Thank you so much for all the well thought out advice regarding the sale of our house. I really haven’t put much thought into it because I do know that 1) I’m not on solid ground financially YET and 2) you are right, I am pretty sure that I do not want to live in this tiny town after Princess graduates.
All your notes were really appreciated. Especially since…someday…I want to have my own home.
But moving on…
We have started receiving the bills for Sea Cadet’s hospital stay. So far, the total is right around $3,100.
So today, I come to you to ask for any advice on calling medical bills…
Has anyone had any luck negotiating the total down when you can’t pay in full right away?
I know we will be able to get him started on a payment plan.
Any other tips for when we call, rather he calls?
We are going to wait another week in hopes that they will all have arrived, and then make a plan. I don’t want him to commit to multiple payment plans that run the total payment too high for him. Any tips for how to approach these phone call are greatly appreciated!
The good news is that he has already committed to his next step after he completes his Advanced EMT schooling. He will have full insurance coverage come August! More on that down the road…
I got a call this week from our landlord of two years. He has been a fantastic landlord. The minute I have reported anything amiss, he arranges for it to be fixed. Our A/C has gone out 3 times. He’s replaced the hot water heater. He’s repaired a hole in the roof. And he’s replaced the exterior wall of the laundry room that was rotting.
He has let us paint inside and out. Let me landscape as I desired. Has said nothing about the extra car in the driveway since History Buff moved in. I couldn’t ask for a better landlord.
Are You Ready to Buy?
But he is older. And he is ready to get out of the properly management business. And he has been since we moved in here.
This week his question was, “are you ready to buy your house?”
Umm, awkward silence. As I go into panic mode that we will once again face housing issues. And we are so happy here in our small home, with our small yard.
But thank goodness, he is not looking for us to move out. But he does want to sell this home (he’s been selling off most of his homes to his renters it seems.)
Needless to say, I haven’t even thought of buying a home. I am very happy having someone else pay for all the repairs. But I am going to have to put some thought into this.
And yes, I can hear the collective gasp from the BAD community as I mention this, even through the internet.
The Emotional Side of Things
Now the thought of buying, this particular house, is rolling around in my head. Coupled with the thought of having to move again if he decides to sell and I don’t buy.
Princess, Gymnast and I have moved almost 10 times since my marriage failed 12 years ago. I do not want to move again…until I move into the home I will die in. I’m very much over moving.
Rental homes are very hard to come by here. And they are all OLD. Even this one was built in the 50s and hasn’t been updated since. So finding another house here may be really hard. And I have promised Princess we will not move (out of this area) until she graduated high school…two years from this coming May.
The Numbers Side of Things
I asked the landlord what he was looking to get for this house…$89,000. (I know he purchased it for $25,000 12ish years ago from looking at the property records.) And that seems really high to me based on location and condition of the house.
Again, built in the 50s, no updates. It’s 3 good sized bedrooms (well, 2 good sized bedrooms,) large living room (we’ve got it split in two to be a fourth bedroom and living room,) 1 1/2 baths (all original,) and a large eat in kitchen (also all original.) It’s still got a fuse box. There’s no ventilation in the full bath so the ceiling is always moldy. (We have to wipe it down with bleach every couple of weeks.) The driveway is cracking. And so on…you get the point.
So I think there’s some negotiating room…IF I thought about buying.
The bottom line is that this could be my forever home. It’s small enough for me to manage on my own when the kids leave. It’s one story which is my MUST HAVE in a forever home. And the other changes I would want made…I could do over time – add a dishwasher, add an ice maker, add a disposal and so on.
I’m not considering buying this house right now. But later on in the year…maybe. And I would love to hear the BAD communities thoughts on this.
Where should I be in my debt journey to even consider this? What other things should I take into account? What other questions would you ask?
