I have hesitated...

I've been absent (as far as posting goes) this past week for a number of reasons - partly because I haven't felt the greatest and partly because I have had just so much on my mind that I've found myself too exhausted in the evenings to do much of anything. I read a few blogs, leave a few comments, fix Ron something to eat, pick up a bit - and it's bedtime! The time flies so quickly in the evenings that I don't know where it goes. It doesn't help that I went to bed at 7:30 one night and 9:00 two other nights. That is unheard of for me. I'm the 11:00-midnight kind of gal. Not lately...

Here's the scoop... We got notified today that the mortgage company is starting foreclosure proceedings unless I cough up nearly the past due amount and fees, within 30 days. There's not any way short of me (or someone who loves me) winning the lottery - Power Ball or Mega Millions, take your pick - and paying what needs to be paid.

We heard from the retirement village and they have accepted us. We need quite a chunk of change for them as well, $3450 immediately to sign the contract and the rest paid when we move in. (This is for a 2 bedroom, 1 bath, with a covered carport. Decent sized rooms - all appliances; approximately 1,000 square feet. Biggest plus is that Ron's wheelchair fits through the doors - including the bathroom. For a one bedroom/one bath, approximately 750 square feet, we could rent for no entrance fee and $600 per month rent. It's much smaller and Ron's wheelchair won't fit into the bathroom. That is the major drawback for us.)

When someone moves in they have to pay an entrance fee ($3450), which covers redecorating – painting, new window treatments, new carpeting, etc. It also covers if someone wants to make a change (such as adding an ice maker to the fridge). In addition to this, the rules are residents have to pay 12 months’ worth of rent in advance. This can be substantial – in the case of this residence, the rent is $850 per month so it would be $10,200. The maintenance fees (or HOA if you prefer) are an additional $439 per month. This covers trash, water, interior and exterior maintenance (including appliance repair or replaced if needed), snow/ice removal, grass mowing, landscaping maintenance, use of the fitness center, etc. Those are just paid month-to-month. The unit is all electric and the representative told me the last resident averaged about $100 per month. Even though the HOA fees + the electricity sounds like a lot, our monthly house expenses (outside of the house payment) add up to nearly $500 (that’s appliance warranties, ADT, HOA, trash, water, yard maintenance, summer water rates, electricity, gas, etc.) per month.

For us, they would not charge us the $10,200 in advance. What they would charge is the entrance fee, plus one month rent security deposit. The entrance fee has to be paid when we sign the contract and then they’d let me pick out the carpet and paint colors and any updated window treatments I wanted. Once we were ready to move in, I’d need to pay the current month rent + plus the security deposit + the HOA fee. They would also charge us an extra $300 per month for the first 12 months ($3600) and that would then be deducted the next year off the rent. We could either not pay rent the first 4 months of our second year or deduct $300 per month for 12 months the 2nd year.

I have a couple of things in the works to sell but not sure if it will pan out or not. I can’t really put the house on the market until I get Ron out of it. He has too much clutter that he needs on a day-to-day basis. I need to clear out the stuff we just have on shelves in the storage room in the basement, donate some to charity and sell some other stuff; the basement floor needs to be painted (can’t afford carpeting), a screen needs to be put back on that blew off in a summer storm, the sink Amy’s husband started needs to be finished, and a few other things in the basement. There’s a house down the street on the market for $30,000 less than what we owe on ours and it’s been on the market over a year. We need to really spruce ours up (at the least amount of money possible) to compete with it. We thought about renting it out but the market is too down right now and there is a glut of available houses on the market for sale and for rent.

We're still plugging away and doing what has to be done. Don't hesitate to offer suggestions if you think of something that might work for us. I'm always open to suggestions and a new way to look at things is sometimes all a problem needs.

hugs... and have a great weekend! I know that I'm going to.