Alyssa and John 7: Laura Ingalls, Something, Something...

[16strong]

Wait, so they're renting the new house, too? I thought they said they'd bought it.

[Jackie3]

10 hours ago, OHFL2009 said:

According to county property records, the house was foreclosed on in 2010 and their current landlord purchased it from the bank a few months later. There are no deed transfers listed since. My best guess is that he had been using it as another rental property, and when the previous tenants moved out, the house was in really bad shape and he offered John and Alyssa a deal. Something that offered them a cheap price on a large home if they did all the work to fix it up.  

As far as I can tell, the property was never listed for sale this time. But I'm pretty sure their landlord is an extended family member, so they probably told him they were looking to buy a house, and when he had one available, offered it to them. 

Tenants were living in the house with the floors ripped up and the walls a mess? And paying rent? Why would anyone voluntarily live in a mess like that while paying rent? I think it was foreclosed on and the landlord sat on it.

Why do you think the landlord is a family member? Just curious. 

[OHFL2009]

53 minutes ago, 16strong said:

Wait, so they're renting the new house, too? I thought they said they'd bought it.

They've said they bought it, but the county property records still show the owner as being the same person who owns the house they have been renting. So either they county records are really far behind, or they haven't officially purchased it yet. No idea why they may be waiting. But it seems their intention is to own this house.

 

22 minutes ago, Jackie3 said:

Tenants were living in the house with the floors ripped up and the walls a mess? And paying rent? Why would anyone voluntarily live in a mess like that while paying rent? I think it was foreclosed on and the landlord sat on it.

Why do you think the landlord is a family member? Just curious. 

The county property appraiser shows the house was foreclosed on in 2010 and the landlord purchased it then; 11 years is a long time to sit on a property without it generating any income. I think what may have happened is tenants moved out with the house intact but needing updates, the landlord started renovating it (hence why the kitchen was ripped out and some carpet ripped up) and then John and Alyssa mentioned they were interested in buying a house, so he offered it to them if they did the rest of the renovations. Or the first video Alyssa posted was several days/weeks into the renovation and the house wasn't completely ripped apart when they started.

The person who owns both the new house and their old house has the same name as an extended relative on John's side. It's not a distinctive enough name to know for sure that it's the same person, but it seems more probable than them happening to rent from someone else with the same name. 

*Edited to make the landlord's relationship more generic; I don't want to put too much identifying info. 

Edited March 15, 2021 by OHFL2009

[Tatar-tot]

It could take 30 to 60 days for the property records reflect the transfer of title especially with COVID.  Nothing is moving fast these days, especially with all the property sales in Florida lately. 

[maple802]

11 minutes ago, Tatar-tot said:

It could take 30 to 60 days for the property records reflect the transfer of title especially with COVID.  Nothing is moving fast these days, especially with all the property sales in Florida lately. 

Not in Florida, but it took about 60 days for the county to record the deed after we closed on our house last fall. I think COVID has caused these delays everywhere. 

[clueliss]

38 minutes ago, Jackie3 said:

Tenants were living in the house with the floors ripped up and the walls a mess? And paying rent? Why would anyone voluntarily live in a mess like that while paying rent? I think it was foreclosed on and the landlord sat on it.

Why do you think the landlord is a family member? Just curious. 

I believe that John ripped out the walls in the kitchen and an adjacent room looking for a leak in the wall.  And they removed carpets etc in the house because they were replacing them.  They also removed the kitchen cabinets. And John removed part of one wall in the kitchen to help open it up.  
 

whoever painted the thing before had some , to me, garish paint on the walls.

[metheglyn]

1 hour ago, clueliss said:

I believe that John ripped out the walls in the kitchen and an adjacent room looking for a leak in the wall.  And they removed carpets etc in the house because they were replacing them.  They also removed the kitchen cabinets. And John removed part of one wall in the kitchen to help open it up.  
 

whoever painted the thing before had some , to me, garish paint on the walls.

