A lot going on right now, I'm writing to just organize my life.
On the property side of life...
BB has returned from California. The job remodeling ended up being way bigger than we anticipated. New paint, flooring went down in every room, the heating was replaced, new faucets, light fixtures and then cleaning every surface.
I have not yet organized the receipts to get an idea of the cost of this trip. Including airfare, car rental, food, I am guessing in the $7-9k range.
BB and our friend spent about 8 days working on the condo getting it ready to list. They had 2 full days to play. They enjoyed the Haight Ashbury area of San Francisco but really loved the Redwood forest.
So the property went on the market a few days ago. Yesterday there was an open house and I am told 9 couples came out to view it.
I've got a few more papers to sign, send back and then that place will be off my priority list and fully in the Realtors hands.
Rentals...
We close on the Chocolate house Monday. The lawyer found a problem with the title and the bank needed a few days to get that cleared up.
BB has lined up a few contractors to make repairs, updates next week and we are hoping it will be ready to rent by the end of the week.
Renters move into the upstairs unit of my other rental in February. January was a tough month to go without renters, but I have learned to show the units after they are vacant. Showing while the old renters are still occupying the unit hoping for a seamless transition does not work for me. The unit is generally filled with dirt, chaos and does not show very well. So I wait till the old renters move out, clean it up and show it. This means a few weeks of vacancy, but saves me the hassle of giving 24 hr notice to the renter, and then showing it 10+ times. When it's vacant, it rents easily. This time I only had to show it 3x.
Personally...
When BB returned from CA his back was really in pain. We went to FL to see his back Dr to get injections to reduce swelling. BB is feeling better now. But he still cant do much around the house.
We are waiting on Cobra paperwork to fill out for his health insurance. I think the old insurance ran out in early Jan, and we need Cobra to cover these injections. On Monday, BB will call to see where the paperwork is.
I ran the numbers last night to get a sense of our 2012 income verses 2011 income (when BB was employed). We are short about $2400.00/month even if we count the full $3k of new rental income.
There are a lot of variables that changed besides losing BB salary. He recieved bonuses a lot which averaged to about $1k a month. Our health care was free. His employer matched 10% retirement contributions.
We were collecting rent from the CA property as well. The property that is now up for sale.
But on the flip side...selling the CA property...I plan to pay off my primary house mortgage, HELOC and CC bills, reducing my expenses about $2k a month.
And once those are paid off, I want to refinance our mortgage on our first house from a 5.5% rate to maybe a 4% or whatever I can get. That will reduce the mortgage by maybe $100.
So although we are losing a significant income with BB job loss, we can still pay our fixed monthly expenses. I am anxious to get everything settled so we can get a feel for our new financial normal.
New Financial Normal
January 22nd, 2012 at 11:29 am
January 22nd, 2012 at 04:07 pm 1327248433
Hope BB's back gets to feeling better.
January 22nd, 2012 at 06:27 pm 1327256867
January 22nd, 2012 at 08:25 pm 1327263942
Jerry
January 22nd, 2012 at 11:32 pm 1327275153
March 28th, 2019 at 04:16 pm 1553789802
April 2nd, 2019 at 09:40 pm 1554241226
April 2nd, 2019 at 09:42 pm 1554241322