Talk to me of relocation and warmth and living near GRM

I am about a minute behind you Jim

If I could dump my house for close to what I owe I would be doing the same.

Wally wrote: If I could dump my house for close to what I owe I would be doing the same.

At this point I'll take a loss if I can just get out.

We're heading south too, just need to move a couple kids on down the road first - no way we can afford to move a family of 6 from one of the cheapest places to live, to someplace with real civilization(and the reflecting property values/taxes) like that. Since my job would become basically 100% virtual at that point, there'd be no cost of living increase for me. My wife works for the feds and for some crazy reason our area is in the same geographic pay scale as the gulf coast, so no raise for her either(unless she gets a higher paying job - not really an option for me in this company, and no desire to look elsewhere). The oldest boy should be heading out on his own this year, the younger one is a question still waiting to be answered, and the older of the two girls will probably not stick around long past high school.

Compounding the issue is our old house, which we now rent out(at a loss) that we're upside-down on. Hopefully in 2-years time will be down a couple kids, and have the house paid down enough to sell it, which will put us in a much better spot. We have our building we live in too, but it would be a bit of a hard sell in this town, and honestly we don't really want to get rid of it - it's paid for, taxes/insurance are cheap, it's filled with all the crap accumulated from my parents, her grandmother, sister & brother, so it would be good to keep around as a warehouse as much as anything. There's a good possibility one or both the boys would want to stay here anyway.

But damn these winters are getting miserable...

The discussions with the SO continue. I think we are resigned that if they make the offer, we'll make it work. She's pretty adamant about not cashing in the 401k until all other options are exhausted (I agree) but that would be the fallback plan. I have enough in there to cover a small project house plus repairs which would allow us to sit on the NJ property as long as it takes.

The downside to all this is if this comes through I probably wont finish the skidpad car for the skidpad challenge and will actually most likely have a fire sale on it and all the other projects (Wartburg and Colony Park) but again, much bigger fish to fry first. Just this morning I thought about the real logistics of moving the cats and dogs down, those are gonna be some long and painful drives.

It may finally be time for a road trip then Jim. how far are you from DC? I'll be there in a month.

petegossett wrote: It may finally be time for a road trip then Jim. how far are you from DC? I'll be there in a month.

2-3 hours depending on which side of DC. In a month I should know more. Ideally I'd love to take the wagon down because it's my truck and with the "buy a fixer upper house" plan I'll need a truck. But I may be better off selling it and buying a beater truck when I get there.

Anyone have experience with PODS and the like? Relo package includes a pack, load, ship, unpack team but because there will be a delay in actually moving and I'll be down there in a rental or fixer house I may pack all my tools and supplies in a POD and have it sent down so I can begin work on a house. Just wondering how fast they deliver. Might be the only way to move my midrise lift too as I don't see how they'd get it in a moving truck. That may be another item which gets sold and replaced later :( I really like that lift though.

Greg Voth wrote: http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1235-E-Minnesota-Ave-2-Deland-FL-32724/2103856389_zpid/ Here is a place in deland a friend of mine looked at that should suit your automotive needs, is fenced and has a pool. He said it looked pretty good, I did a drive by and it seemed decent in an OK area. He couldn't get an FHA loan on it due to some weirdness about it being a duplex but being classified as a triplex an the breakers need to be changed so they are looking for someone with cash or financing arranged.

You know I can't get this place out of my mind Greg...thanks for that. I know the wife will veto it but I sent it to her anyway. She likes the idea of an inlaw suite so Im trying to sell it to her as our temporary place (2-5 years) converting the lower back to a single family home. Then when she's ready to move up we have a nice rental property and keep the garages and storage for ourselves. Don't think she'll buy it but it's worth a try ;)

In reply to JThw8: I had heard that PODS were ridiculously expensive to move. If you are considering this look at ABF pack and ship service.

TRoglodyte wrote: In reply to JThw8: I had heard that PODS were ridiculously expensive to move. If you are considering this look at ABF pack and ship service.

The company would pay for the pack and ship for the house stuff but I will need to be moving my shop stuff ahead of time. I can't see any way they are going to put a mid rise lift up into a moving truck. Small chance I might pay a friend with a 3 car trailer to take my 2 project cars down and throw the mid rise on his car trailer if I do that.

Have you considered a mobile home instead of a rental? You can get lots as big or small as you want and mobile homes ranging from free to triple wide portable mansions. You pay lot rent and suffer depreciation but I doubt it's as bad as rent on a house and you can have all the pets you want.

