I know I come up with a lot of grandiose ideas and ask a lot of questions and wind up doing nothing. I imagine some of you find that annoying (or immature, or both...) and for that I apologize.

Given skyrocketing materials costs, multiple signs of continuing (and/or worsening) inflation, the perception of the current real estate market as a "housing bubble" and the inevitable probability that it will burst, I'm thinking we might be wiser to keep what we have. Plus, of course, there's no mortgage.

I've heard that real estate is always a good investment in times of inflation. Also, there's the whole "a bird in the hand" thing.

Are there pros and cons that I'm missing? You're invited to shoot holes in my thinking.

This isn't a housing bubble. People aren't getting subprime loans. The demand is much higher than supply since new builds dropped off the last few years. There are a ton of people from liberal states moving to the South with cash. Also, if you sell and rent, rent is sky rocketing just the same. You will break even but may end up with worse than you already have.

Not likely to have a bubble, at least not anything like the great recession. There aren't bad loans on homes and there is a massive amount of cash being put down in real-estate right now. The supply demand problem is somewhat of a carry over from the recession when development financing went away and its never been able to catch up.

With all that said, if you're happy in your home and are mortgage free, why move?

I sent a note to my agent and (surprisingly) she agreed with me that we're wise to keep what we have.

I still want to build a shop, but that can wait and see what prices do in the next several months. (See my steel vs. stickbuilt thread)

Wait, you don't have a shop? Where have you been doing all your tractor rebuilding over the years? Those weren't outdoor pictures you've been posting.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
Wait, you don't have a shop? Where have you been doing all your tractor rebuilding over the years? Those weren't outdoor pictures you've been posting.

What I have is one 12x24 unheated bay of my garage. While it's more than I've ever had in my life, it's cramped and it's DAMN cold in the Winter. I've lived with it for 30 years and if need be I can live with it for the rest of my time on this dirtball, but I'd REALLY like to have a nice, warm, spacious, well-lit shop for once.

I'm keeping my house also Paul.
Kept tossing around the idea of selling since I could easily sell the house and get more than I paid for it.
4 bedrooms, basement, attached garage on 4 acres in the country. Just me and the dog but I'll keep it.

To sell or not? That is the question: IMHO, sell only if you will move somewhere cheaper. Otherwise, it may not work out.

Great time to sell, terrible time to buy/build

I'd like a new house...
With that new house smell... and that new house mortgage...
Uh.. Nevermind! I'm keeping my house also Paul.

Many of us do similar as it pertains to your first paragraph, lol. So it is good and fun too.

I can be a hard call. Always plus' and minus', Also it is fun and healthy to dream.

Take your time. You guys will figure it out and make the right decision.

Don't put too much pressure on yourself. It works the best if you and your wife both are trying to figure it out together.

Good luck buddy and keep us posted

What would it take to fix up the bay in your garage? Insulation, drywall, some LED overhead lights and away you go. We have a 12x24 cabin we heat with a propane wall mounted heater during deer season.

I, for one, enjoy your grandiose ideas. Anyone that can munge a Shibaura, Yanmar and John Deere into anything resembling a tractor is OK in my book.

Where are you going to move? If you can't answer that question, it's a pretty simple decision.

We're getting ready to sell our home in NW Montana. Demand is insane and we're about too old to take care of it. Prices have skyrocketed in the past year and we're looking at the Tucson area - specifically Saddlebrooke.

quote:

Originally posted by bigwagon:
Where are you going to move? If you can't answer that question, it's a pretty simple decision.

The plan, if we sold, was to put a new modular on my daughter's lot on the edge of the town of Ellsworth. The advantages were a single story home and closer to shopping and health care. Plus being next door to my daughter (who was a CNA for several years) in our old age and decrepitude.

Unfortunately, the disadvantages came to outweigh the advantages. It was a close call to begin with, and recent events tipped the scale in favor of staying. Rule Number One was NO MORTGAGE/LOAN and to stay within that even if we got asking price for our current home would require scaling way back on what we wanted and putting off building a garage/shop indefinitely.

Plus the hassle of surveying, subdividing, getting a clean deed to the lot, clearing, site work, building, moving, storing, moving again and living out of a suitcase for 6 months or more was just more than we were willing to face.

Friend of my dad sold his company, had a big ol house on a golf course, sold it, bought a small tract of land, put a double wide on it and a big aluminum building for his cars, tractor and bus.

Built a big ol front porch and said it was great, no cares in the world, everything paid for no big lot, taxes, lawn service etc...

Simplicity can be a good thing...

My vote is to move BIL out (of garage at least) and fix it up the way you want it. Insulate it like crazy and enjoy it.

I don't see anything wrong with your thinking.


We have a dream of moving out to the country at some point in the future (with space for a large shop, garden, MIL apartment, etc.). But I also want to make sure I don't have a mortgage to pay when I retire (still years away). Last year about this time, the properties we were interested in we just a bit too much of a stretch, so we continue to sock $ away and wait for things to stabilize a bit.

I'll go against the mainstream here and say that I believe we are in a housing bubble, just without the subprime loans.

The economy simply doesn't support housing prices at this time and I think it'll take a big drop in the near future, say within the next year or so.