Maybe...possibly...if possible...headed to PA!

[Intercooler]

    We have been exploring ALL OVER and now Delaware might be off the list. We are pretty fond of this place in PA:



It has a Man-Cave in the basement with a bar and hopefully I can work some area of it into a little "shop":




   It's kind of off the grid so to speak having a well and septic. Something I'm reading up on and also has a generator if the power goes out. We would have farms around and not far away you can see a horse farm fairly easy. It's on a 1 acre lot, which means I would now need a pretty big tractor to 

  We stopped by the local hardware store, which I have always heard talk about the firearms and ammo there. Very Country type people and very nice. The counter guy said I could possibly get my CCW permit the same day after photos and fingerprints. If you open carry nothing is needed. That confuses me!

   Salivating that we can work some magic come Monday.

   

 

[The_Shadow]

Wow that does look like a nice place...
Best of luck working out details, taxes and insurance (home and auto), covenants and such.

[Intercooler]

   I hope so too. The last two months we travelled some miles and hours looking at areas, pricing, new versus existing and finally digging into the details. As it turns out we have one area in PA and one in DE which work for us. Everything else is too much of a stretch.

[yankee2500]

Looks very nice but you probably won't be shooting in the back yard.
  If your wife uses Clorox when doing the wash keep it at a minimum because it will kill the bacteria that the septic tank needs to work properly.

Hope it works out for you.

[Intercooler]

  Roger on the Bleach!

   It seems more than just a few foreclosure and short sale homes still exist out there. It kind of pisses me off seeing the charts on some of these houses knowing someone got soaked in the boom only to have a foreclosure on their credit history now as a result. I suspect many were living to the edge back in 2005-2007 and one or both parties losing a job started the spiral down. 
   Then you have someone like us who didn't bite off more than we could chew back then (although I wish I sold mine at the height of the boom) and are now kind of paying for doing what was right and not getting what we could have back in 2007. Of course we didn't get any bail-out or special deal for a foreclosing mortgage 
    I guess the only silver lining in shopping now is the reduced prices of the more extreme homes compared to back then. No way I could have touched these back in 2007.

[BT8850]

Looks like a real nice place, definitely one bad basement!! I can't add much on the septic as I'm on public sewer but for the well, just make sure they do a well inspection before closing, and try and find out how deep it is, and if the well pump has been replaced recently or ever, the house doesn't look very old. Wells are really common here in PA, as long as it's in a good aquifer it should give you years of trouble free good clean water (that you don't have to pay for monthly  ).

As for CCW in PA, it's VERY easy, you can do it mostly online, go to the county sherriffs website, locate the link to the application (1 Page front and back), mail it in with a check for I believe 5$ and a copy of your drivers license and wait for them to mail you an appointment card (2 weeks roughly)  to go get your picture taken and get your CCW card. When you get your card I believe it's another 15$ bringing the total to $20.  If you can legally buy a firearm, you can get your Permit in Pennsylvania and it's valid for 5years. This was the process when I got my permit in 2011 and many of my friends have gotten their's since and the process has stayed the same as far as I know. Im near positive you won't need to get finger prints taken. There are instructions on applying on most county sheriff's websites.

Here is a link to the application just to give you an idea:

http://www.franklincountypa.gov/SiteCollectionDocuments/Sheriff/Application%20for%20a%20PA%20License%20to%20Carry%20Firearms.pdf

Also, with regard to open carry, as far as I know there is no law prohibiting it in PA, except for in obvious places federal buildings, schools, etc. Makes sense right, no permit needed there, but if you want to carry a gun in your pocket, you need one? I suppose there are dumber laws . . . For me, I'd much rather carry a concealed weapon because I just don't like to broadcast that I have a gun. Everyone has their own opinions though.


Good luck with whatever comes of your house search!

[Intercooler]

I would do concealed. I like the idea better going that route.

[Intercooler]

That got squashed today. We have to sell the current one to make it happen 

[The_Shadow]

I suppose it wasn't to be!  I hope you can find something that works out for you all!  I pray that you can get out of that ridiculous state!

I started out in a mobile home on my own acre of property in 1980, designed and built my own house (1700 sq.ft. living area and 2268 sq.ft. with the porches) from the slab up 1989-1990.  It was a lot of work, I did the foundation work rebar, plumbing, hired the concrete finishers, had some muscle help from close family and friends to stand the walls up, and hang the ceiling sheet rock, I did the electric, plumbing and some of the AC work, finish the sheetrock and did all the trim and well worth the process to keep the cost down.  The best part was working 24 hrs on and 48 hrs off with the FD allowed me the time to do the work as the money was made.  All the while both the wife and I were working, I actually worked several jobs back then too.  The main thing was just paying it off, the wife's job of 24 yrs., was do to go away by the Bell and ATT break up and then downsizing!  However we managed to survive on my salary with the FD...My gun buying was mostly non existent during that time frame, although my handloading and bullet casting allowed me to continue to enjoy shooting what I had.    Managed to pay everything off prior to retirement, so I could hopefully survive on my retirement money, then came OBAMA and his bright idea called Obama Care...my health insurance doubled inside a few years and the associated co-payments went up too! 

So I remain focused, on the long term, and my investments for the future.  Now I am about to start refreshing things inside and out, before I get too damn old and weak to do the things that need to be done.

[Intercooler]

   I hear that!



We got a little bad info about carrying both mortgages at once. Now we know and it's clear we have to sell first and hope something like this is available immediately or look at an apartment doing a double move.

I knew we would end up hating the move process!

[harrygunner]

Hope things work out well for you.

Moving to America can be difficult. When I left California, I had to move my business and myself.

Amazing how Maryland, California, etc. thumb their noses at the law of the land, the principles this nation is defined by.

[Intercooler]

  Fingers are crossed. We are set for an A.M. bid on this one!

[The_Shadow]

I like that one the best of all the ones you posted so far! 
I hope you can work the deal on that one!  Almost looks like you could shoot in the back yard! 

[Intercooler]

   It's funny you say that because as we were standing in front talking to the neighbors across the street... out jumps a big Deer in broad daylight that crossed over the street into the woods. This house backs up to a huge wooded wildlife area. To the right of the house on our (hoping) property you can see the common access to it. It runs to the right of our property all the way back. You can see the white shed to the right and to the left of it is the access path.

[The_Shadow]

You will need to take up Bow Hunting!  Quiet and efficient!
I made a hunt in PA in 1976, saw the most deer I ever saw in my life...