After all the time put into the house, all the favors requested and cashed in from relatives, neighbors, and friends, my wife at the time asks for a divorce and decides she wants to sell the house I had planned to die in and move back to Boston with the kids. My dream of living out my life in this house and making a place where my kids could always return to with familiarity was gone within a few months. Words cannot begin to describe the extent of my disappointment.

The financial particulars of this house project started with the house being purchased for around $185k in 1998, we put an additional $125k into the remodeling effort, along with easily around $40k of sweat equity courtesy of all my spare weekends for 3 years as well as a number of weekends donated by my parents, aunt, and sister and her husband. My x-wife's family never offered to help.

Regardless, the house was sold for $440k in 2004. After dividing all the marital assets in half (since there was no prenuptial agreement), rather than take my half and start this process over again some place else I gave my half directly to my children so that when one day they start a life of their own they will have a sizeable amount set aside just for them. Perhaps they can use this money to one day buy their own house and start building their equity just as we had done for them.

In the mean time I started over with a zero bank balance, child support, expenses of visiting my kids, and living in an a apartment while my children reside in a nice house, in a great school district, and have more than twice the money to take care of them than when they lived under the same roof as me.

While it would be nice to one day save up enough to buy another house, there are no current plans to do so. Apartment living just always seems to be just a little cheaper than owning a house and since we don't have a lot of free cash flow to pay child support, live in the city, and save up for a house here in the city we will table the subject of buying a house until such time as we can make a complete lifestyle change and move someplace much less expensive. 

I will never regret remodeling the house, enduring all the bumps and bruises, and all the time I spent away from my family in doing it. I learned so much from this experience which I will never forget - especially getting some occasional help from my son. That combined with the peace of mind that comes from knowing I have given this house (and everything it represents) back to my children so that they may one day cash in to all this money and use it to give them a head start in life. While I can't be there with them everyday, what keeps me going to work each day is knowing that I'm providing for all these dependents. Even if they are unappreciative or don't realize the size and scope of what I've contributed and continue to contribute to their lives - someday they will understand the full extent of my sacrifice.

I'm thankful to have a new wife that constantly reminds me of this. No matter how defeated or beaten down I feel she is always there for me with words of encouragement, hope, and reiterating our dream of one day living in the country. It is what keeps me going.

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