It feels like fall is starting to make her appearance. The temps have dropped off over the last couple of days and we have been able to sleep with the windows open. I was actually cold last night.
The moon was brilliant last night, almost like the sun. We went outside and talked under the light of the full moon. We are seriously unsure about what kind of decision to make regarding where to live. Deciding to buy our first home was such an easy decision. This time around is a lot harder.
TVA is supposed to make the decision in June about whether or not they will fully fund Bellefonte. We really want to be in a house soon... but in some ways it seems like the best decision would be to stay in a camper. But June is 10 months away and I don't know if we can do the camper thing for that long.
Living in a 170-sf camper has taught us that you really don't need a lot of stuff to be content – we only have 1/10 of our belongings with us and I don't miss the rest. The first night in the camper I thought that I would never be able to sleep because the night sounds were so loud – now I can't imagine a night without the night sounds. Camper living requires patience and flexibility. It is not the easiest thing we have done but I don't think it is the hardest either.
I guess we could always rent a house... but that feels like we would be throwing money away. If we bought, we would at least be building equity and interest rates are so low right now, it seems silly not to buy.
You could buy a modest "starter" home with the intention of selling when you find out TVA's decision in June.
ReplyDeleteBuying a smaller starter home is where our head's have been - we could either sell or hang onto a cheaper home as rental property.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest issue is the "where" - if we buy in Chattanooga {the best place to resell or own a rental}, Daniel will have to drive 1+ hours EACH WAY to work. If we buy something close to his plant, we could get stuck with it because it is a rural location and we could potentially be competing with all the other employees to sell our house if they decide to close the plant...
What about Lookout Valley? There are some new subdivisions in there. One is Elder Mountain.
ReplyDeleteWe like the distance of Lookout Valley to Bellefonte, but haven't found a house we like there. Houses on Elder Mountain are a bit high in the event that we decide to move to Alabama in a year.
ReplyDeleteYour plan was 2-3 months in the camper, which would put you to the end of October. Renting for 8 months wouldn't be bad at all....and not throwing away money a bit if you are unsure about the outcome with the plant where Daniel works.
ReplyDeleteH. Holland
we are not necessarily opposed to renting, but we would have to rent a fairly large home to accommodate all of our stuff.
ReplyDeleteour stuff has been in storage now for almost 1.5 months and it will take 2 weeks to get it delivered. storage is only free for 3 months, so that means we have to be deciding what we want right now.
buying a house takes 30 days and if we rent, we would expect at least some delay. we looked at a few rentals earlier on and they were not places I would want to live. renting a larger home can be expensive plus we like the idea of having an investment property.
there are a lot of ideas on the table, we just have to start making some serious decisions about which direction we want to go.
thank you all for your input :)