Agreed. I don't think they posted anything from the house before they started doing *any* work. The first video (uploaded 2/26/21), at least, was recorded after John had already done some degree of demo to the house. However, at that point the entranceway floor was still tiled, the downstairs floors still had wood on them, upstairs was still carpeted, etc. As @clueliss stated, he'd demoed a bunch of stuff on that one specific exterior wall during the leak search, but beyond that the house was completely intact on both levels, flooring and all, if strangely decorated and in desperate need of cleaning. It was after the first video was recorded that they started ripping out ALL the flooring and the rest of the kitchen.

[OHFL2009]

11 hours ago, Tatar-tot said:

It could take 30 to 60 days for the property records reflect the transfer of title especially with COVID.  Nothing is moving fast these days, especially with all the property sales in Florida lately. 

Our county (in Florida) usually posts deed transfers within a week, 2 max. Their county has deed transfers posted from as recently as last week, but theirs could be caught in a backlog somewhere. 

[Jackie3]

The paint in that house was so horrible. It's hard to believe that if the house was being rented out, the landlord would have painted it those colors. Most landlords paint their places in neutral colors. It's when you own the house that you express yourself by painting this room green, this one blue. It's a bit of a puzzle.

 

[OHFL2009]

I'm pretty sure John and Alyssa painted/renovated several rooms in their old house; I think I remember videos/social media posts of them redoing the girls' room, the schoolroom and their master bedroom at least. So maybe he's a landlord that doesn't care how his tenants decorate. Especially if he's renting to family and close friends, he might not have the same strict rules for his tenants as you'd expect from a typical landlord.  

[SassyPants]

I don’t believe the Websters are renting that house. Aside from Erin and Chad, I’ve never seen any other renter upgrade a rental home to such a degree (kitchen remodel as an example). If the Websters had enough money to fully upgrade, including a full kitchen remodel and newly furnish a large home, that money could have been applied to a nice down payment. As others have mentioned, central FL is a lower COLA, and with interest rates so low, I’m sure they would have qualified to buy a home in that area. 

[OHFL2009]

53 minutes ago, SassyPants said:

I don’t believe the Websters are renting that house. Aside from Erin and Chad, I’ve never seen any other renter upgrade a rental home to such a degree (kitchen remodel as an example). If the Websters had enough money to fully upgrade, including a full kitchen remodel and newly furnish a large home, that money could have been applied to a nice down payment. As others have mentioned, central FL is a lower COLA, and with interest rates so low, I’m sure they would have qualified to buy a home in that area. 

I don't think John and Alyssa are renting the new house, but I do think it was a rental previously. I just can't imagine someone buying a property and then sitting on it for more than 10 years without renting it out. 

[CarrotCake]

Anyone else very uncomfortable watching Ellie and Addalee with the kids in the Sunday picture?

Just the idea that they will be moms as well in 5-6 years makes these pictures very different from a normal young-aunt-with-nieces setup.

[VineHeart137]

That post made me sad. Alyssa says Addie and Ellie were in Florida for two weeks to help with the girls while Alyssa and John worked on the house. Do they not have school? Surely even homeschoolers don't generally just take weeks off from school unless necessary? Alyssa says she was sad to see them go... Not because she enjoys spending time with her little sisters but because she's going to miss having unpaid help.

I'm also curious why Addie and Ellie would need to come all the way from Tennessee to serve as nannies? Doesn't John's family live nearby?

Edited March 15, 2021 by VineHeart137

[nolongerIFBx]

21 minutes ago, VineHeart137 said:

That post made me sad. Alyssa says Addie and Ellie were in Florida for two weeks to help with the girls while Alyssa and John worked on the house. Do they not have school? Surely even homeschoolers don't generally just take weeks off from school unless necessary? Alyssa says she was sad to see them go... Not because she enjoys spending time with her little sisters but because she's going to miss having unpaid help.

I'm also curious why Addie and Ellie would need to come all the way from Tennessee to serve as nannies? Doesn't John's family live nearby?

Homeschool travels with you. It also meant we never got any sick or snow days!

[Jackie3]

3 minutes ago, nolongerIFBx said:

Homeschool travels with you. It also meant we never got any sick or snow days!

