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Present woes
Jul. 31st, 2003 09:35 amHome today. Don't know if it's allergies or a cold or what, but it's bodyaches and sinus pressure and drainage and it's kicking my ass. Getting my system re-set up, because somehow the audio drivers got totally b0rked, and I was unable to fix them with anything short of a full scrub and reinstall. That, and I wasn't able to get my CD burner to work, but I think that might have been due to some odd Nvidia IDE drivers that I didn't install this time around. Let's see if that fixes things.
And the other issue... our house. That's in some doubt right now. The situation is this:
The person who owns the house is moving to Colorado because of his job. He's a friend of the family, and wants to help us get into a house, so he's giving us a rent-to-own deal. He takes out a home equity loan so he has money to start building a house in Colorado, and we pay the payments on the loan for 3 years. Once that's up (and our debt has been paid off and our credit rating improved), we get a home loan for the remaining value of the house (minus the cost of any improvements we've made), and the house is ours. Well, he just got the numbers on what the monthly payments will be. He was aiming for $500 a month, but he could only get $715 a month.
To put that in perspective, we pay $595 a month rent right now. Also, that number doesn't include property tax, which we'd also be paying. There's also a couple of other new bills that'd be involved, like garbage and water, which we don't pay now. So, all told, I'm guessing that the total cost would be around $250 to $300 more a month than we pay now. We just don't have that kind of stretch in our budget.
So, what are our options?
1) Z gets a job.
This one's great; it covers our extra income needs nicely, and possibly gets Z some health insurance. Downside is that she's very limited in where she can work, thanks to her lack of driving ability. There's some jobs within walking distance of the new house, but not many, and we'd need her to get the job ASAP, which is not that likely in this job market.
2) Z's mom sells her house
Z's mom is moving out this way, and she's selling her condo in St. Louis. If it sells, she could get as much as $80,000 for it, and she's already promised that $10,000 of that is ours. If we got that, $5,000 would go into savings - which would give us some nice emergency reserves - and $5.000 could go to paying off debt. That could pay off my Gateway account and our two Discover cards... which would free up around $200 a month, and that would get us back to where we need to be. Only problem is, we don't know how soon that house will sell, so we can't bank on that money.
3) Get a roommate
We're looking at this option right now, and we've got 2 or three possibilities. The upside is that we get someone to take 1/3rd of the costs - rent/payment, tax, utilities, groceries - which helps out a ton. Downside is we lose our privacy to an extent, and if that roommate decides to leave, we're back to being in an unhappy place.
4) Mom and Dad help out
Talked to Dad brielfy on the phone last night, and he had mentioned this in passing, but adding that their ability to help would be very limited. My mom's quitting her job, you see, and becoming a personal chef, and that switch in jobs is going to tax their budget. What I think would happen is that the $800 or so of remodeling money they were going to give us would become rent money, doled out over a period of a few months. Problem is, it would only last a few months. Even if that was able to last us for 6 months, that only covers us through the holiday season... just when things are getting cold and our gas bill would skyrocket. Not a long term solution.
5) The seller eats the extra cost
Not a likely option, but to be thorough, I'll list it. The person selling us the house could absorb the extra $215 a month (or a lesser amount) until we're caught up on debt and can take over in full. Don't know if I can ask for this option, though. That's a hefty sacrifice just to help us out.
6) We don't move
This is our least favorite option, but unless we can swing one or more of the other 5 above -- and quickly, since our lease ends in September -- it's reality. Not trying to be a pessimist, but I'd be a fool to not take this possibility into account.
So, that's where we are and that's what's going on. We're going to be praying for help and guidance, and if anyone wants to add us to their prayers, we'd be very thankful.
And the other issue... our house. That's in some doubt right now. The situation is this:
The person who owns the house is moving to Colorado because of his job. He's a friend of the family, and wants to help us get into a house, so he's giving us a rent-to-own deal. He takes out a home equity loan so he has money to start building a house in Colorado, and we pay the payments on the loan for 3 years. Once that's up (and our debt has been paid off and our credit rating improved), we get a home loan for the remaining value of the house (minus the cost of any improvements we've made), and the house is ours. Well, he just got the numbers on what the monthly payments will be. He was aiming for $500 a month, but he could only get $715 a month.
To put that in perspective, we pay $595 a month rent right now. Also, that number doesn't include property tax, which we'd also be paying. There's also a couple of other new bills that'd be involved, like garbage and water, which we don't pay now. So, all told, I'm guessing that the total cost would be around $250 to $300 more a month than we pay now. We just don't have that kind of stretch in our budget.
So, what are our options?
1) Z gets a job.
This one's great; it covers our extra income needs nicely, and possibly gets Z some health insurance. Downside is that she's very limited in where she can work, thanks to her lack of driving ability. There's some jobs within walking distance of the new house, but not many, and we'd need her to get the job ASAP, which is not that likely in this job market.
2) Z's mom sells her house
Z's mom is moving out this way, and she's selling her condo in St. Louis. If it sells, she could get as much as $80,000 for it, and she's already promised that $10,000 of that is ours. If we got that, $5,000 would go into savings - which would give us some nice emergency reserves - and $5.000 could go to paying off debt. That could pay off my Gateway account and our two Discover cards... which would free up around $200 a month, and that would get us back to where we need to be. Only problem is, we don't know how soon that house will sell, so we can't bank on that money.
3) Get a roommate
We're looking at this option right now, and we've got 2 or three possibilities. The upside is that we get someone to take 1/3rd of the costs - rent/payment, tax, utilities, groceries - which helps out a ton. Downside is we lose our privacy to an extent, and if that roommate decides to leave, we're back to being in an unhappy place.
4) Mom and Dad help out
Talked to Dad brielfy on the phone last night, and he had mentioned this in passing, but adding that their ability to help would be very limited. My mom's quitting her job, you see, and becoming a personal chef, and that switch in jobs is going to tax their budget. What I think would happen is that the $800 or so of remodeling money they were going to give us would become rent money, doled out over a period of a few months. Problem is, it would only last a few months. Even if that was able to last us for 6 months, that only covers us through the holiday season... just when things are getting cold and our gas bill would skyrocket. Not a long term solution.
5) The seller eats the extra cost
Not a likely option, but to be thorough, I'll list it. The person selling us the house could absorb the extra $215 a month (or a lesser amount) until we're caught up on debt and can take over in full. Don't know if I can ask for this option, though. That's a hefty sacrifice just to help us out.
6) We don't move
This is our least favorite option, but unless we can swing one or more of the other 5 above -- and quickly, since our lease ends in September -- it's reality. Not trying to be a pessimist, but I'd be a fool to not take this possibility into account.
So, that's where we are and that's what's going on. We're going to be praying for help and guidance, and if anyone wants to add us to their prayers, we'd be very thankful.
