The Venting Thread

[Parasaurolophus]

Thanks for the thoughts and wishes!

Ouch!  So sorry to hear & I hope it works out for the best - at least it's 4 months warning, not merely ONE!

Yeah, four months is the legal minimum. They also didn't tell us why they were doing it, which I'd have thought we were owed after paying off more than 100k of their mortgage. But they did let slip that it's got to do with a series of quack cures they're pursuing for their daughter (whom they think is suffering from a mystery illness, but which her pediatrician thinks is an eating disorder; they're something of a quack illness/cure family, with the son's obvious but undiagnosed autism being due to a tick that bit his mum before he was born, etc.).

Miraculously, an affordable apartment went up yesterday (otherwise, there are another five advertised for $10k+ a month =/ ). We visited it. It's acceptable, but we would be paying 20% more and compromising on basically everything, in ways that would definitely make us miserable, so we would want to move again as soon as possible. Also, a cougar had been spotted chasing deer over there. Still, it's tempting. Especially since we've kept an eye out, and in the last six years we've seen maybe one unit go up for rent that would be comparable to our current one. There's just nothing here. We have a friend who had the same thing happen to her twice in six months, and she ended up just buying a tiny house of her own and parking it on a friend's lot.

Currently, however, we're thinking we might manage to live in a yurt on our property for the winter, while a small kit house gets built on it. The level of compromise/privation would be comparable to the apartment we saw yesterday, but in a much nicer place with lots of outdoor space and nobody to share it with, so the mental health outlook seems better. I imagine it would cost a year's rent, plus all the construction costs of course, but at the end of it we'd at least have a house, and we'd be paying about the same for the mortgage as we would for rent.

We'll see. I've got a chat with the bank lined up for Thursday morning.

[jimbogumbo]

Thanks for the thoughts and wishes!

Ouch!  So sorry to hear & I hope it works out for the best - at least it's 4 months warning, not merely ONE!

Yeah, four months is the legal minimum. They also didn't tell us why they were doing it, which I'd have thought we were owed after paying off more than 100k of their mortgage. But they did let slip that it's got to do with a series of quack cures they're pursuing for their daughter (whom they think is suffering from a mystery illness, but which her pediatrician thinks is an eating disorder; they're something of a quack illness/cure family, with the son's obvious but undiagnosed autism being due to a tick that bit his mum before he was born, etc.).

Miraculously, an affordable apartment went up yesterday (otherwise, there are another five advertised for $10k+ a month =/ ). We visited it. It's acceptable, but we would be paying 20% more and compromising on basically everything, in ways that would definitely make us miserable, so we would want to move again as soon as possible. Also, a cougar had been spotted chasing deer over there. Still, it's tempting. Especially since we've kept an eye out, and in the last six years we've seen maybe one unit go up for rent that would be comparable to our current one. There's just nothing here. We have a friend who had the same thing happen to her twice in six months, and she ended up just buying a tiny house of her own and parking it on a friend's lot.

Currently, however, we're thinking we might manage to live in a yurt on our property for the winter, while a small kit house gets built on it. The level of compromise/privation would be comparable to the apartment we saw yesterday, but in a much nicer place with lots of outdoor space and nobody to share it with, so the mental health outlook seems better. I imagine it would cost a year's rent, plus all the construction costs of course, but at the end of it we'd at least have a house, and we'd be paying about the same for the mortgage as we would for rent.

We'll see. I've got a chat with the bank lined up for Thursday morning.

Given your market's long term outlook I'd think the yurt/build plan is a very good idea.

Best wishes!

[Parasaurolophus]

Thanks! The only hitch is having to move into it at the start of winter which, even though it's mild here, is non-ideal. There will absolutely be power outages, for up to a week at a time. We're experienced campers, so not too daunted, but it's bound to be a trial.

