1) repair 2) remodel or 3) ...

[Ambergris]

I have made an expensive decision.

 

When I bought the land, it came with a very large, very pretty double-wide on it.  I immediately sank a lot of money (and a few months) into removing the carpet and putting down vinyl-plank flooring. 

Well, what with one thing and another, I have decided to replace the double-wide.  The original plan was to do this five and a quarter years from now, but renting my old house out in the interim has become a money-losing proposition.  So I am selling the old house.  And rather than chance anything happening to that sale money, or the economy, or what-not, I am using the sale money to replace the double-wide.  I have found one that should cost a little less gross than the sale should bring in net. Should.  The old house goes on the market this weekend or in the coming week.  The lease ends Wednesday.  The tenants do not want to leave, and I really hate it for them, but ... well, this has been a money-losing year.  If they get ugly about leaving, some amateur mistakes I made in writing the lease might come to haunt me, but that's what you get for leasing to friends.  Not that they are ugly people, but they have nowhere to go, and no money to get there with.

I might get a decent amount of cash from selling the pretty double wide, or I might get just enough to pay for hauling it off.  Who knows?  All the appliances were replaced in 2016, and the new place comes with its own appliances.  The tenants used to have a piece of property where their uninsured double-wide burned down a few years ago.  I wonder if they still own it, and if they could rent-to-own this one?  That is actually my secret dream resolution.  They have energy, strength, and know-how to maintain this place properly, and kids to fill it up.  

 

The new double wide I want is smaller by 500 feet, a better size for just me and DS1.  The layout is significantly better too.  Opening the front door doesn't let a person immediately see half the house.  

 

Edited September 27, 2019 by Ambergris

[Mt_Rider]

Wow....a lot of complexity in this scenario.  Especially since it's friends in the old house.  Rent to own your 'next old house' might work if they still own the land.  How does one take everything out of a double-wide and then wait for the new one to be in place to move back in?  Logistics????  But in the end, not having a lot of maintenance for some years would be a great benefit.  I agree that "money in the bank" does not mean what it used to mean ...not at all.  Lotta folks have lost their sheepskins thinking that way.  Will pray all is clearly resolved for you and yours!!!

 

MtRider  ....when is your surgery?  Like you need another complication!   

 

 

[out_of_the_ordinary]

  all goes well! 

 

You've made the decisions and that's a big part of it.   

 

We need to move...or not..or have some kind of plan here.      DH and I need to get the whole decision made part taken care of. 

[Ambergris]

Further development: moving a trailer this large and this old is more expensive (almost double) and not at all guaranteed.  The tenants were unhappy at the cost of moving before.

The structure will probably just be salvaged, which is a great pity.   

 

I need to ask all kinds of questions about how long we will have to wait for the setup.  We will probably have to stay in an extended stay hotel, and keep our stuff in a storage unit.  Money, money, money.  Mannn, seems like we did this just a year ago.  Wait...

 

[Ambergris]

Maybe we can rent an RV.

[snapshotmiki]

RV or travel trailer with a storage unit also, would be excellent!

[Virginia]

Once upon a time long ago, we wanted to move to the area we now live in, Ozark Mtns, from the big city of Memphis area.  We finally decided to pray that God stop us if we should not move, because we never got a definitive answer.  He did not stop us, and blessed us with a very easy sale, and basically an easy move.  We are thankful.

[The WE2's]

You're pretty close to our area Virginia...LOL

[Virginia]

We are only 15 miles from the MO line, and about middle of our state.  I have often wondered how far apart we are from y'all.  WE2ers are much more active and productive than we are.

[mommato3boys]

Maybe you can look into an old shipping container to store everything in and then still have it on the property later for storage. 

 

We have scrapped our long term plans which broke my heart, but it is back to the drawing board. 

[TheCG]

We lived in a borrowed RV while they were setting our house up...that then got moved down to my brother's land for them to live in while they were getting their house set up.

 

I'm not sure Mom's quit twitching over the fact that we're both living in mobile homes yet.  Housing is just too darn expensive out where we are!

 

You could look into something like a POD or the U-Haul things that they just leave on your property while you load it and see if those would be cheaper.

 

Or see if a friend has an empty trailer you could borrow.

 

We bought a used shed and had it moved onto our property.  You could do that, then either use it for storage or buy one you could then use as a potting shed or greenhouse or....

[Ambergris]

I happened to look at the date plate on the trailer they were selling me and noticed it was four years old.  A repo.  I can't come close to affording anything new in the size and quality I want, and so now I am circling back to the cost of rebuilding what I have.

[Jeepers]

In the past I've wanted to move to scale down. I don't need this big house. But even a much smaller older house would cost a lot more than what I have now. So I either had to go in big debt or stay put. I've been here 30 years now. I stayed put. 

[Ambergris]

If I can make this aging doublewide last five years, I can cash out a retirement fund and build a cottage, building storage into the barn.