Quote:
Originally Posted by mistercrash
You been busy! 
You sure have the right to look back at it now and be proud sir, looks like you did real good. The place looks awesome, you should get a very good return on the investment not to mention that you can rent the place at a much higher price. From the pics I have only one suggestion, the sliding doors I saw in front of the washer/dryer. Maybe put a pair of folding doors instead so that you have access to both the washer and dryer at the same time. Or maybe you've done it already and I missed the pic.
I couldn't believe that the whole electrical system was not grounded to anything all this time. |
It does feel pretty good about the whole situation, and the wife and I are proud of what we were able to do with such little money and not a lot of time. It was either that or file bankruptcy on it. I wish it was so we could reap great benefits from it. With the market crash the mortgage is upside down by about $100K making it impossible to sell without losing even more, and the rent still does not cover the entire mortgage, but we are in a much better spot now with it rented out. It sat empty for two years while we were covering the entire monthly cost of owning it (mortgage, taxes, & insurance) in California. In 2009 it cost us nearly $50k in expenses just to keep it out of the banks hands. I worked all year just to see about 90% of my pay go right into the operating cost of that house.
We still feel fortunate compared to alot of others, watching so many walk away from their homes who are in similar situations and just can not keep up. We still have steady income and the house is now rented out for the next couple of years at least. SO we have some breathing room for now.
The one thing the wife said as we had to leave Cali and get back to work is that with all of the work I put into the house she wishes that we could live in it and enjoy the beautiful environment that we created there. There is still work to be done, but we just don't have any extra capital to put into it. We may end up retiring there is things do not change over the next 5 years or so. I was hoping to sell it and build our own house on a 5 acre lot some place quiet.