Need ideas

[mateosbaby]

So my husband and I are moved here to MN, living in my grandparents' basement with our 4 kids. He got a job (right away, I might add, much to our surprise!), and even though it's a pay cut (we knew that would happen), he is very happy with his new job and is enjoying it. That's all that matters.

So then we started house-hunting. And we did find one we really liked. Got the inspection done, and got really nervous. REALLY nervous. Not that there was anything major, but it felt wrong to be buying a house in general at this point. So we are pulling out of the deal.

We have changed our minds. Our ultimate dream/goal is to have some acreage (5 min.) in the woods, build our own alternative house (we are thinking shipping containers - here are some examples: Twelve amazing shipping container houses | Yahoo! Green), and get a more self-sustaining lifestyle (big garden, chickens, bees, who knows what else in the future). So we didn't feel right at all getting a house that wasn't part of this dream, especially since it would have meant a lot more debt, and a tough time selling it again in the future.

So here's where I need your ideas. We are "think outside the box" type people, so we are willing to explore just about anything (we even thought about living in a yurt for awhile there ). Our goals are to pay off that debt and save up to buy land outright (we have about $10,000 we can use right now, but it wouldn't get us a ton of land - we are looking anywhere in MN and western WI). We are also willing to buy good land with a beater house on it that we can maybe live in temporarily while we build the house we really want.

But here's the dilemma. We either have to buy something now or rent somewhere, and either way, it has to fit with hubby's job where he is now. If we buy around here, then there goes saving up to buy the land, unless we get a really junky house. If we rent around here, then we can still buy land anywhere, but again, we are losing some money to rent that could be going toward paying down debt &/or saving up for land/building. We thought about buying a duplex and renting the other half. We did look at one of those, but the yard was the oddest thing ever (it was a triangle, and the tip of it was in other people's backyards, however in the world they thought to do that lot). Because hubby needs the job right now, we can't buy somewhere else that will make us have big payments (then we'd have nowhere to live near his job, or nowhere to work near the property to make those payments). So it would have to be cheap if we do buy something now for our dream land.

Does anyone have any other ideas to make this dream a reality? We know we want to pay off those debts asap (only 3 left, but they add up to about $20,000 or so). And we just can't live in my grandparents' basement forever, either... KWIM? We must be missing a piece to this puzzle somewhere.....

TIA! Sorry this was so long, and I hope I didn't confuse anyone!

[Greebo]

Since you asked in the DR forum, I'll give you the DR answer.

1) Good call not buying the house. Buying the house would be very unwise when you have debt. Buying a house, if you don't currently have one, is step 3.5, not 1.5.

2) Not outside the box at all but you should rent for now. Rent as cheaply as possible. Pay off your car and student loan debts and get your fully funded EF in place.

THEN, and ONLY then, should you start thinking about building or buying. You would basically extend BS3 to continue saving, but once the FFEF is fully funded, you start a new fund called the 'downpayment fund'. Once you build or buy using the downpayment fund to do so, you move into BS4.

And if you can't afford to rent AND snowball that debt away in 2 years or less, then you need more income. You need a job or another job and DH needs another job.

Getting "creative" about these things leads to really creative problems. The reason the slow, tried and true methods are "tried and true" is because they WORK. Be patient - your dream house is attainable, and in a way that it really is a good dream, not a nightmare.

Buy/build your dream while you're in debt, and you'll end up getting the other kind of dream.

[Denvergirlie]

I too would consul the same thing, that is of course if you want to follow DR's plan.

As for that arguement that renting is throwing away money, I can't believe that after the housing bust we are still going thru that anyone still clings to this as a reason to buy. Yes, buying can be a "money maker" but we are able to save way more money each month that we would ever apprecaite in housing value.

You have to live somewhere, so it's not throwing away money, rent money provides a roof over your head.

That being said, we will buy a house in the future, but it will be a quality of life issue over finances.

Seeing that you have debt and have a somewhat identified plan of what you want when you do buy, then all those signs point towards renting.

[frugal is fun]

I agree. Rent for as little as possible and SAVE as much as possible. Its the only way you're going to get where you want to go.

[mateosbaby]

Thanks for your thoughts everyone. We did look into renting. Both apts and houses. But apts are too expensive for a 3 bedroom (they have a limit on how many people can occupy a 2-bedroom, and we have 6 people in our family - not to mention 2 cats with claws, a fish tank full of fish, and 2 guinea pigs). And houses are even more expensive. Literally, you may as well buy in this housing market where houses are much cheaper right now.

So we decided to buy a really cheap house, as cheap as we can go without living in a pile of crap so we don't have to fix it up too much (and there are some nice houses out there in foreclosure for not a lot of money). This way, we can get out of my grandparents' basement, still be living pretty cheaply, downsize our stuff and start getting ready to live self-sufficiently, and have plenty left over every month to knock out the debt and save up for land up north in the woods. Once we have the land, we will use it for "recreation" while we save up to start building our home or fixing up whatever is already there. I tell ya, we can get pretty creative to come up with a way to make the dream happen. And we're not trying to complicate things, just trying to think logically about what will help us get to the dream in the best and fastest way possible. We'd drop everything and move north now if it wasn't for the debt and not having enough saved up to get the land and build right now. So we'll just go one step at a time and see what happens. Where there's a will, there's a way, right?

[kita]

Have you thought about a trailer or mobile home that you can live in now and then move to the new land as the "beater house"?

[mateosbaby]

With 6 people in our family (and wanting more), plus all the pets, there's no way we'd fit in a mobile home, no matter how much we downsized our "stuff." LOL But we have thought of doing that temporarily while we build on land later on. Thanks for the idea!

As another update, we are making an offer on a house right now. Only for $122,000, so that is cool. We'll see if they take it, and it's a short sale, so we may have a wait to find out for sure if we can go ahead with it. We shall see!!!

[pinecone]

As another update, we are making an offer on a house right now. Only for $122,000, so that is cool. We'll see if they take it, and it's a short sale...

If it is a short sale, there may be liens on it. Check that you won't be liable for back taxes or anything else. Good luck with your adventure.

piney

[danni]

We have 7 people plus animals in our mobile home. There isn't alot of space but we are comfortable. So don't completely rule them out. Some of them are pretty good sizes especially if they have an addition.