I had never been in a $9,000 house before this weekend. It came on the market a few days ago in Oronoco, with the caption "House may be a tear-down." But we thought, well, what the heck...
Tara and I went on Saturday morning, taking with us the two little ones and leaving the "bigs" at home. When we drove up to the home, we noticed it was in one of those areas of either lake cabins (not fancy) or houses on the lake (very fancy, but still rustic). The garage was nice and solid, the lot was a double, and the home... well, it wasn't so good. The short story is that it would have taken a lot of work to get it to livable, and then you'd still only have a one-bedroom, one bathroom cabin-sort of thing. Also there was a huge workshop / shed in the backyard that had been through a fire and would need to be torn down. Also there was some issue about the septic being non-compliant. Also there were dead appliances strewn throughout the yard. Also...
Had my wife said, "Go for it," I would have figured out some way to get it. But she didn't. She said, "It doesn't fit your plans at all. Even if you tear down the house and start over, you don't want a double lot near the lake. You want acreage in the country where you can grow... whatever it is you want to grow."
We also visited a reasonably nice property in town for $35,000 that would easily meet our needs... after we eradicate the mold. Please tell me, how do you get mold on the floor of the bedroom without getting any in the corners or the ceiling?
So right now we are waiting for the tax return money to come back so we can decide what our next move might be.
One of the things I teach my children about finance is the story of the three terrible monsters.
The first and worst monster is the Credit Card Monster. He is green and brown and sort of slimy and gooey. He only visits people who have credit cards and who have not paid off their balances at the end of the month. He pretty much hates everybody and would like to eat as much of your money as he can in one sitting. You should never begin a relationship with him.
The second monster is the Mortgage Monster. I picture him as black and not quite as angry as the Credit Card Monster. The Mortgage Monster visits just about everyone, since few Americans own their homes outright. Most folks are on friendly terms with the Mortgage Monster, feeding him just enough to keep him away until the next month. They don't realize (or don't want to realize) that after 30 years, they will have fed him probably more than twice the value of their home. Though I have had something like a 14-year relationship with the Mortgage Monster, I am ready to call it off. He can seek a new lackey elsewhere.
The final monster, and one that we probably won't be able to shake, is the Tax Monster. I picture him as red because the federal government is always in the red. Besides making us do mountains of paperwork, the Tax Monster also wants his share of yearly income. He has little cousins like City Tax, Sales Tax, Vehicle Transfer Fees, and Social Security. I also dislike his obese uncle, Property Tax. Although you can't get rid of the red monster, you can minimize his effect. Live in simple properties. Buy cars that are more than ten years old... and not from out of state! Give generously to church and charities. And finally, have lots of children!
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