I realize I just wrote about this topic in last night's random thoughts.
I try to take the attitude that things happen for a reason. What's meant to be will be. Not completely - I don't think it's meant to be that babies die or crazies shoot up movie theaters.
I got an official email from my banker this morning that my loan for the marsh house cannot be approved with the foreclosure of my ex-husband's house on my credit report. I had been planning to ride my bike this morning, and after I got the email I was so bummed out I almost didn't go. Then I decided it would be good for me, and I rode a little over 26 miles.
The more I rode, the more relieved I felt. I guess that in itself is a sign that while I wanted the marsh house badly, my heart wasn't really in the idea of going into debt for something I wasn't even going to live in.
When I contacted the realtor to let her know, she said she didn't think I could back out at this point.
Excuse me?
What are they going to do, squeeze the money out of me? If I can't get financing, how do they propose to force the deal to go through? (I actually asked her those questions.)
She said I might have to forfeit the earnest money, and while that will suck, I guess there's nothing I can do about it.
Really, I'm ignorant of this whole process. What CAN they do? Can they sue me for breach of contract? How likely is that to happen? Ugh...I wish I'd never started this process.
I hate feeling powerless, and this whole ordeal has made me feel powerless. When my ex and I built that house, we had to pay a whopping 10% interest rate. (That was a combination of youthful blights on my credit rating and the fact that he didn't have a real job.) After the divorce, when he remarried and had a good job and interest rates fell to about a third of what he was paying (or not paying, as the problem turned out to be), he refused to refinance the house. And it was out of spite. He knew that if he refinanced, it would release me from the burden of the mortgage, and it was his one last way of saying, "Screw you for divorcing me."
Sigh.
Further proof that we should be allowed to delete them when we're through with them, just like old computer files.
And now, having talked to the realtor, I'm grumpy. I was fine with this whole thing, mourning the loss of the house (that I never had) but feeling better about not having a mortgage. Feeling like I was being all grown-up and handling my disappointment with panache and maturity, and now I feel like someone has slapped me on the hand for misbehavior.
Hubby, while not really the world's perfect man that I portray him as being, always seems to know the right thing to say. When I texted him the news this morning, his first response was, "I'll help you if you really want to do it." (I'd already had the conversation with him about if the loan didn't go through, it was a sign it wasn't meant to be.) It was tempting, but I stuck by my word and told him no, let's just be done with it. Then he texted me a message that said, "Think of all the trips we can take." See why I call him the world's last perfect man?
Enough of my problems. It will work out the way it's supposed to work out, and I'll be wiser for having gone through it. I may also be broker, but perhaps not as much as I would have been had the deal gone through.
Perhaps.
I hope.
Showing posts with label marsh house. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marsh house. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Pictures or No Pictures.....
I was going to wait until I had before and after pictures to show you, but I'm giddy with excitement and paralyzed with fear at the same time, so I'm going to go ahead and get some of these thoughts out of my head and down on ... keyboard?
You may remember last summer when I agonized over whether or not to purchase a cottage at the marsh where we held our family reunion. I was approved for the loan and then backed out because the down payment would have eaten up all my savings, and then I would have had an empty vacation home to rent out only to people who brought furniture on vacation with them. I wrote about it in a post I entitled "Risky Business......"
When we went to the family reunion this year, the cottage was still sitting there empty, looking kind of forlorn. AND they had reduced the price another $20,000. At this point it was listed for approximately one-fourth the amount it cost the guy to build it just six years ago.
This also goes back to my angry story about my mother, sort of, so bear with me here.
Mom wasn't at the reunion last year, so she had never seen the cottage. We went and looked at it en masse this year, and Mom was intrigued. She turned to me and asked, "Would you buy something like this?" When I explained that I came within a hair's breadth of buying it last year and explained why I chickened out at the last minute, she immediately said, "I'll make the down payment."
And that makes me feel terrible about getting so angry at her. Not that I felt that way, but because I held my tongue. I did NOT lash out at her and tell her how rude I thought she was, because she would have "punished" me by withdrawing her offer to give me the money for the down payment.
There. I've put the ugly truth into writing. I sold my soul to the she-devil because I had already received approval to buy the cottage and I didn't want to back out again.