When homeschool is worksheets or computer lessons, it travels with you. Not everyone homeschools like the Bates, though. 

In any event, I doubt Addelee and Ellie were doing 3-4 hours of school each day. They were there to watch the girls while Alyssa pretended she was carefree 20-something, fixing up her first house.

Besides, I doubt Kelly cares whether they do "school" or not. They'll be married in a few years, and moms themselves. Alyssa doesn't need the algebra, penmanship or history that she learned from worksheets back in her childhood days.

Edited March 15, 2021 by Jackie3

[Melissa1977]

37 minutes ago, VineHeart137 said:

I'm also curious why Addie and Ellie would need to come all the way from Tennessee to serve as nannies? Doesn't John's family live nearby?

According to Alyssa, John's mom babysits a lot. But maybe she's busy or tired now.

[artdecades]

3 hours ago, CarrotCake said:

Anyone else very uncomfortable watching Ellie and Addalee with the kids in the Sunday picture?

Just the idea that they will be moms as well in 5-6 years makes these pictures very different from a normal young-aunt-with-nieces setup.

Yep. Nice to know they can pawn off her four children 5 and under, including a newborn, on school aged children so they can play with paint swatches. 

[Jackie3]

6 minutes ago, artdecades said:

Yep. Nice to know they can pawn off her four children 5 and under, including a newborn, on school aged children so they can play with paint swatches. 

I've often thought Addie, Ellie and even Callie must be in high demand. Lots of sisters with small children needing breaks, and Addie, Ellie and Callie have been taught to "cheerfully obey" their parents. I'm sure Erin, Carlin, Josie and even Whitney often call Kelly asking to borrow these free babysitters. 

[artdecades]

2 hours ago, Jackie3 said:

I've often thought Addie, Ellie and even Callie must be in high demand. Lots of sisters with small children needing breaks, and Addie, Ellie and Callie have been taught to "cheerfully obey" their parents. I'm sure Erin, Carlin, Josie and even Whitney often call Kelly asking to borrow these free babysitters. 

It’s the fundie circle of life. Older sisters raise younger sisters. Now younger sister raises older sisters kids. Next we’ll see Allie and Everly and Kacey taking care of addie and Ellie’s kids and so forth. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

38 minutes ago, artdecades said:

It’s the fundie circle of life. Older sisters raise younger sisters. Now younger sister raises older sisters kids. Next we’ll see Allie and Everly and Kacey taking care of addie and Ellie’s kids and so forth. 

I would much rather be a younger sister. Visiting Florida to babysit nieces is way better than Michael having to potty train all her little siblings.

[Lgirlrocks]

I worked with a women who had young kids. She had her sister, who was still in home school high school, babysit while she was working. This family also thought it was okay to leave their kids at home to school themselves while both parents worked.

[Jackie3]

8 minutes ago, Lgirlrocks said:

 This family also thought it was okay to leave their kids at home to school themselves while both parents worked.

Yes, I can't see why that's better than public school, in any way. In terms of "protecting your kids", well, kids can get into a lot of trouble when left home alone day after day. They get bored and lonely and then the ideas start to flow. . . 

[MomJeans]

On 3/15/2021 at 3:00 PM, VineHeart137 said:

That post made me sad. Alyssa says Addie and Ellie were in Florida for two weeks to help with the girls while Alyssa and John worked on the house. Do they not have school? Surely even homeschoolers don't generally just take weeks off from school unless necessary? Alyssa says she was sad to see them go... Not because she enjoys spending time with her little sisters but because she's going to miss having unpaid help.

It made me so sad.  Just little handmaids being sent to provide service.  Such a transactional view of sisterhood.  Nothing about "It was so good to catch up with them" or "I missed them and enjoyed having them around".  Just, oh so sad to lose some live-in babysitters, now I have to watch my own kids. 

I get that Alyssa was raised in the world of SisterMoms, but the fact that she could call up Kelly, and order some SisterNannies for two weeks is heartbreaking.

Yes, homeschool can travel with you, but let's not delude ourselves that it did. 

[Coconut Flan]

Carry on here: