WWYD - Move or repair?

[frugalmamatx]

First off please don't Quote as I'll probably delete later. 

 

 

I was expecting a large check from some oil royalties. Today I received notice that due to a judges decision, it'll only be about 1/3 of what I thought. The plan was to buy a house that's for sale up the street {$110K} and sell my current house to one of those we buy ugly houses places. My current house needs a LOT of work - complete new roof, windows replaced, some drywall replaced and it has some major plumbing issues that are a huge pain. And possibly foundation issues as well. The layout is horrid, and the rooms are tiny. With the larger amount I would have been able to buy the new house free and clear and then use the money from the sale of my current house to live off of for a while. 

 

The new smaller amount isn't enough to buy the house up the street {and we'd like to stay here as we have good friends}. I don't think it's enough with the amount from this house either, but I'm not sure {I may be under valuing my current house, tbh - the housing market has shifted a lot}. If it were enough, it'd put us flat broke which I do NOT want to do. Getting a mortgage isn't an option to cover the gap.

 

As best I can see, my options are to 

 

1. Fix my current house, doing the bare minimum to retain as much of the money in cash. I'd get a proper house inspection done first to see if this is viable or if it's really just too bad to repair with my budget. 

 

2. Sell current house and put everything into the new house, understanding that it'll mean we're flat broke. I'm self employed, so that'll mean increasing work hours to cover the larger bills from the new house {I expect both property tax and electric to double, probably water as well}. 

 

3. Do an actual makeover of my current house and fixing all the major issues at once. This would probably use all or nearly of the money. 

 

4. Something else {I'm open to any ideas!}

 

WWYD? I really have no clue which option to choose, tbh. 

[amy g.]

I sold my dad’s house to an ugly house type investor. It was the best decision at the time, but he had another closing 5 minutes later and made a tidy profit, so I could have made more by just marketing it.

 

New owners took it down to the studs and have now made it beautiful. They probably wouldn’t have bought it if I had done cosmetic repairs and then put a higher price on it.

 

I don’t have advice, because I see advantages to each option.

[almondbutterandjelly]

If it were me, I'd stay in the house I owned and fix it as I was able.  Flat broke is not okay.  I would prioritize repairs and remodeling and do them as I was able, while keeping me in a reasonable financial state.

[rebbyribs]

It seems like more complete numbers would help make the decision easier, so getting estimates and appraisals would be a good next step.

 

I would shy away from option #2 if it really does mean you'll be flat broke with larger monthly bills to cover - it just sounds like a precarious position to be in if something goes wrong.

 

I'd probably lean towards using the money to fix a couple of the most pressing issues with your current house while keeping some in savings for an emergency.  If you can pick up extra work, you can use that money to keep working away at the list of repairs.  

[SparklyUnicorn]

Both sound daunting!

 

So I'd take a nap.  :laugh:

[Carol in Cal.]

I would take a middle path.

I'd see if I could get the roof patched up inexpensively rather than replaced, and then live with the current house for a while.

During that time I would try the increased hours to see whether I could stand living that way or not.  I'd save HARD. 

I'd let the house up the street go, but keep an eye out for another good place to move to.

[frugalmamatx]

I would take a middle path.

I'd see if I could get the roof patched up inexpensively rather than replaced, and then live with the current house for a while.

During that time I would try the increased hours to see whether I could stand living that way or not.  I'd save HARD. 

I'd let the house up the street go, but keep an eye out for another good place to move to.

 

A patch job isn't an option, unfortunately. We had a hail storm 2 years ago that damaged it pretty badly. I wasn't able to afford to re-roof then when I should have, so now it's going to have to be a complete replacement and new sheathing due to water damage. 

 

 

My worry is if I let the house up the street go - there may not be another one available. That's the first house I've seen for sale on our street in 5 years. We're in a good pocket of the neighborhood and I'd like to stay close. 

 

 

I noticed upon looking today that there have been multiple offers on the house up the street and each one fell through. It's been on the market nearly 5 months, and homes sell much faster around here tbh. I'm thinking it may have something wrong with it and won't pass a mortgage inspection. It's possible if that's the case that I could offer less, with it being a cash offer. I might put a call in to my realtor friend and see if he can learn why the offers fell through. 

[Rachel]

If you definitely want to stay on your street and your current house is less than ideal, I’d try to make it work to get the new place somehow. If you have almost enough cash to buy it outright could you get a small loan on the new place? Put down whatever the oil money amount is and in the meantime try to sell your current house with a realtor. You will probably get more than the place advertising that they sell houses.

 

As for the hail damage on the current house, will insurance cover it? Could you reshingle it yourself with the help of neighbors?

 

We were quoted $2k- $3k to reroof our old house, we did it ourself for $500. It was a small house with a fairly flat roof so it was easy. My inlaws helped my husband and it took a couple of long days to tear off all the old shingles, replace a couple facets and then nail down new shingles.

[lmrich]

Get the estimates.

In the meantime...

Put it on the market and see what happens - you never know.