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Forever homes come in all shapes and sizes — and ages and states of (dis)repair

It will need “a lot of TLC,” Candice Sides said about the 19th-century log cabin she bought to be her family’s eventual home.

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"People think of old houses as haunted and creepy, but when I walk in, I get this warm, comfort feeling," Candice Sides said of her newly purchased cabin, above.
"People think of old houses as haunted and creepy, but when I walk in, I get this warm, comfort feeling," Candice Sides said of her newly purchased cabin, above.
Courtesy Lydia Spink

Gallup’s latest Economy and Personal Finance poll showed a strained relationship between homebuyers and the housing market. Since the poll’s beginning in 1978, this is only the second time that fewer than half of survey respondents felt it was a good time to buy — dropping down to just 21%.

However, if you find your dream home and are ready to buy, a shaky housing market might not stand in your way, even if the house itself is a bit shaky.

Candice Sides and her family have taken on a log cabin in Jasper, Georgia, that dates back to the 1800s. To call the cabin a fixer-upper might be an understatement. But even with the cabin’s black mold, its upstairs that leans to the side and a holey ceiling, Sides is putting in the time and money to turn it into the forever home she knows it can be.

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