How I Feel This Week

I am patiently (or maybe not so patiently) waiting for news on the house I am trying to buy. Short Sales are anything but short. I checked the listings and noticed that most of the trashed houses in the area I have been looking at have disappeared. I think they went to auction because I did see some notices that they were headed that way. A few that are left have been priced extremely low and require cash only to get them sold fast. Then, most of the good homes in the $70-80k range are under contract. That leaves a few over-priced homes that no one wants (like the cockroach house). I wonder if this has something to do with the banks wanting to get the houses off their books before the end of the year. I have heard that a new wave of foreclosed houses are coming on the market next year. It will be interesting to see what happens.

In the meantime, I am getting restless. I am dreaming of low cost ways to build something functional on my property in case my house doesn't come through. Since I can't seem to get financing for a building project, I have been eyeing my 401k.

Poor little 401K. It looks so scared. My latest idea is to get the local garage building company to build me a 24'x28' guest house. They will build the shell with shingled roof, paint, door, window, and concrete foundation for $20,000. Then, once I have a permanent building to build on to, I will hire the block wall company to build me a nice 40'x50' snake proof block wall for $6-10K. That means I need around $30k for the basic structure and wall. Then I would have to bring electricity over and hook up a water system and connect a drain to the existing septic system.

I looked at my two 401k accounts and I can only get a loan from one of them for $15k. The garage company website mentions financing but I haven't talked to them yet.

Anyway, that's what I am thinking about this week. I can't do anything until I hear about the house because that would mess up my current mortgage application so I will just continue to day dream of practical, structurally sound living quarters with running water and a block wall. Maybe someday...