Last month, I wrote about how we were thinking about renting out our current house and buying a house with a basement and a big yard (for our hydroponic garden and a regular garden) in a nearby town. We’ve done a lot of thinking, discussing, and pro/con, risk/reward comparisons. We talked with my parents, who have owned something like 18 houses since the early 70s (no mortgages on all but the first two), and spent eight years as landlords. We considered our own tolerance for risk, and the fact that we both prefer simplicity in our lives. After all of this, we’ve decided to try to sell our house instead of renting it out.
So, the current plan is to spend the next few months getting our house ready to put on the market. It needs a new roof. The roof is 24 years old and has never been re-shingled. I know that it would not pass an inspection in its current state. My parents have offered to help us, and we will plan to do that when we get a warm weekend. We’ve done quite a bit to our house over the years already, but there’s still a bit of 80’s style brass remaining (light fixtures, towel rails, and a few outlet covers) which we will replace. We’re going to replace the plastic window blinds with wooden ones – Home Depot will cut them to fit the width of the windows, and then we’ll adjust the length. We used those blinds in our kitchen; they look great and are relatively inexpensive. We’re also going to do some painting, although I painted most of the interior two years ago, so we only need to do our bedroom and a bathroom.
My parents have generously offered to let us store some of our stuff in a house they bought last year (they’ll start renovating it as soon as they’re finished with the one they’re working on now, but for the next few months, we can store stuff there). So we’re going to move everything that isn’t essential for day-to-day life into that house. We’ll clear out some of our furniture, and anything else we can live without. Our house is only 1300 square feet, so anything that makes it seem bigger and more open will be helpful when we put it on the market.
Once we do all of that, we’ll put the house on the market and see what happens. If and when it sells, we’ll buy a new house in the less expensive town. We should end up with a much lower mortgage than we got on this house, since we’ll have a bigger down payment this time, and the cost of the house will be less.
If our current house doesn’t sell, we’ll just scrap the moving plan for the time being, and stay put. We like the simplicity of this new plan. Only owning one house at a time sounds good to both of us.
Sheri says
I had to re-load the page because I thought I was on the wrong blog at first! Great new look, I love it!
You’ve got a good plan all sorted our regarding housing, and I send lots of Quick-Sell Wishes your way. Hopefully your place sells easily so your little family can find a new place to live (and to grow those awesome hydroponic tomatoes, which I still am amazed that you grew IN YOUR BASEMENT!)
Are you doing all the repairs and upgrades yourselves? Be careful — don’t fall off the roof :)
Good luck! It all sounds wonderful.
Kacie says
Sounds good and responsible! Way to not have 2 simultaneous mortgages.
Are you planning on doing the roofing yourself?
Naturally Frugal says
Awesome new page frugal babe!!! I love it!
Frugal Trenches says
Sounds like a really simple, easy and relaxed plan, which is always a great one!
Love the new look, I too am considering one, any tips?
Alissa says
Frugal Babe, I love the new look of your blog!
I think that’s a great idea. It probably takes a lot of the pressure off too, considering once you get the house fixed up it’s really out of your hands whether it sells or not – sometimes it’s nice to sit back and let fate determine your course. :)
We’re thinking of selling within the next year as well, so I’ll be watching for tips on how to fix your house up inexpensively to get it ready to sell. :)
Take care!
Alissa
The Happy Rock says
We are in the same boat. We fixed up our house and it has been on the market since November. We were planning on moving states and changing jobs and buying a new house all at once, but the instability was just too much. We are going to sell and then rent a bigger space in NJ, 900sqft and with a family of 4 is cramped. Renting will allow us to pocket our equity and be primed to buy when we are completely ready.
FrugalBabe says
Thanks everyone – glad you like the new look! I had mentioned to my husband a few days ago that I was going to try to figure out how to compress my archives into a more manageable format, since they were by month and trailing a long way down my sidebar. Yesterday he mentioned that he had fixed my archives for me, and when I went to look, this is what I found! He’s a good husband :)
Sheri, we’re super excited about the idea of having a basement – those tomatoes (and the 14 bell peppers that I harvested yesterday) were grown in a very cramped crawl space with a dirt floor. Just imagine what we could do with a basement!
We are planning to do the roof ourselves, with my parents help. They have a roof ladder, which will help a lot. During college my husband worked for a roofer, so he has quite a bit of experience with this. My parents have roofed numerous houses over the years, and have experience with pretty much any home improvement project you can imagine. I’ve helped them on a few of those roof projects. But someone has to cook… maybe I’ll volunteer for that part :)
Kate says
It sounds like you’ve put together a good plan. And how lucky are you to have such handy parents (and husband!)
We have a 1200 square foot house and it has always rented easily because we take out over half the furniture. Amazing what a difference it makes.
I can’t wait to hear about your new and improved garden. You’ve inspired me to start thinking about where I could do that, especially when I’m paying a fortune for red bell peppers.
Good luck to you!
SonyaAnn says
This is by far the best web site ever! I’m so in love with the lay out. Your husband should start another business. And can I be your first client!
Emma says
If you buy a new home, you might qualify for the new stimulus tax credit up to 15K (up to tax liability over 2 years)–it used to be only for new homeowners but the senate bill so far is for anyone who buys a new house as their primary and live there for 2 or 3 years (not sure).
Mrs. Accountability says
Wow!! Your new site is gorgeous!! I’m looking into a site upgrade, and this is just so inspiring! Good luck on selling your home and finding a new place with a basement! Oh – at the bottom under “What is this place?” the answer is cut off, ends with “I’ve always been a”.
FrugalBabe says
Thanks Mrs. A! I think that the part at the bottom is supposed to be like that… it’s a snippet from my “about me” page. To see the whole thing, you have to click on the “about” tab at the top of the page.
SonyaAnn says
I think that your plan of selling your house might be the best thing for you. Here’s an article about people negotiating to lower their rent. Once again you are ahead of the curve!!!
http://blogs.moneycentral.msn.com/smartspending/archive/2009/02/10/lots-of-vacancies-in-your-area-ask-for-lower-rent.aspx
Dee says
Hi, I know this is a very old blog post. But I stumbled upon your blog only recently and I must say you are very inspiring.
We (myself and my husband) also started getting on the frugal lifestyle 5 years ago. We invested in a small house with more backyard than the living space with 15 years mortgage. WE are exploring the rental income opportunities and planning to buy few more houses (god willing) until we retire. Your parents seem quite inspirational too.
Can you do a blog post sometime about how to get started on buying rental homes, if you and your parents are comfortable sharing your experiences?
Thank you!