[Puget]

Thanks! The only hitch is having to move into it at the start of winter which, even though it's mild here, is non-ideal. There will absolutely be power outages, for up to a week at a time. We're experienced campers, so not too daunted, but it's bound to be a trial.

This sounds like a real adventure, although I'm sure it will be hard at times!

One thing that was surprising to me in buying a home (with a fixed mortgage) was just how much a mental health boost I got from not having to ever worry about having to find new rentals when prices went way up or conditions deteriorated and the landlord failed to do anything about it. I hope you experience similar relief when you have your own home!

[apl68]

Thanks! The only hitch is having to move into it at the start of winter which, even though it's mild here, is non-ideal. There will absolutely be power outages, for up to a week at a time. We're experienced campers, so not too daunted, but it's bound to be a trial.

This sounds like a real adventure, although I'm sure it will be hard at times!

One thing that was surprising to me in buying a home (with a fixed mortgage) was just how much a mental health boost I got from not having to ever worry about having to find new rentals when prices went way up or conditions deteriorated and the landlord failed to do anything about it. I hope you experience similar relief when you have your own home!

Seconded.  It may not be easy or on an ideal schedule, but it sounds like you have a good chance here to improve the family's situation long-term.

[Sea_Ice]

Thanks! The only hitch is having to move into it at the start of winter which, even though it's mild here, is non-ideal. There will absolutely be power outages, for up to a week at a time. We're experienced campers, so not too daunted, but it's bound to be a trial.

This sounds like a real adventure, although I'm sure it will be hard at times!

One thing that was surprising to me in buying a home (with a fixed mortgage) was just how much a mental health boost I got from not having to ever worry about having to find new rentals when prices went way up or conditions deteriorated and the landlord failed to do anything about it. I hope you experience similar relief when you have your own home!

Seconded.  It may not be easy or on an ideal schedule, but it sounds like you have a good chance here to improve the family's situation long-term.

If you have the possible problems figured out and know that you can cope with them, I'd say go for it!!!  From what you've said, it'll be a major - & life-long! - improvement once you work through the building stuff, and that's a good thing to look forward to!

[ciao_yall]

Thanks! The only hitch is having to move into it at the start of winter which, even though it's mild here, is non-ideal. There will absolutely be power outages, for up to a week at a time. We're experienced campers, so not too daunted, but it's bound to be a trial.

This sounds like a real adventure, although I'm sure it will be hard at times!

One thing that was surprising to me in buying a home (with a fixed mortgage) was just how much a mental health boost I got from not having to ever worry about having to find new rentals when prices went way up or conditions deteriorated and the landlord failed to do anything about it. I hope you experience similar relief when you have your own home!

Seconded.  It may not be easy or on an ideal schedule, but it sounds like you have a good chance here to improve the family's situation long-term.

If you have the possible problems figured out and know that you can cope with them, I'd say go for it!!!  From what you've said, it'll be a major - & life-long! - improvement once you work through the building stuff, and that's a good thing to look forward to!

Thirded. I have owned my home for years. Currently renting out our condo while we rent and decide our next move.

I forget how annoying it us to rent and not feel control over one's space. I hate that light fixture, carpet, paint... but must live with it.

[Parasaurolophus]

Thanks for the input, everyone.

I had a chat with the bank today, and the signs are good: with our incomes and the fact that we own the land without a mortgage, they can loan us a couple hundred more than we expected, and just front us 60% of that outright. Plus, no downpayment is needed. So it looks like we can build pretty easily.

A friendly acquaintance (I run a parent and child program which she attends every week with her twins) also just put up a decently priced (20% more than we currently pay, but still way less than the average) rental suite, and it sounds like they'd want to be able to AirBnB it in the summer. So the current thinking is that we can stay there for the winter, buy a cheap tiny house outright with the savings we expected to sink into a downpayment, start building, and then move onto the land in the summer, and end up with a small house and a suite for in-laws.

It's an attractive plan, apart from all the adulting required.