staying put for a while, I think

Submitted by Jeremy on June 5, 2006 - 10:48am.

Something I have been grappling with is about if I should sell my house or not.  Getting a bunch of cash out of the house would be nice, but given housing prices are so freaking insane I would be blowing all of the cash I would get out of my house and end up with either higher or much higher monthly mortgage payments.

Currently all signs point to me staying put for a while but I'm trying to proceed with options that I would need to do anyway.  Replace the front room window, fix the gutters, fix or rebuild the back porch and maybe replace the furnace.  I'm also having Mr. Sun Solar come out my house tomorrow to look at options for putting in photo-voltaic, solar hotwater and maybe a radiant floor heat system (see furnace).   Some of the changes I would fully expect to break even if I sold the house in the not too distant future, but I likely wouldn't break even with the photo-voltaic and possibly break even with the radiant floor heating system.

A consideration in all of this is what happens if there is a significant problem with liquid fuels, natural gas or a pandemic.  Given FEMA's handling of Katrina and the stated position of the Feds that in the event of a pandemic that they wouldn't do anything.  Given what the Bushites have done to the federal budget they really can't do much of anything.

With the above in mind, I think if everything runs somewhat smoothly and I sell my house I wouldn't break even but I would turn enough of a profit overall to basically not worry about it.  If things don't run smoothly, then I'm in a much better position to ride out the storm.

Your house

Submitted by KellyR on March 12, 2007 - 2:27pm.

I just saw a thing on the web last night about a new company that leases you solar panels, installs them, and maintains them. You sign a 20 year lease, altho you can move and take the equipment with you (at a cost). Ed Begley is promoting this company. They guarantee that your electric bills will not increase for the 20 year period, but that you pay rent (didn't get the cost) for the equipment.

If you were not planning to move and you lived in a sunny area, it sounds like a very good deal.

Check it out at Advantis.org

interesting

Submitted by Jeremy on March 14, 2007 - 12:55pm.

I need to put another layer of shingles on my roof before I can think about putting solar hotwater or electric on; but this looks interesting.

Staying Put

Submitted by quietstorm on April 5, 2007 - 11:41am.

Even though your original comment is dated back in June of 2006 I thought I would add a comment.
Even though I sold my house, it was a better choice for me financially. It wasn't an easy decision because the yard was large.
I think the deciding factor depends on an individuals over-all financial situation. Looking at age and other factors I would not have been able to pay off the house, even with a low house payment. I felt that it would be better to get some money out of the sale to buy some land somewhere that I could start planting on and making soil improvements. My land is on the Eastern side of the mountains so I focus on drought resistance plants. Next will be infrastructure, such as driveway, well, and septic system. I learned that a graveled driveway is a necessity, cars tend to sink in wet ground that has softened. Who would'a thunk?
But if some things had been different I would have seriously considered staying put too.