It is still risky, but my cousin, who lives next door, is going to manage the property for me (along with several other property owners in the same community). He says it will pay for itself - mortgage, insurance, and taxes - if it rents for 13 weeks out of the year. He's pretty sure he can rent it for 15. And it's NEXT DOOR to him, so he has a vested interest in making sure it's taken care of.
It's called a cottage, but it's much larger than the house we live in now. It has four large bedrooms (each bedroom typically has two queen-sized beds in it, so the house could realistically sleep 16), and each bedroom has its own bath. Lovely hardwood floors, granite countertops in the kitchen, a wall of glass in the two-story living room that overlooks the marsh to the west. Gorgeous sunsets.
I've never started a house from scratch before. Usually when you buy a house, you move at least SOME furniture into it. But we have to start from ground zero. Furniture, linens, towels, dishes, a few small appliances, everything. Yikes. We could go the cheaper route and scout the area thrift stores (it's only about 30 miles from Hilton Head Island) for bargains, but that's time-consuming. And with everything we've got going on in our lives right now, we don't have an extended period of time to go over there and scout. Or we could go the more expensive route, buying all the furniture from a buy-the-whole-room store and having them deliver it and set it up all at once. We would then be able to start renting it out faster, and it could start paying us back.
What a dilemma. Hubby's usually the (cheap) voice of reason in our family, and I'm shocked that he prefers the second choice. I think that comes from his get-it-done-and-get-on-with-it approach to life. Fast and furious, the same way he plays golf and walks in the park and does just about everything else.
The pictures below are of the interior of the cottage when it was rented below. Good heavens, I hadn't even thought about ART WORK. Maybe I'll just snatch the few pictures we have off the walls and make those do for a while. Ha ha.
You can't tell from the bedroom shots, but each one has built-in cabinets and drawers. So other than beds, the only furniture really required in the bedrooms will be a nightstand between the two beds.
The cottage would be an ideal place for several couples to go for a quiet getaway. The community has many kayaks, and dolphins (porpoises?) play in an area of the marsh just a short paddle away. They haven't shown up the two times I've been kayaking there, the buttheads.
It's about a four-and-a-half hour drive from our house, so I don't anticipate that we'll be spending a lot of time there, darn it. I have been planting the seeds in Hubby's mind, though, that it would be a great place for him and his golfing buddies to have one of their weekend golf outings. There's a course only six miles away, and there's always Hilton Head. If they don't have to pay Hilton Head prices for lodging, perhaps they can afford to play one of the courses there.
You can check out the community here: Palm Key . And if you know of any groups wanting to have a conference, retreat, vacation, getaway, witness protection program, let me know.
So that's what we are up to these days. Add to the mix an upcoming bicycling trip to Wisconsin, a Caribbean cruise, mother-in-law's many doctor's visits and possible upcoming surgery, and football season, and I may need to start color-coding my calendar.
Pray I haven't gone out on a limb with a chainsaw in my hand.
You may remember last summer when I agonized over whether or not to purchase a cottage at the marsh where we held our family reunion. I was approved for the loan and then backed out because the down payment would have eaten up all my savings, and then I would have had an empty vacation home to rent out only to people who brought furniture on vacation with them. I wrote about it in a post I entitled "Risky Business......"
When we went to the family reunion this year, the cottage was still sitting there empty, looking kind of forlorn. AND they had reduced the price another $20,000. At this point it was listed for approximately one-fourth the amount it cost the guy to build it just six years ago.
This also goes back to my angry story about my mother, sort of, so bear with me here.
Mom wasn't at the reunion last year, so she had never seen the cottage. We went and looked at it en masse this year, and Mom was intrigued. She turned to me and asked, "Would you buy something like this?" When I explained that I came within a hair's breadth of buying it last year and explained why I chickened out at the last minute, she immediately said, "I'll make the down payment."
And that makes me feel terrible about getting so angry at her. Not that I felt that way, but because I held my tongue. I did NOT lash out at her and tell her how rude I thought she was, because she would have "punished" me by withdrawing her offer to give me the money for the down payment.
There. I've put the ugly truth into writing. I sold my soul to the she-devil because I had already received approval to buy the cottage and I didn't want to back out again.
It is still risky, but my cousin, who lives next door, is going to manage the property for me (along with several other property owners in the same community). He says it will pay for itself - mortgage, insurance, and taxes - if it rents for 13 weeks out of the year. He's pretty sure he can rent it for 15. And it's NEXT DOOR to him, so he has a vested interest in making sure it's taken care of.
