WWYD Use yerusha or move out of state?

Amarante

Fri, Jul 03 2015, 12:31 pm

I am not understanding why this is a black/white either or situation.

Obviously, it would be extremely easy to be an ostrich with your head in the sand and spend all of your money knowing that at the end of ten years, you are left with nothing. Not sure why that is even contemplated as a viable choice.

I am assuming that your income is never going to be adequate to support yourself in the manner in which you would LIKE to live - and my emphasis is on like.

Is there no less expensive housing choice that is reasonably close to family and friends that you could more or less afford.

Is there no way that you can use some of your assets to train for a more lucrative career?

amother

Amber

Mon, Jul 06 2015, 1:57 pm

Thanks again! OP Here:
I understand Dollys ideas. And I think they have merit, but unfortunately not in my current home. We really messed up buying this house. There is no income potential at all, except, possibly, one small bedroom (a boarder situation for sure) sharing all the common areas. We can modify the house to convert the garage into a nice size suite, but that would eliminate most of the storage areas in the house and would need to put a chunk of money into. I would need to "crunch the numbers" on this option...

I have been looking into selling and purchasing another house, in the same price range, with income potential. Then we could afford to live in our current neighborhood without loosing space. There are also a few smaller homes available too, that need work, which we may be able to make work.

So I think my best option is now to stay in the area, selling and moving either to a home with income potential or to a smaller or fixer upper home. Thanks so much for helping me see this third option.

Dolly Welsh

Mon, Jul 06 2015, 2:15 pm

Ah.

You might use that spare bedroom for storage, very efficiently, with ceiling high steel shelving and office-style steel cabinets, well shimmed in front, so nothing falls over on you.

This would get the storage out of the garage.

Then you could work on the garage.

Yes, you would have to crunch numbers to see if that pays, considering the considerable costs of: moving, renovating, closing costs, and on and on.

There are a lot of friction costs to moving. You are already in the right community.

Maybe you should use the attic for storage more than you are presently doing. Maybe the basement. But use steel, not wood. Look at Staples. Free delivery.

Consult the zoning legalities first.

Ask yourself what your job is really netting you, after all the costs of working - transportation, tax bracket creep, nice clothes, lunches out, fancy nails and hair, child care, convenience cooking, second car. Wow. That's a lot.

Fox

Mon, Jul 06 2015, 2:28 pm

amother wrote:

I have been looking into selling and purchasing another house, in the same price range, with income potential. Then we could afford to live in our current neighborhood without loosing space. There are also a few smaller homes available too, that need work, which we may be able to make work.

So I think my best option is now to stay in the area, selling and moving either to a home with income potential or to a smaller or fixer upper home. Thanks so much for helping me see this third option.

Also consider looking into small apartment buildings if they exist in your current community. I know many people who purchased 4-6 unit apartment buildings; they collected rent on the units they didn't need, and when their families grew, they simply annexed an additional apartment by adding a staircase or breaking through a wall.

Kids are grown and you don't need so much space? Seal up the connection and downsize!

You have the advantage of receiving "help" with the mortgage from your tenants, and you are also building a significant asset. You can even hire a management firm to deal with tenant issues, if you wish.

When the mortgage is paid off, you'll have your yerusha *and* an income stream from the apartments.