• Date Started: Jan 5, 2008
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REAL ESTATE DILEMMA

13 Responses to “REAL ESTATE DILEMMA”

1. mom-sense Says:
   May 17th, 2008 at 07:49 pm
   I am in a situation similar to yours. Our first home/rental property is owned outright. Our primary residence is worth $508K and we owe just at $280K. Our mortgage payment is $1,750. This doesn't include property taxes of $6K on this house (rental proprty is $3.5K) insurance is $600 on ours and $400 on rental property. We contribute 12% to retirement, and are doing prepaid tuition for first two years at community college for the children we have thus far. I wonder, too, how would we manage in financial troubles. DH was unemployed for a spurt last year and COBRA insurance was $1068 per month. We amassed debt to cover last years taxes and tuition to parochial school. I'm a SAHM who clips coupons and generally is pretty frugal about things (Aldi's shopping, total consignment store shopping, etc). Every extra things like tires and car repairs and dog grooming and vet visits and kids extracurricular activities needs to be planned. I wonder about selling the rental property and paying off mortgage on this house. Would that bring me more peace of mind? I really don't know what to do either. The good thing is that with the income tax refund and stimulus check I'm able to pay the property taxes and put a new roof on the rental property to the tune of $2,800.

2. Amber Says:
   May 17th, 2008 at 08:05 pm
   I think you have a right to be concern, I am not a home owner and would love to be but I am scared that I do not have enough money saved for an emergency or a down payment. Now I did apply for a $50k grant for my down payment and closing cost, but would love to have a lot more in the EF account in addition to having my car paid off. I think if push came to shove and you were in desperate need you could sell either property (hoping this never happens) but your kid could get a part time job to help out with tuition and books. I know it is hard to have kids working while going to college, I am doing it now but it can be done. I actually work full and part time and go to school full time. But since you are not there yet and hopefully will never be in a situation where you had to choose, I say sock away as much as possible...Good luck

3. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
   May 17th, 2008 at 09:13 pm
   We have a small, inexpensive house but with a full basement and 2 car garage. As we near retirement, and with our child in college, I am more happy now than ever that we chose to stick with this little place with its tiny mortgage, taxes, and insurance. It gives me huge peace of mind to have finances simplified by so little going toward housing. It has given us flexibility to enjoy, without debt, a lot of wonderful extras in life, including helping our son through college away from home, so that he can be a full time student and not have to find work in his rural (few jobs) college town. Simplicity. Peace of mind. (Well mostly anyway. But my worst fears/worries are probably pathological, not realistic at all.)

4. debtfreeme Says:
   May 17th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
   8800 for property taxes?? i would never be able to afford a home where you live.

5. Carolina Bound Says:
   May 18th, 2008 at 05:17 am
   I guess the real question is how big is the possibility that you might lose your jobs. If you are not overextended, and your jobs are stable, I think I would stay in the house and continue to build equity.

6. koppur Says:
   May 18th, 2008 at 08:19 am
   It sounds scary. I don't own a home yet, but my sister and parents do. My parents are considering the same thing; especially since they are in their early 60, are lose to retiring, and don't ahve a good retirement fund. They have had their house for 30 years, but had to do refinancing and such and remortgage it when they hit some trouble a fews years back.
   
   I think you need to consider the likelyhood of losing the income you have, and weight the cost of these furture repairs with the cost of finding a newer, smaller place.

7. scfr Says:
   May 18th, 2008 at 08:25 am
   I see on your bio that you hope to move to another state in 4 years. In that case, I would not recommend buying another house in your current state. If you do decide to sell, why not just rent for the remaining 3-4 years?
   
   As for whether or not you "should" sell, the real question is probably whether that feeling is based on reality (a very real chance that one of you could lose your job) or anxiety ("what if ... ?" thinking).
   
   Is staying put in your current house but taking some steps to build up a larger EF a possibility? If it is, without knowing all the details of your situation, I think that might be the way to go.
   
   Oh ... and one more thought ... If you do move to Florida after the kids are out of the house, try to remember how you feel right now. It might influence you to buy a smaller home where you could easily cope with the loss of one income.

8. mooshocker Says:
   May 18th, 2008 at 08:29 am
   No matter what the economy looks like, I truly believe that if more of us downsized and lived well below our means, we would find more peace, happiness and emotional comfort. Do we need all the "stuff" we have? God bless and best of luck to you.

9. Harley Says:
   May 18th, 2008 at 09:15 am
   My property tax went up 7.9% on May 1. Last year property tax went up 6.8%. Now the municipal wants to knock down the high school and build a new one. Not to mention expanding the fire station and hiring 5 more full time fire folks.
   
   As an added benefit my maintance fee is going from $350 per month to $395 per month on June 1st.
   
   Have not had a pay raise in two years. Can't complain since 15% of our workforce was laid off in early March.

10. NJDebbie Says:
    May 18th, 2008 at 10:12 am
    Thank you all for taking the time to respond. Although, I don't forsee us losing our job anytime soon, I still would like to have peace of mind. We would have to continue thinking about it and make the right decision.
    
    You are the best!

11. Real Estate Gal in Canada Says:
    May 18th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
    I think being concerned is normal but you seem to have a good comfort margin. Try not to sweat it but keep saving what you can and stay prepared.

12. Toronto real estate agent Says:
    May 19th, 2008 at 03:54 am
    As working for a Toronto real estate company I`m facing nearly every day with the same type of questions. More and more people are getting incapable to pay the mortgages and it causes great deal of troubles, more frequently comes to foreclosure recently. I think that if you can find a smaller home which still satisfies your requirements it`s advisable to consider it deeply.

13. Winterville North Caroline Real Estate Says:
    May 20th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
    Actually, the house had four kitchens, if you count the showroom one off the back used by the real-estate agents giving tours of the house. My family (including various siblings adopted in the dream and my husband) purchased and moved Realtors have had a hard time these past six or so months; as the housing market crashed, the competition for buyers grew fierce. Now Google's making things even more interesting by introducing a real estate search option on the main

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