Cottage Countdown

savingholmes

Great news about the client paying. The lot sounds interesting too. 

LeighofMar

Yes, SH, it was needed. Of course, like a lot of people, when you get a bit behind in some things, other things start to come at you all at once. We were able to make payroll, but now the work van needs brakes. DH is hoping he didn't mess up the drums. I still need to catch up on retirement contributions. The D on my car's gauge is blinking and needs an oil change and air filter changed anyway. We can do the minor stuff. Pretty sure the blinking is just a sensor as the mechanic says the transmission is still good. MRI for DH came in,$528.00 and his recent injection procedure is estimated to be around $700.00. Yikes. The good thing is since we own our company, we have the benefit of just having the company pay his medical bills as a perk of being the owner/CEO. But since work has been slow, it's not doing us any favors right now. But he is finishing up some work today, that should pay for the brakes. Then he is checking out a job tomorrow. We also did a recent evaluation for a homeowner, poor thing, her electrician screwed her over badly. The wiring is done all wrong and she paid him $9k for that mess. DH hated to tell her that it's going to cost even more to undo everything and bring it up to code, but that's her decision and if she does decide to call us, that would be a really good project to have. I feel so bad for her though. She said she's already sunk 100K into that house and it's just not working out. You win some, you lose some. 

We checked on our lot to make sure it's not in a flood zone. Everything is looking good. We close next week. As far as funding goes, it's been a mess. The bank won't give line of credit because they feel construction is too risky. They would give me a construction loan but only if I was building for my personal home, not an investment property. And I could get a line of credit for small businesses online, but some of the rates are horrendous, 30-80% is what I saw and they still want a personal guarantee anyway. If I have to sign a personal guarantee, I might as well just get the line of credit from the equity of my house as soon as I pay it off. It's better interest, better terms, I can pay monthly and the payment will only be based on what I draw, not the whole lump sum. Seems like a better option and I am comfortable with the risk. I've already evaluated the worst-case scenario. The worst case scenario is the market falls, the house won't sell or sells for less than we wanted and now we have to pay the HELOC back as another mortgage. Once you acknowledge the worst that can happen, you are truly free. I'm sure we'll be okay. The market is good here. Inventory is in short supply and people are buying homes still even at the higher interest rates. 

Payday shuffle involved tapping the calculator multiple times to make sure I didn't forget anything. $50.00 OP to the mortgage. Balance is $14,250.00. I paid $150.00 to my GI doctor's bill, balance is $150.00 left. Paid off the Disney channel renewal $110.00 on DH's CC. House fund received $100.00. Balance is now 725.00. General savings received $100.00. Balance $7600.00. Efund is at 2740.00. Still owe about $3400.00 for my bath remodel. Whittling that down as much as I can. Our power company offers budget billing which just takes the average of what you spend per year and charges that per month instead of the fluctuating price. I finally signed up and am paying about $136.00 a month for power now which is helpful considering the absolute miserable hot temps we are having right now. The bill would be in the high 200s to high 300s if I didn't. 

Got ghosted by both buyers for the bed frame. So ridiculous. I won't die if they don't buy it, it's okay to just send a text and say they went with something else. Sheesh. I relisted it at 150.00 and am willing to go lower, I just want it gone by now but so far just the scammers automatically offering the money sight unseen and with Facebrook profiles just opened with no info whatsoever. No. 

Groceries are a whole other matter as I know a lot of you can relate. $205.00 for this last round and then we topped off with some fruit and snacks. I have $18.75 left to cover anything we need until next week when we get paid and already running so low on everything. I can't imagine how people with children and pets do this. It's just the 2 of us and I feel $500.00 a month is more than sufficient, but it's starting to stretch us thin. Time to go back to Aldi and stock up on pantry essentials to help ease the crunch a little bit. 

Oat flour lemon pound cake came out great though. 

savingholmes

Sounds like you have decent credit options if you need them. How much would you need to borrow?

LeighofMar

SH, 85-110k should do it. So nothing that would ultimately bankrupt us. 

