No posting today. Not because I’m busy – because I’m not. Mr. Sutherland is out of town and Mr. Russell is in his all-day meeting that doesn’t get out for another hour.
No, I’ve not posted because of constant online research today, trying to figure out this whole NC thing. Not the vacation – the potential moving down there.
Yesterday I found a development in Chapel Hill that had good land that we could afford, but upon crunching the numbers we realized that their builders would most likely NOT be able to build the house we want for the price we want. So no more Chapel Hill development.
Then I got an email from KF, who we are having lunch with while in NC in a couple weeks, saying that a couple areas near her were recently mentioned as being GREAT pre-boom areas for real estate. And that’s what Denis needs – an area that we can afford that will eventually be a hotbed of real estate activity so that he does well with his job.
When talking about it last night, I said, “You want Manassas.” And it’s true. Ten years ago Manassas, VA was very rednecky, very country. Today? Huge homes selling for tons of money and total suburbia. That’s what Denis wants/needs. According to KF, there are definitely towns on their way to that goal. We’ll be seeing them when we go in a couple weeks.
But then the other problem is my ability to support the family once we move down there, while Denis gets his RE business going. I know I won’t be able to make my current salary down there, but I need more than $10/hr. since I’ll be paying for a mortgage AND childcare.
I think at this point we need to put the “custom home” idea to the side and think about buying a house worth the exact same amount as the profit we make on selling our house in NJ, maybe just a tad more. Have next to NO mortgage payment. Buy a plot of land and just pay it off each month. Then after a few years, if the property has appreciated and Denis’ business has taken off, see about selling the house and using THAT money towards building a house on the land we’ve already bought. That way we can afford that drastic paycut, still have a nicer/newer house, can get rid of some debt and maybe eventually enable me to quit working once Denis is firmly embedded in RE.
*sigh* That’s what I’ve been working on all day.