It's called a cottage, but it's much larger than the house we live in now. It has four large bedrooms (each bedroom typically has two queen-sized beds in it, so the house could realistically sleep 16), and each bedroom has its own bath. Lovely hardwood floors, granite countertops in the kitchen, a wall of glass in the two-story living room that overlooks the marsh to the west. Gorgeous sunsets.
I've never started a house from scratch before. Usually when you buy a house, you move at least SOME furniture into it. But we have to start from ground zero. Furniture, linens, towels, dishes, a few small appliances, everything. Yikes. We could go the cheaper route and scout the area thrift stores (it's only about 30 miles from Hilton Head Island) for bargains, but that's time-consuming. And with everything we've got going on in our lives right now, we don't have an extended period of time to go over there and scout. Or we could go the more expensive route, buying all the furniture from a buy-the-whole-room store and having them deliver it and set it up all at once. We would then be able to start renting it out faster, and it could start paying us back.
What a dilemma. Hubby's usually the (cheap) voice of reason in our family, and I'm shocked that he prefers the second choice. I think that comes from his get-it-done-and-get-on-with-it approach to life. Fast and furious, the same way he plays golf and walks in the park and does just about everything else.
The pictures below are of the interior of the cottage when it was rented below. Good heavens, I hadn't even thought about ART WORK. Maybe I'll just snatch the few pictures we have off the walls and make those do for a while. Ha ha.
 |
| The kitchen is fairly small, just the way I like them. This is on the left as soon as you come in the front door. The washer and dryer are off to the left of this picture. I like that little desk area. |
 |
| One of the bedrooms. I have no idea which one. There are two on the bottom floor and two upstairs. |
 |
| Combined dining/living room. I love those gorgeous floors. |
 |
| A downstairs bedroom, and I know that only because it's visible from the living room picture above. |
 |
| Uh....bedroom. |
 |
| And another one. |
 |
| Looking down into the living room from the loft area above. That area is large enough that we could put a futon or a sleeper sofa up there, providing additional sleeping space. |
The cottage would be an ideal place for several couples to go for a quiet getaway. The community has many kayaks, and dolphins (porpoises?) play in an area of the marsh just a short paddle away. They haven't shown up the two times I've been kayaking there, the buttheads.
It's about a four-and-a-half hour drive from our house, so I don't anticipate that we'll be spending a lot of time there, darn it. I have been planting the seeds in Hubby's mind, though, that it would be a great place for him and his golfing buddies to have one of their weekend golf outings. There's a course only six miles away, and there's always Hilton Head. If they don't have to pay Hilton Head prices for lodging, perhaps they can afford to play one of the courses there.
You can check out the community here: Palm Key . And if you know of any groups wanting to have a conference, retreat, vacation, getaway, witness protection program, let me know.
So that's what we are up to these days. Add to the mix an upcoming bicycling trip to Wisconsin, a Caribbean cruise, mother-in-law's many doctor's visits and possible upcoming surgery, and football season, and I may need to start color-coding my calendar.
Pray I haven't gone out on a limb with a chainsaw in my hand.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
A Mini-Afghan for NashBash.....
It's been a while since I posted a completed project on here. I go through spells in which I crochet madly, then I put it down for months at a time. Obviously, sitting around with a lap full of wool in Georgia in June is no one's idea of a good time. I had to work feverishly on this one to get it finished before I leave for BRAG, since the NashBash follows right on BRAG's coattails.
The pattern called for about 12 more rows, but it also called for a much thinner yarn. At Christmas I made one for Sweet Girl in different shades of blue, and I stubbornly stuck to the pattern. It is approximately the size of Connecticut, so I didn't mind at all stopping this one before it got ungainly.
It's a little bigger than a lap blanket, but not big enough for a bed. Oh, and it's square, so it probably wouldn't work on a bed anyway.
I made this one specifically for the auction at NashBash this year. If you haven't been around very long, NashBash is the name of our family reunion. (My mother's maiden name was Nash.) We used to have a newsletter...NashTrash. And we took up donations...NashCash.
