I Want This House

I want a lot of things. With housing prices dropping I decided to peek at some of the ones for sale around me. There was a neighborhood built across the main street from my rental house after I bought my house. I liked the houses. They had more character than my neighborhood. I found a house for sale in that neighborhood for $103,000. It is 1,300 sq.ft., 3 bedrooms, 2 bath, the only down side is that it only has a one car garage. The builders started doing that so that they could offer lower priced homes. It originally sold for $137,000 (I bought my house for $131,000). I wonder if they would accept $100,000? I like even numbers.

It doesn't really matter though. I don't have 30% to put down for a rental house. Or 20% for a personal residence. I wonder if they still do home equity lines of credit to get out of paying PMI (private mortgage insurance). That's what I did when I bought my house and only put 10% down. Still, I could only scrape up $7,000 if I had to.

What would I do with a house? Well, that is the big question. Would I cart all of my dogs over there and drive the neighbors crazy? Probably not a good idea. Would I rent it out? Gee, I just "love" being a landlord.

If I planned to work at my job for a long time I would seriously consider buying another rental and letting a management company manage it for me. It would be a part of my long term retirement income plans. But I have to decide what my priorities are. Do I want a richer retirement later on or a modest retirement sooner? I give myself different answers depending on the day. Today I would have to say that I would choose the modest retirement sooner. So, no house for me. I'll stick to my original plan...although I reserve the right to change my mind at any time!