Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Flip Flops, Waffles, and Parking on the Beach

Home prices keep falling. The recent downgrade of the US credit rating could trigger harder and more troubling times. As I search for a home to buy, my wish-list keeps flip flopping in wants and needs. Do I stick with the original plan of buying a home large enough to have 2 roommates to generate income? Or perhaps buy a very small home and pocket the difference and buy a small RV?
My initial thoughts of having enough space for roommates also buffered the idea that I may possibly be in another relationship someday, and may want room for a family. Admittedly though, as I am 43 years old, starting a family at some time in the relatively near future does not sound appealing.
The whole thing seems crazy anyway, as the homes I can purchase either need too many repairs or will deplete my savings completely.
I have a small amount of savings that I am hoping to put on a house, and potentially not have a mortgage payment. If I can play my cards right, I might even have enough left over for a decent small-sized RV or large conversion van.
My plans start to waffle quickly when I start to add more variables to the equation. Maybe I shouldn’t pay cash for a home, and take out a loan instead? The roommates would pay the mortgage, and I would still have my savings and I could still get the RV and also have money to travel. Maybe I should look at houses further from the city and my work?  I might be able to get a less expensive home, but roommates would then be difficult to find and the commute would not be enjoyable.

This is retirement savings I am messing with. And what is my fascination with the RV lifestyle anyway?

My wife stopped working about 2 years before her death. Her disease would not allow her to work any longer.

 We used to take wonderfully long road trips in our mini-van to remote areas and camp out. The back of the mini-van was large enough for a double sized memory foam mattress. We were more comfortable sleeping in the mini-van than in most motels. A little over a year before her death, I was in the process of changing careers, and my wife expressed the wish for me to take 6 months off between jobs so we could travel the country. We could keep the house, buy a small RV, and have plenty of savings to travel. My fear kept us from fulfilling one of her last wishes in life.

My Fear.

Her Life.

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