Thinking out loud.
Monday, July 21st, 2008I’m constantly thinking of ways to be thriftier, cutback, or minimize debt in order to change my family’s legacy. So far all we have as debt (besides the mortgage) is my wife’s $31K student loan ($288/month).
I’ve been considering paying it off when I get a chance but is it really worth it to do that and drain my cash stash? Before we were getting the $40 gift I was on target to possibly be able to pay the student loan off middle to end of next year.
Now since we have this opportunity it sorta changes things. I’m 75% certain we’re going to invest it on a rental property for long term income potential. The way I look at it, the $600-$800/month income from a 3 bedroom home could go towards paying off the student loan as well as provide a means to reach one of my other goals which is to retire by the age of 40.
Not fully retire, but to make it to where my wife & I will not have to work or deal with the daily stress of working if we don’t want to. Basically, my plan is to get as much rental property as I can with cash and have them pay our salary to manage them. I’ve always said my 1st rental property would be the one I’d learn from my mistakes and I feel like it has taught me a lot to bypass obstacles on the next go round.
That’s why I believe in purchasing homes with nothing but cash. Of course, I had to get started with the first property and it was a great learrning experience and has a potential to be a great purchase later on down the line once the economy corrects itself. At the same time, the $180/month profit after paying the mortgage currently isn’t worth it. The profits just sit in the business account for maintenance in case something goes wrong with the property.
Currently, I’m stuck with the dilemma of should we move into our second home or stay put? Housing prices are at a great low right now and foreclosures are all over the place ripe fo the picking. However, we proably wouldn’t be able to sell our home and I’d rather NOT pay 2 mortgages. I think we’re ready to move but then again, I love our house and neighborhood. Nice quiet well kept cul-de-sac, no housing association rules, and my kids can play in the street without me having to watch for coming cars.
I feel like if we move, then we’ll lose a lot of that. One benenfit of moving would be that the kids could be in a better school district. Another would be we really need the space as we currently have 2 bedrooms upstairs and 1 downstairs with 4 kids living in the home.
Now that I think about it… It’s a no brainer… We’re moving.
I just don’t know when.