Now we have an auction and a store. People make items for the auction and/or the store, and the proceeds help fund NashBash the following year. Sometimes we get into hilarious bidding wars. I got into one with my cousin's husband one year over a poster-sized photo of my grandparents on their wedding day. It was also my grandmother's 16th birthday. Not only did I want the picture, but they weren't even HIS grandparents! (I mean the guy I was bidding against.) I finally won the picture for $205, and Hubby was goading me the whole time. He is almost ... not quite, but almost ... as competitive as I am. I kept the picture hanging on my wall for several years, then I donated it back to be auctioned off again. I'll try to take photos of some of the more interesting objects at this year's auction and report on how much they brought at the auction.
We also have a "store" for smaller items. This past school year I usually bought something from the Book Man when he left samples at our school, and I accumulated several items for the family store throughout the course of the year: a thinga-ma-jiggie you blow up balloons with (either water or air, but not helium), some solar yard lights, a pink "girlie" tool kit, a book with things to make from a single yard of fabric, a manicure set. I also went on that scarf crocheting binge back at Christmas, so I have several of those. I don't know if they'll go in the store or the auction.
I'm excited about the NashBash this year because it's being held at the same wonderful location as last year, the place where I became enamored of a house on the marsh and almost, almost bought it. The bad news is the marsh house is STILL for sale, and they've dropped the price. But I've retired. So I don't think I'll be tempted. (Sorry, Sweet Girl.)
Lots going on in the next week. Thanks for stopping by. I cherish my readers!
The pattern called for about 12 more rows, but it also called for a much thinner yarn. At Christmas I made one for Sweet Girl in different shades of blue, and I stubbornly stuck to the pattern. It is approximately the size of Connecticut, so I didn't mind at all stopping this one before it got ungainly.
It's a little bigger than a lap blanket, but not big enough for a bed. Oh, and it's square, so it probably wouldn't work on a bed anyway.
I made this one specifically for the auction at NashBash this year. If you haven't been around very long, NashBash is the name of our family reunion. (My mother's maiden name was Nash.) We used to have a newsletter...NashTrash. And we took up donations...NashCash.
Now we have an auction and a store. People make items for the auction and/or the store, and the proceeds help fund NashBash the following year. Sometimes we get into hilarious bidding wars. I got into one with my cousin's husband one year over a poster-sized photo of my grandparents on their wedding day. It was also my grandmother's 16th birthday. Not only did I want the picture, but they weren't even HIS grandparents! (I mean the guy I was bidding against.) I finally won the picture for $205, and Hubby was goading me the whole time. He is almost ... not quite, but almost ... as competitive as I am. I kept the picture hanging on my wall for several years, then I donated it back to be auctioned off again. I'll try to take photos of some of the more interesting objects at this year's auction and report on how much they brought at the auction.
We also have a "store" for smaller items. This past school year I usually bought something from the Book Man when he left samples at our school, and I accumulated several items for the family store throughout the course of the year: a thinga-ma-jiggie you blow up balloons with (either water or air, but not helium), some solar yard lights, a pink "girlie" tool kit, a book with things to make from a single yard of fabric, a manicure set. I also went on that scarf crocheting binge back at Christmas, so I have several of those. I don't know if they'll go in the store or the auction.
I'm excited about the NashBash this year because it's being held at the same wonderful location as last year, the place where I became enamored of a house on the marsh and almost, almost bought it. The bad news is the marsh house is STILL for sale, and they've dropped the price. But I've retired. So I don't think I'll be tempted. (Sorry, Sweet Girl.)
Lots going on in the next week. Thanks for stopping by. I cherish my readers!
Monday, July 11, 2011
Risky Business......
I am considering .... meaning I'm going to jump in with both feet the very instant the realtor woman calls back .... a risky venture.
I've always been a risk-taker, but usually only when it involved the chance of bodily harm: jumping out of airplanes, climbing on the roof, standing up in roller coasters, riding a motorcycle.
We have an opportunity to buy a house in another state. We're not moving, though. This house is part of a rental community, and the house is basically an investment. It can also be a vacation home. It is in the community where we had our family reunion last month, and my (favorite .... shhhh....) cousin lives in the cottage next door.
It is a four bedroom "cottage," and each bedroom has its own bath. It isn't on the beach, but it's on the marsh, in a very quiet area. People probably don't go there for a rip-roaring good time. It's more the kind of place you go just to get away from everything and relax. Hubby would pull his hair out there, if he had any hair. We'll have to make sure he has television if/when we go there. It is only about 30 miles from Hilton Head, so a rip-roaring good time isn't far away, if that's your thing.
