.
And, it was on the railroad tracks. The master bedroom window was 10 feet from the train. On the other side there was a busy street. So, I lived at the railroad crossing!
Each time a train went by the whole place shook. The dishes clattered in the cupboards and the chandelier danced on the ceiling, threatening to come crashing down. We had to run across the living room to turn the TV up when a train was going by (it was before the days of remote controls – I know, I know, back in the stone age). Between the ding, ding, ding of the railroad crossing gates going down, the traffic stopping, the train whistle, and the train roaring by, I was ready to be put in a rubber room. Although I loved the thought of having a place of my own, after a couple of weeks I really disliked living there. I cried the first night I stayed there.
But, it was mine, all mine. I paid $3,500 for it, with my own money. I owned it free and clear and I paid $95.00 a month in lot rent to have it parked on a "prime" piece of real estate.
I spent a year a half there and never slept through an entire night, because of the train.
One day I decided it was time to move on, so I stuck a For Sale sign in the window and sold the place a couple of weeks later. The couple that bought it didn't mind the train. When I was showing it to them a train came roaring by. They said they were used to living by the tracks as they had for years. It was a match made in heaven.
I took my little profit and my sister and I pooled our money and built a home together. Now that was a real home!
My Dad gave me this picture when I lived in the trailer, as a joke. I have kept it throughout the years. I can now look back on it with fond memories of growing up and heading out on my own for the first time.
Do you remember your first home? What was it like?
Sandy Shores REALTOR®, Melbourne/Palm Bay FL Real Estate
Brevard County Real Estate & Investing
I also buy, sell, rent, own and manage Investment Property.
that for you
Oh yeah, I remember mine. I was 19, and it was the ugliest shade of green with yellow shutters. I couldn't wait to paint that house. It was also next door to some apartments that were home to some interesting tenants over the years we lived there. I was so glad when we sold it were able to build a new home.
Sandy, my first home had wickedly ugly colors, and due to the heavy smoking, everywhere a picture was removed off the wall, the paint was a different shade. Needless to say, my first job was painting the entire interior.
I remember mine well. a small 2BR/1BA home.
I was 25 years old, pregnant with first child, had quit my job, soon to be 3 of us on one salary; PITI was 2x old rent payment; woke up many a night thinking, "what have we done????"
Took real estate classes to figure it all out; decided before the first class was over that it was OK; took a second class; then a third and fourth. Was firmly hooked on real estate!
Sandy - I'll never forget my first home. I paid $4,800 for it--2 bedrooms, 1 bath, and a kitchen that looked like something from "Grapes of Wrath." But I spruced it up, lived there for a couple of years and sold it for a small profit. (my mortgage payment was $35 per month)
I rented a couple of places before I took the ownership plunge. Good for you that you bought your first place! I still live in my "starter home"- 16 yrs later! I love my neighborhood. We've done extensive renovations. Living here has also helped us purchase other property and items free and clear. I'm sure that Trailer helped build your character!
That is a painful memory, but a home is made up of happiness and love. The house wasn't much, the home was fantastic....
Sandy, oh the trip back down memory lane. I do remember shag carpeting. Times change.
Sandy, I bought a home on my own at 25...pretty nervy back then (and no one took me seriously!). It needed a new heating system which I had done and a fence for my dogs but otherwise it wasn't bad :)
Sandy
I sure remember my first home, we all have to start somewhere, it's a great journey.
Good luck and success.
Lou Ludwig
Hi Sandy, We rented some pretty funky and unusual places before we could buy our first house. When my husband got a temporary job in Durango we lived in 2 different trailers during that six months --one had a bathtub the size of a large kitchen sink! I was really happy when we finally built our first home - all the "unique" places before it, made it that much more special.
What a great story! Looking back makes us appreciate what we have now.
Sandy,
I have been lucky... I never had to live close to the train tracks. My memories are all pretty good except for the trailer we rented for 9 months...food for another post.
;-)
Ann
I'm surprised zoning let a home be built that close to a train track! Did you ever go back to see if it is still there and who lives there?
Ann, Isn't it funny how vividly we remember our first home. It's like it was yesterday. You can see that green as if it were right in front of you today. Rough area, huh? I know, that's how my trailer was, too.
Jon, Funny you mention the nicotine stains. We just got a rental back that's just like that. I bet when you finished that painting you were so proud of the great place you had.
Lottie, Wow, that sounds really scary. It makes you wonder how you got through some of those tough times. Those that don't kill you, make you stronger.
Amy, Wow, you must have chosen a great place as a starter home, since you're there 16 years later. Good for you. I wasn't that fortunate. I couldn't get out of that place fast enough. It definitely was a lesson in growing up.
Paul, You are correct. That it's not the house, it's the home. In an odd sort of way, when all of the work was done on it, it did become my home, for a while. I suppose I was proud of what I had accomplished. But, boy was I glad when I sold it. LOL
Gary, Shag carpeting brings back the good ole days, doesn't it? What color did you have?
Carole, Well, you go girl. Somehow I bet you've never let any grass grow under your feet. Sounds like aside from the heating system you had a great place. I bet it was full of fond memories.
Lou, You are correct, we all have to start somewhere, It builds character, doesn't it?
Mary, Oh boy, I can envision a bathtub the size of the sink - ouch! LOL We do learn to appreciate what we have when we think of where we have come from.
Irene, I agree completely. Looking back does make us appreciate what we have.
Monika, I actually still live about 7 minutes from there. The trailer park is still there. My trailer was moved out of there years ago, and replaced with another trailer, that's been there for years.
I'm not sure why people build homes so close to trains...but they do. I like the picture you used for this post. Cool!
Sandy - I certainly do remember my first home! I continue to drive by it a few times each year. The neighborhood has declined significantly since the time I purchased it. However, it recently came on the market, and I was able to let myself in, and just remember many of the events and things that happened there. The house was vacant, had been updated and upgraded substantially. I was so glad to see it in that condition.