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Thoughts and Ideas (house related)
So H and I are needing to refinance our home by February of 14 (balloon loan, will never do again). Our home was a foreclosure when we purchased it, and it needed a lot of work done to it. We bought it for very cheap and have done the remodeling ourselves. So we have about $50k of equity in the home.
There are few larger projects left that we would like to do to the home in order to stay in it for a while. The kitchen is very old and needs updated, and H would like to add a 3rd stall onto the 2 stall garage. We have also discussed doing blown in insullation to the entire house (large late 1800's victorian).
Would you get a price quote for these remaining projects and refinance them into the house, or just leave it be? If we did these projects, we plan to stay in the home for 10-15 years or more (it is big enough to grow in). If we do not do these projects, then we would like to put our home on the market and move to the country with a larger lot and a shed for H. Which would mean doubling our mortgage.
We would be paying cash for about the first $10k of the project, but would likely finance $20-30k into the house for the remaining amount.
TTC since 1/13 DX:PCOS 5/13 (long, anovulatory cycles)
Clomid 50mg 9/13 = BFP! EDD 6/7/14 M/C 5w6d Found 11/4/13
1/14 PCOS / Gluten Free Diet to hopefully regulate my system.
Chemical Pregnancy 03/14
Surprise BFP 6/14, Beta #1: 126 Beta #2: 340 Stick baby, stick! EDD 2/17/15
Riley Elaine born 2/16/15
TTC 2.0 6/15
Chemical Pregnancy 9/15
Chemical Pregnancy 6/16
BFP 9/16 EDD 6/3/17
Beta #1: 145 Beta #2: 376 Beta #3: 2,225 Beta #4: 4,548
www.5yearstonever.blogspot.com
Re: Thoughts and Ideas (house related)
We're currently in a similar situation, and the toughest part of the two scenarios is defining our priorities.
Is the outdoor space or the indoor space the most important part of the property you own. We currently have all the indoor space we could ever use, but we're not really happy with it. We have aspirations of getting out of this house for smaller square footage with some acreage, but it would also mean a $600-$800 per month increase in mortgage payments.
In the end, it's going to be a decision of priorities.
I don't have an answer yet, but we're also thinking about this...
TTC since 1/13 DX:PCOS 5/13 (long, anovulatory cycles)
Clomid 50mg 9/13 = BFP! EDD 6/7/14 M/C 5w6d Found 11/4/13
1/14 PCOS / Gluten Free Diet to hopefully regulate my system.
Chemical Pregnancy 03/14
Surprise BFP 6/14, Beta #1: 126 Beta #2: 340 Stick baby, stick! EDD 2/17/15
Riley Elaine born 2/16/15
TTC 2.0 6/15
Chemical Pregnancy 9/15
Chemical Pregnancy 6/16
BFP 9/16 EDD 6/3/17
Beta #1: 145 Beta #2: 376 Beta #3: 2,225 Beta #4: 4,548
www.5yearstonever.blogspot.com
"You know you're in love when you don't want to fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams." - Dr. SeussI would insulate the home . Get estimates on the other work and then decide.
Have you had the home appraised so you know that the value actually is in today's market?
Our last appraisal was done in January. We live in a LCOL area, and the housing market hasn't fluctuated in the past 10 years. Even with the housing crash. So the appraisal was very close to the one we had done when we purchased the home 4 years ago.
TTC since 1/13 DX:PCOS 5/13 (long, anovulatory cycles)
Clomid 50mg 9/13 = BFP! EDD 6/7/14 M/C 5w6d Found 11/4/13
1/14 PCOS / Gluten Free Diet to hopefully regulate my system.
Chemical Pregnancy 03/14
Surprise BFP 6/14, Beta #1: 126 Beta #2: 340 Stick baby, stick! EDD 2/17/15
Riley Elaine born 2/16/15
TTC 2.0 6/15
Chemical Pregnancy 9/15
Chemical Pregnancy 6/16
BFP 9/16 EDD 6/3/17
Beta #1: 145 Beta #2: 376 Beta #3: 2,225 Beta #4: 4,548
www.5yearstonever.blogspot.com
We have done a lot of renovations to our house too. We know that this isn't our "forever home" but we will be here for a few years. The way I look at home improvements are if they are basic maintenance we of course do them. If it will be a significant barrier to selling the house then again do it.
The rest of the stuff I try to access how much it will increase the value vs how much it will cost. If you know anyone in real estate they are a good resource. So if the kitchen remodel will cost 10,000+interest, but will increase the value of your home by 8,000 then I look at that 2,000+interest. If you are only going to be there for 1 year, then I personally wouldn't consider 2000+ a reasonable expenditure. If you are going to be there for 5 years, it's more reasonable. It just comes down to how much the improvement is worth to you.
The updates you are talking about are very reasonable if you are staying, but the 3 car garage if you already have a small yard might actually detract from your ability to sell. So that is something to think about. Kitchens supposedly bring about a 50% return including cost of labor. It is market dependent so I would try to get someone in real estate to weigh in, but still a more predictable place to spend. The insulation is more of a maintenance issue and depending on how drafty the place is might actually pay for itself long term, so I would probably be most willing to do that.