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Getting the financial house in order...one house at a time

April 22nd, 2013 at 05:46 am

The hub and I are discussing the possiblity of selling the city house in order to get the flywheel turning a little faster on our long term financial goals.

We went to the country house today, which I have not been to in over a year. I was sadly surprised at the condition of the house. It is not being cared for and it will take some expensive repairs to get it to a condition I will feel comfortable living with. Pets and carpets definately do not mix when pet owners arent being responsible. All of the carpets, and possibly the sub-flooring will have to come up. And the list goes downhill from there.

But for long term goals, it is something we have to tackle head on. The current renter is the hubs nephew. To his credit, he has taken care of the hubs 2 dogs for him (the dogs live in a 60 X 60 pen outside- the pet that has destroyed the carpets is the nephews lab). He pays $350 per month, which is often less than the electric bill- so we will offer him the trailer my parents lived in for free to care for the animals...and then empty and gut the house and start fresh witht he repairs. Once we have a good amount completed, we will put the city house on the market.

Thats our plan for now. First of course, we need to set some timelines and goals and a budget. DD2 stopped by with her kids while we were out there and it brought back REALLY good memories of the little ones having two acres to run around on. They were having a blast.

Nothing is set in stone yet. We are still just decidiong what is the right thing to do. I am ready to concede that one house payment is more realistic for our goals.

The amount of work to pull this off seems overwhelming today. But that is why I will break it down to step by step goals and timelines. And determine a budget that aligns with the goal.

Stay tuned. I am sure this is the first twist to a very wind-ey goal.

6 Responses to “Getting the financial house in order...one house at a time”

  1. mamasita Says:
    1366621239

    It's always a good idea to be thinking ahead, I agree 1 mortgage is better than 2, if the nephew isn't covering the full amount.
    If you move out to the country house, would you have a tough commute to deal with?

  2. creditcardfree Says:
    1366633295

    Good luck making the decisions!

  3. CB in the City Says:
    1366639844

    I don't think I realized you owned two houses. I think downsizing to one is probably a good move, especially if your renter isn't living up to expectations.

  4. Thrifty Ray Says:
    1366642699

    Yes, we have owned the house in the country for almost 20 years. It is about a 30 minute commute. But it is on a well, and a septic system. For years we had problems with both. So, when the hub went to work in Alaska, I bought a house in town that is under 10 minutes to work, much newer, is on city services and has had no problems. I love my city house...but the hub has his wood yard and dogs out at the other house.

    The water and septic problems, I am told, have been fixed...and so with our goals, it makes more sense to move back out there and only have one house payment. If all is as promised, we get the repairs done, and I can sell the city house...

  5. snafu Says:
    1366667249

    I guess I'm thick...I don't understand why nephew isn't held responsible for the damage his lab has done to the carpet in the house. Labs are smart dogs and easily trained. What service did DN supply DH's dogs? Training? Agility? Obedience?
    Does the trailer have no value as the dog will likely demolish so much less sturdy a structure when bored, untrained and unchallenged . I don't wish to sound rude but nephew needs a wake-up call if his rent hasn't always covered utilities and these exceptional circumstances have given him somewhat of a free ride.

  6. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1366683625

    How much more will your 30 minute commute add to your expenses than the ten minute commute (time, wear and tear, gas, energy levels ..etc.)

    Is there a way you could keep the city house and sell the country house with the provision that DH can have access to the woods?

    I'm with Snafu on holding the nephew responsible for the carpets.

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