To Sell or Not to Sell: If we sell, then what?
If we do indeed decide to sell our current home, where will we go? We plan to get rid of a huge amount of our belongings either through selling or by giving them away. There will still be a for some sort of storage for my husband's contractor equipment and any belongings that we decide to keep. That will certainly be an expense to consider in our search for housing.
We want to be out of debt. We ALSO want to own a house debt-free. The profit that we would make from selling the house would be put aside as a down payment for our next home. We would live on our present income, living in such a way as to add to our funds for the next home.
With that in mind, here are the potential housing choices:
Option One: Rent.
If we were to rent, it would have to be a place that would be BELOW what we're currently paying for our mortgage by about $200. That would allow room for renting a storage unit.
PROS: Lower than renting a house; reasonably comfortable.
CONS: Apartment living, in general; an apartment with the low price we want would not necessarily be in the safest areas.
Option Two: Spend the warmer part of spring, summer, and fall in our camper.
Here's a picture. It's approximately 16 x 8 not counting the tents.
PROS: CHEAP!! Long-term campground rental is very low, much lower than renting an apartment. It has all the amenities, just on a small scale.
Option Three: Live with my sister. (JUST KIDDING, Sis!)
Option Four: Purchase some land.
I'll talk about Option Four in my next post...
8 comments:
Here is what I don't understand: If you have managed to go from 10 cards to two cards, AND those two cards have extremely low rates, why do you feel the need to immediately pay them off? I know it may feel good to be debt free, but there is such a thing as good debt.
Good debt is money that works for you. The money you put into your mortgage is working for you by creating equity (sort of like a piggy bank) and helping you on your taxes. It is also necessary for collateral just in case something horrible happens and you really need a loan and/or money.
I don't know how much money you have on the card at 0% interest, but that is essentially free money. Why would you be so worried about paying it off?
Here is another idea. If you know someone (like maybe your parents) who can part with a large sum of money - up to 12 thousand dollars can be gifted with no tax consequences to either the giver or the givee.
Think about how long it took you to get into debt- 2 years? 4 years? 7 years? Why wouldn't it take just as long (or longer) to pay off? You dont HAVE to be debt free. But you DO have to make responsible decisions and I am just not convinced selling your home is one of them.
To be honest, your credit report prefers a slow and steady payment. And banks look for a history of steady payments. Being in debt is bad, but at least you have a home.
I see you have a camper. You could always try the camper for as long as possible while you rent your home and use the cash to pay off your debt. Once it gets too awful, just move into a lower paying rental until you can get back on your feet.
It is just so important to pay off your debt AND continue to work towards your future by owning your home.
See, what if you sell your home and it all works out just as you said: you have 30 grand left over for a deposit. But then your husband (g-d forbid) gets sick. Or you get in an accident. Or whatever. Then what are you going to do? You are going to go right back into debt.
The next thing is, once your debt has been payed off, you really should use the money you have been putting towards the credit cards to start a retirement account.
*wow. long comment. sorry!
Thanks doll,
The Glamorous Housewife
i went gypsy waggoning once and that was heaps of fun... camping could be the way to go - although what is you plan for winter? and personally, i'd want a full camper without the canvas...
Welllll....The accomodations aren't quite as nice as when you let us live with you for 3 months!! But, there's a blow up mattress for the basement, and a sleeper sofa! And J could get up with Uncle B! And if you go the camper route, yes laundry area will be available! Whatever you decide to do, we'll be avalable.
I tend to think along the lines of Glamorous. A house is a safety net. Please think seriously about this.
Glam (first comment)--I LOVE your thought-provoking comments!! You don't know how helpful that is.
Let's see, the two cards with low rates will be that low for only a short time. We're going to work like crazy to get them down while they're at such a low rate.
Nope--no relatives who are able to gift us. I'm glad you mentioned it, though. Someone else who's reading this might not know about that.
That's why we're gathering all information--we absolutely DO want to make the best choice for us. We're slow movers. We rarely jump into anything. Heck, it took us five years just to get married LOL!
I am very intrigued with the "rent our house and move to something less" idea. Very.
Weenie--"Gypsy Waggoning." That sounds delightful! If we could (which we can't) I would be SO interested in taking a year to live in a (bigger) camper and travel the whole country. I guess I'll just have to keep dreaming about that one.
For the winter? That's a good question!
HappyMom--What? We don't get an upstairs bedroom? The three of you could be in one room and the three of us in the other. No?
J would be ready when Uncle B was ready to leave, that's for sure. The rest of us could keep sleeping!
Packrat--I agree, too. Our eventual goal is to have property and a home that we own 100% Getting there is the tricky part!
Post a Comment