Tahlullah.H

Well worth it!  Go for it, you will get a really good return for your money!

LeighofMar

Sadly, we were set to close on the lot and they had a title issue. Apparently, they bought it at a tax auction and they closed with that attorney but did not have a clear title that we could use to close with any attorney other than the original. To get that would take 5 months and a few thousand dollars which we were not willing to do. The last thing we want to do is build a house and then be unable to sell it unless the buyer closes with original attorney, and they may not agree to that. So we pulled out. We are currently negotiating trying to buy 2 lots from a very nice lady that are side by side. They are small but we would build small houses anyway, so it's a win for us and it's possible we could get both for about 14k. I'm keeping my fingers crossed because they're close to the fairgrounds and a new neighborhood is right across the way with nice homes valued in the high 200ks, low 300ks so those would be included in our comps. 

Finally sold my old bed frame for $100. I was happy. Buyers were happy. It was all good. 

September was supposed to be a 3-paycheck month but we ended up missing the first payroll as the work van needed the brakes and we couldn't wait anymore and clients were late with invoicing or jobs were postponed. That has set me back both business-wise and personally, but I'm trying to catch up now. We were able to add a little bit to the mid-month payroll for what we missed and I hope to eventually recoup what we need in future payrolls. Tapping the calculator, I should be able to pay off everything I had to put on my CC while we waited for our invoices to come through, don't have to touch the EF as I'll pay what was charged on the CC in full with wages. It might bring the money left over down to mere pennies, but I have the peace of mind that everything is up-to-date and I didn't have to dig into the EF. That means this Friday I will make the official mortgage payment for October and then make a $2500.00 OP out of savings as part of my original plan to aggressively get the house paid for by the end of this year. 

I had my GI medical procedure and except for mild to mod inflammation at the end, I am doing quite well with the rest being normal. I was given some booster meds to help tamp down the inflammation and they seem to be working immediately. I hope to be in remission soon. Just in time for next week's hysterectomy for the fibroids and issues that have plagued me for years. I was super nervous but now I'm excited and can't wait to get it over with. It'll be so nice not to have to worry about this anymore at 45 years old. 

Transcription on the side has been decent this month. I have an extra $100 to cash in tomorrow, a lot of it medical which was my specialty, so it's always nice keeping my skills fresh and still learning new things. 

Mr. LoM baked my Paleo mint chocolate chip cookies for me, so time to shamelessly indulge. Everything tastes better when someone else makes it 

Tahlullah.H

Such a shame about the plot, but the other 2 sound fantastic.  Congratulations and good luck that this doesn't fall through.  I cannot even conceive of being able to buy 2 plots of land for $14k.  Probably the only thing you could buy in the UK for that would be a garage in a row of garages in a vey run down part of town in a small/poor city up North.  Seriously, the opportunities you have in the USA are astounding.

Good luck with the operation next week.  Strange to be at a point where you are looking forward to a medical procedure, but sometimes, we are so relieved to not have to deal with the pain and discomfort, we cannot wait.  Hope it all goes well for you and you see a marked improvement in your overall health.

LeighofMar

Thank you so much, Tahlullah. It will be such a relief to get rid of one set of issues and hopefully be able to continue to manage my chronic illness so I can get back to some semblance of health.

Wow, I can't believe what I could buy in the UK for similar money. I will have to try not to grumble if the seller wants 20k for both lots and be appreciative of the land opportunities here 

savingholmes

£14K for two plots sounds awesome. They say that house prices in the UK reduce our standard of living like medical costs do in the US so each country has its own issues. 

Good luck for your operation and closing on the new plots.

LeighofMar

Thanks, SH. You're right, it does seem like the two countries balance each other out, just in different ways. The bills rolling in are annoying but doable in bits and pieces and I am beyond thankful that I told my doctor in August that I wanted the surgery and I am actually getting it done first week of October. I suppose the speed alone is worth the aggravating bills. 

It's 9:30 AM now so enjoying a cup of coffee and another cookie  Hope everyone has a great day today.