So our sermon this week was on making decisions... And forgive my paraphrasing, you can find it here and listen yourself..
But anyway.. in the areas that God doesn't speak directly, we are need to gather the facts and seeking wise counsel
So and not just put up a poll and see what others say..
So.. This is directed at all of you (lol.. I know there are a ton here) with real estate experience and owning a small business experience..
Please send some advice my way... on:
buying a house- we should, right? We're honestly paying 30k a year in rent - which is lost money. I see no reason to do that if we can loose that money in something we can own in 30 years. I don't think renting it would be a problem if we had to, either. The rental market here is hot with people needed to rent after shortsale-ing their houses..
not to mention if inflation kicks up and we have a 30 year loan locked in at 5%.. in 15 years it'd be like paying the mortgage with the money from a paper route, right? I am a bit economics challenged, but that is how it works, right? Again- feel free to weigh in here.. if we buy something that's work say 300K and inflation kicks in at 20%? suddenly my $2000 mortgage payment in tomorrow's dollars is $1800 in todays? or is that not how it works? (I took biology/physiology and pharmacology in school. I never went near economics and math.. much less business or accounting.. this is all pretty much greek to me)
And selling the business- how and should we do it? I am gathering the facts on it and realize I average 35 hours a week on it. 35 hours!! I could make a heck of a lot of money working that much in a job I'm getting paid in. So.. it adds up why I have time issues- or lack of time issues more precisely. Should I hire help? Can I hire help? (no, not with the chaos system we have working now.. but if we have things organized where it's not a "climb over that stack, go around the corner, step over that stack and on the 2nd shelf is the thing you want in the 3rd bin..
The kids think the garage is a gigantic jungle gym, since our stacks pretty much reach the ceiling. I did have an avalance last week trying to free a box from the bottom of the stack (ya know.. something that hasn't sold in 3 years and suddenly we're sold out of it and the last box is BURRIED under the tons of seconds bales.. ) well.. you probably don't know.. but the diapers come in boxes and bales.. and the bales are roundish. Meaning they roll and don't stack well. So.. it doesn't take much to upset the diaper cart, so to speak.
But anyway.. I need to figure out what to do, how to sell it and how to get my taxes done in the next 3 weeks.. (any volunteers?)
6 comments:
I would always tell someone to buy IF they are going to be in a home for more than 5 years. Now, you two are going to be there at least 2 years to finish res., but I would look at think that you two will be transfered once he finished training. He may have more time in the service than his co-wokers, but he is low in rank and time in service to the FM doc that is overseas and they are getting out or just tired of being overseas. So, I would count on you two leaving in two years. I would find a place to rent that hopfully is cheaper than buying, save the difference (if you can) and then see what happens. I have an attending that went through that program approx 10 years ago, and all of his classmates were sent out of the state after graduation. I would not consider myself on the "know" as far as how things work in the service nowadays, but I would have Larry ask what happend to the past two years grads.. I would think not much has changed over the past two years.. - That my 2 cents -
we're taking the long and scenic route to residency completion. He won't be back in residency until 2011.
So.. we're probably going to be here for 4, maybe 5 years.
If I could find a cheap place to rent, I would.
you really want my 2 cents ;)
I'm with Dave Ramsey... if you have no debt, a fully funded (3-6 month living expenses) emergency fund... 20% (or more) to put down and can do a 30 year mortgage (Dave's rule is 15 though, but IMO for CA you have to bend a bit lol) then go for it... it doesn't matter what the economy is doing
I personally think that the economy is going to tank even further and that home prices will continue to fall...
We have decided to put off homebuying for a bit longer (we were looking this past summer) but lots of that has to DH's job not being stable at all!!
oh and IMO renting is NOT throwing money away at all ... you are paying for a service :D
Good advice, Heather - I knew I should have checked with Dave ;-)
We have to move, anyway, since I refuse to pay for the service of living here anymore, lol.
The problem is finding something cheaper. (sob/whine/cry/pout) It's getting pretty discouraging.
And we won't be out of debt until Larry's out of the service because he refuses to pay on his (deferred payment) student loans while there's a chance he'll get killed being deployed (he's a real optimist, isn't he?) sigh..
Just scooted on over from FB and had to put my 2 cents in... EVERY time we PCS I run the numbers... and EVERY time it has NOT made sense to buy. Yes, rent is 'lost' money... but so are real estate taxes (they are 7k/year on the house we're in, I can't imagine what they are out there) and so are real estate commissions you pay when you sell... and so is the interest you pay on the mortgage, which is almost 100% of your payments for the first few years (yes, it's deductible, but not 100%!). Then you have repairs and improvements, which you will ALWAYS have no matter the house... It DOES help that there's the homebuyer's credit now, and also help w/ military who can't resell in the new stimulus package... but it's just a drop in the bucket if you ask me. And personally, there is no price in the world that you can put on being free to just leave to the next duty station without having to worry about putting a house up for sale. The ONLY time I will think about buying is if/when we get to Norfolk and can do 6 years in the same geographical area.
And you probably already know this, but the interest on the student loans is NOT deferred even while the loans themselves are. This means you're accruing interest upon interest which could be HUGE after many years of deferment. At the very least, you may want to think about just paying the interest every month.
Ah, military life! :-)
Hey Lanette!!
Thanks for the specific input! I've been running the numbers a ton of times and right now it's a coin toss. It would be SOO much easier to do the military thing without the business hanging around our necks. It's a big reason we are looking to move (can't legally run it out of here- subleasing a business address, need more room, etc....)
I know about the interest on the loans. I have a suborn dh who thinks he's going to die before he's 40, so why would be pay back those student loans??.. of course if the military doesn't get him.. I might. ugh.. and of course I worry if he does get himself killed, what would I do with a house in CA?!!
ARGH.. why can't live be simple?
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