Houses, Apartments, Condos, Oh My!

It’s been 1 year since my divorce was final.

As I look back on the last year, I am proud of myself for making this far on my own, emotionally and financially. It wasn’t easy but I did it. Yay me!!

Last week, I took a trip to see some houses in the new state I am looking to move to. It was a really great learning experience. My budget is on the small side for a new house so the houses in my price range were old and needed a lot of work, and renovations are not in my budget at this time.

So I got to know the area and the neighborhoods where I want to move. I found a really great realtor! I still want to move, but I need to figure out how I can afford it.

I looked into renting an apartment, but they cost too much, and they don’t allow large dogs. I would rather invest my money into my own property.

I looked into buying a condo, which were affordable to buy, but the condo fees are high and they also don’t allow large dogs.

I could rent a house with someone else, that accepts dogs. This would be affordable, 1/2 the price then renting on my own, but not an investment. This option is not out of the question because it would be temporary.

I could buy a small house. I just need to make some compromises in my must-haves to fit my budget.

A family member mentioned that if I needed money for a down payment of a house, I could take a loan out from my 401k. I called my 401k people and got the details of how that works. This is an option worth considering as well. That way I would also have the money from the sale of my house to use to fix up a house and put into savings.

So I have lots to think about and consider.

As far as my current house, I had 23 showings in 30 days. A couple of them were 2nd showings. I had 3 offers but they were all too low. I countered all of them and no one came up. My house is priced really well but I may have to lower the price a bit at some point.

I need a break from the showings and with the holidays around the corner, I am taking the house off the market so the days don’t keep going up and I can figure out the best direction to go, share a house with someone for a very low rent temporarily or buy a house, that is the question.

I also need to make some extra, supplemental income. I have a couple of ideas on how to do this and need to implement them asap.

I really wanted to start out 2017 in a new place. Lets see what I can do to make this happen!