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February 23, 2009
The Farm of my Dreams!
After months of fruitless searching (our Kentucky real estate agent told us several months ago that we weren't going to find any properties matching our specifications in our price range)I finally found one. It's the farm of our dreams. It has:
1. A two-storey house, the front half was built in the late 1890's. I love old houses!!! The back half was a recent addition. It has three bedrooms and two baths. In Kentucky, we have found that most old houses have just one bathroom. And we even found one for sale that didn't have a bathroom at all, so two bathrooms is wonderful!
2. Two gigantic mostly fenced pastures, covering five acres of land. Perfect for horses, one pasture even has a lean-to for shelter.
3. A gigantic "man-cave" of a pole barn. Not only would all of Brian's toys fit in there, but we could build stalls and store hay in there.
4. It has air conditioning, a must for me in Kentucky (and with my allergies.) In searching for properties, I have found that this is actually unusual in Kentucky, especially in an old house.
5. It needs only cosmetic work, not any structural work.
It is priced to sell, as it unfortunately belonged to a family that was foreclosed on. This is the cheapest farmhouse ever seen in Scott County.
I have a dream of raising free range chickens and turkeys on the property, and raising some vegetables and herbs as well as boarding a few horses.
Brian loves the man-cave and the spring-fed pond on the property.
Unfortunately, we can't buy it until somebody buys our Michigan house. So the Michigan house Must Be Sold!!!
Sell, Michigan house! Sell, sell sell!
Posted by Jessica at 09:41 PM | Comments (0)
February 17, 2009
Hooray!
One of Brian's co-workers is leaving for another position, so it looks like Brian's job will be secure for the next year, at least!
We really needed something to celebrate!
With the budget crunch in the city, it was looking to Brian like somebody would have to be laid off eventually, but since somebody is leaving, the city most probably just won't fill that position.
Posted by Jessica at 02:07 PM | Comments (0)
February 05, 2009
The Giant Whirlpool of Doom
It seems that we cannot escape the Giant Whirlpool of Doom. Will a miracle save us?
Our house is finally being repaired by the plumbers, after an extended wait due to the insurance company. Did I mention that the furnace had also broken down and needed to be repaired? Maybe not. Anyway, that got done. But the ceiling is still on the floor, as far as I know.
Meanwhile, our house insurance (which was less than $500 per year, as I recall) is being canceled due to the house being unoccupied. We now have had to obtain new insurance, at a whopping $650 every three months.
While perusing realtor.com, I found that there are hundreds of homes for sale in Howell, several dozen of which are brand new or nearly new, that have four bedrooms and 2.5 or 3 baths, and are priced the same as or cheaper than our house.
The feedback we are getting from the few viewings we are getting is that the house needs "too much work and costs too much."
Therefore, our chances of selling it are almost nil. We can't lower the price, because if we do and end up selling the house, it would wipe us out financially because we would need to bring the entire rest of our financial resources to closing, leaving us penniless.
Did I mention that Brian's job is once again in jeopardy, as the city is a couple of million dollars over budget. Oh, yeah, they are talking about doing away with dependent health benefits even if Brian does keep his job.
So if we hold on to our old house, we will be paying:
1. Mortgage payment (way out of line with the house's current value) and utilities on the old house (This takes half of Brian's income)
2. Unbelievably large insurance payment on the old house
3. Rent and utilities for our new house
4. Health insurance for Derek and myself (currently covered, but probably won't be for long.)
5. Car insurance
6. Renter's insurance
7. The rent on the storage unit, still not quite empty
8. Gas for our cars
9. Brian's car payment
10. Credit card payments
11. Groceries and household supplies(currently about $450/month)
12. Misc. unplanned expenditures (like dust-mite-proofing our bedroom, about $150.)
I'm sure I've forgotten something.
Currently, the horse is living free of charge at a local farm, so his costs are minimal, barring unforeseen vet expenses. In the spring I will probably have to start looking for a new home for him.
If we didn't have to keep making payments on the old house, we'd be doing fine.
We are seriously considering giving the house back to the mortgage company. This would save our rapidly dwindling savings, and allow us to actually save a bit just in case Brian's job is one of the ones eliminated in the coming months.
Posted by Jessica at 01:00 PM | Comments (0)