Hubby is a very ..... let's just say "cautious" .... man. He has lived in the same house since 1973, for heaven's sake. 1973!!!!! He has retired, I am planning to retire next year, and the thought of taking on a mortgage at this stage in our lives makes him nervous. Actually, it makes him not want to talk about it. And it makes him want me to shut about it (I think).
It's just one of those situations that I feel in my gut if we DON'T do it, we will regret losing the opportunity. The house has been foreclosed on, and the auction company is willing to sell it for one-fourth the amount it was originally listed for. You can tell I'm excited, because I just ended a sentence with a preposition and I DON'T CARE.
The payments would be manageable (barely) even if it NEVER rented, but if it rents out more than a weekend a month, it will pay for itself. The same realtor is in charge of the entire development, and she takes care of furnishing the cottage, handling the rentals, and maintenance. Oh, and she pays the electric bill.
I think if Hubby had seen the cottage in person, he would be as excited as I am. As it is, though, he just says, "Do whatever you think best." That's not exactly a glowing endorsement. I think initially he thought I wanted to MOVE there, but I assured him that's not the case. We would we WAY too far from UGA football games and gymnastics meets.
I vacillate between being excited, being nervous, and saying "oh to hell with it."
Don't tell Hubby this, but if I HAD to, I might even consider ..... shhhhh...... continuing to teach if it meant I could have this (extra) house. But only if I had to!
I know the economy will (eventually) turn around, and the housing market will (eventually) pick back up. We could probably sell this place in five to ten years (closer to five, please oh please oh please oh please) and get twice what we are potentially going to pay for it.
I am positive there is something I'm not considering. What haven't I thought of? Please, readers, be my voice of reason. Mine took a leave of absence years ago.
I've always been a risk-taker, but usually only when it involved the chance of bodily harm: jumping out of airplanes, climbing on the roof, standing up in roller coasters, riding a motorcycle.
We have an opportunity to buy a house in another state. We're not moving, though. This house is part of a rental community, and the house is basically an investment. It can also be a vacation home. It is in the community where we had our family reunion last month, and my (favorite .... shhhh....) cousin lives in the cottage next door.
It is a four bedroom "cottage," and each bedroom has its own bath. It isn't on the beach, but it's on the marsh, in a very quiet area. People probably don't go there for a rip-roaring good time. It's more the kind of place you go just to get away from everything and relax. Hubby would pull his hair out there, if he had any hair. We'll have to make sure he has television if/when we go there. It is only about 30 miles from Hilton Head, so a rip-roaring good time isn't far away, if that's your thing.
Hubby is a very ..... let's just say "cautious" .... man. He has lived in the same house since 1973, for heaven's sake. 1973!!!!! He has retired, I am planning to retire next year, and the thought of taking on a mortgage at this stage in our lives makes him nervous. Actually, it makes him not want to talk about it. And it makes him want me to shut about it (I think).
It's just one of those situations that I feel in my gut if we DON'T do it, we will regret losing the opportunity. The house has been foreclosed on, and the auction company is willing to sell it for one-fourth the amount it was originally listed for. You can tell I'm excited, because I just ended a sentence with a preposition and I DON'T CARE.
The payments would be manageable (barely) even if it NEVER rented, but if it rents out more than a weekend a month, it will pay for itself. The same realtor is in charge of the entire development, and she takes care of furnishing the cottage, handling the rentals, and maintenance. Oh, and she pays the electric bill.
I think if Hubby had seen the cottage in person, he would be as excited as I am. As it is, though, he just says, "Do whatever you think best." That's not exactly a glowing endorsement. I think initially he thought I wanted to MOVE there, but I assured him that's not the case. We would we WAY too far from UGA football games and gymnastics meets.
I vacillate between being excited, being nervous, and saying "oh to hell with it."
Don't tell Hubby this, but if I HAD to, I might even consider ..... shhhhh...... continuing to teach if it meant I could have this (extra) house. But only if I had to!
I know the economy will (eventually) turn around, and the housing market will (eventually) pick back up. We could probably sell this place in five to ten years (closer to five, please oh please oh please oh please) and get twice what we are potentially going to pay for it.
I am positive there is something I'm not considering. What haven't I thought of? Please, readers, be my voice of reason. Mine took a leave of absence years ago.
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