MrJoshua wrote: Have you considered a mobile home instead of a rental? You can get lots as big or small as you want and mobile homes ranging from free to triple wide portable mansions. You pay lot rent and suffer depreciation but I doubt it's as bad as rent on a house and you can have all the pets you want.

A) not considering a rental, out of the question, no one will rent to us with our zoo. I'll be buying, its just a question of do I buy a project for small cash with a 1-2 year plan to move up or can we get a loan to buy a longer term place while our other one is still on the market. I will stay, by myself, in the company rental while I shop but that's about the extent of it.

B) you haven't met my wife. I found the nicest "manufactured home" I've ever seen and as soon as she saw that term describing it she said No without any further information.

If it was me, I'd live in a van down by the river. I'm a simple man who for reasons I cannot explain married a Jersey girl and all that entails.

JThw8 wrote:

Greg Voth wrote: http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1235-E-Minnesota-Ave-2-Deland-FL-32724/2103856389_zpid/

You know I can't get this place out of my mind Greg...thanks for that. I know the wife will veto it but I sent it to her anyway. She likes the idea of an inlaw suite so Im trying to sell it to her as our temporary place (2-5 years) converting the lower back to a single family home. Then when she's ready to move up we have a nice rental property and keep the garages and storage for ourselves. Don't think she'll buy it but it's worth a try ;)

Notice the "adjacent 1 acre lot also for sale" part? Buy both. Live in the house until existing NJ house sells, then build dream zoo/house on adjacent lot. Rent existing house. Bonus: not having to drive far to look after rental house.

Do you still have a motorhome or did that finally sell?

Ian F wrote:

JThw8 wrote:

Greg Voth wrote: http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1235-E-Minnesota-Ave-2-Deland-FL-32724/2103856389_zpid/

You know I can't get this place out of my mind Greg...thanks for that. I know the wife will veto it but I sent it to her anyway. She likes the idea of an inlaw suite so Im trying to sell it to her as our temporary place (2-5 years) converting the lower back to a single family home. Then when she's ready to move up we have a nice rental property and keep the garages and storage for ourselves. Don't think she'll buy it but it's worth a try ;)

Notice the "adjacent 1 acre lot also for sale" part? Buy both. Live in the house until existing NJ house sells, then build dream zoo/house on adjacent lot. Rent existing house. Bonus: not having to drive far to look after rental house. Do you still have a motorhome or did that finally sell?

She's actually not 100% opposed to this place. Buying the neighboring lot could even make it a longer term solution for us. Either way when it became a rental I'd be keeping the garages and pole barn :)

Motorhome is gone and would have required more work than I cared to do to get it down to FL. And I won't get her to live in a motorhome. We haven't nailed down timelines but I expect I'll be on my own for up to 6 months preparing for her to come down. Thank god its a cheap flight back home.

In reply to JThw8:

Of course - keeping the out buildings goes without saying.

I'm leery of owning a rental. I have two co-workers who have rental properties and mostly what they do is complain about them and how much of a PITA they are to take care of because they're some distance from home.

Ian F wrote: In reply to JThw8: Of course - keeping the out buildings goes without saying. I'm leery of owning a rental. I have two co-workers who have rental properties and mostly what they do is complain about them and how much of a PITA they are to take care of because they're some distance from home.

We already have 2 in Florida that we are dealing with long distance. It's frustrating because some small stuff that is easy to fix has to be done by paying the pros but a good management company makes it easier. Unfortunately they aren't close to Orlando or I'd consider kicking someone out and living there ;)

We're pretty much resigned to the concept that the Social Security system will fail before we can retire so we are trying to have a small portfolio of rentals before that happens.

Greg Voth wrote: http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1235-E-Minnesota-Ave-2-Deland-FL-32724/2103856389_zpid/ Here is a place in deland a friend of mine looked at that should suit your automotive needs, is fenced and has a pool. He said it looked pretty good, I did a drive by and it seemed decent in an OK area. He couldn't get an FHA loan on it due to some weirdness about it being a duplex but being classified as a triplex an the breakers need to be changed so they are looking for someone with cash or financing arranged.

Is that Per Schroeder's old house? The garage looks a bit familiar.

I do what I can to help. I can send you the link to another he's looking at now. He's got an offer in but is trying to work through some snafus. It's even better except for the neighborhood.

And no, not Per's house.

In reply to JThw8:

ABF trucks have piggyback forklifts in the pack and ship side, may be able to load carlift on flatbed ?

TRoglodyte wrote: In reply to JThw8: ABF trucks have piggyback forklifts in the pack and ship side, may be able to load carlift on flatbed ?

Possibly, god they are gonna hate me if they have to move me.