advice sought

scaryguyoy · #1 10/01/06, 09:26 PM

I need another viewpoint on our situation than the people that we are normally associated with . You know, friends and family and coworkers who have no desire to live out in the country.So perhaps i can get some advice here.Here goes it could be long and hard to follow.1998 we bought a house in the city for a low price,year 2000 we paid it off .At that time my wife received a settlement due to her fathers accidental death.She had been looking for a homestead/farm for yrs,but everything we could afford was to far away.But with this new money we were able to buy a place about an hour from my work.Due to the fact that the company i work for has moved into a better and more profitable area that drive has increased to almost 1 and a half hours drive.The farm is beautiful but it is a long drive in to work,i wanted my wifes money to be used for something that would fulfill her dreams so i was glad to purchase this place .we kept the city home just in case.so no mortgage on the city home ,but a decent sized mortgage on the farm with a large downpayment.eventually the stress of the drive and farm work began to wear our marriage down ,not to mention the mortgage was tougher to make than we thought it would be.Wear and tear on the vehicles caught up with us ,everything that you have probable all dealt with,so we decided to sell the farm and move back to the city. So we put the farm up for sale around 18 months ago ,we lowered the price a few times and finally had a buyer ,well that buyer fell thru.Now we have the place on the market at a price that is around a breakeven point.It doesnt seem like we will be able to sell it this winter with the market being what is for real estate.So i just dont know which way to turn,should i sell the farm at a loss or sell the city home.If i sell the city home then i feel like i am selling away a safe decent house just to get a time out from the farm debt.quitting the job is not an option i have worked there almost 20 yrs.Man i sound like a whiner when i reread this.Im gonna post it anway just to see if i get any good advice
Frank

agmantoo · #2 10/01/06, 09:37 PM

The farm is what got you into the situation that you want rid of. Selling the farm will correct this. I do not understand why you are having a problem disposing of the farm. Did you pay too much for it initially or are you pricing it too high? If not , get a better realtor and do some advertising.

Cheryl in SD · #3 10/01/06, 10:47 PM

Who lives in your city home? Anyone? Can you rent one or the other for enough or close to enough to make that mortgage payment for now? Have you thought of putting both on the market, and purchasing a small farm closer to where you work?

Just a couple questions.

Shepherd · #4 10/01/06, 10:48 PM

Question - on your house in the city, have you been renting it? If not, I'd highly recommend it. It won't make your driving situation any better, but it certainly would alleviate a lot of the financial burden.

#5 10/01/06, 11:53 PM

Others have already posted what I was thinking..what have you been doing with your city place? I guess it all boils down to where you BOTH really wish to end up in the long term..city or country..land certainly isn't going to suddenly become any less expensive over time. I sure know what I would do..LOL..I'd sell that city place OR rent it out, and apply the funds to bring down the mortgage payments on my farm.

Then I'd look at anything else that I could tighten up on in order to see if I could make an extra payment here and there to get the farm mortgage paid off sooner rather than later. In other words, I'd concentrate ALL of my efforts on the goal of making that farm debt-free. Long-term, I'd be looking at what I might do with my farm to bring those city folks out there with their cash in hand..a corn maze, an apple orchard where folks could pick apples and buy cider from me.."come and buy the best smoked sausage for miles around"..whatever I could dream up as a money maker..hay rides, a blueberry farm..you get the idea.

Once I had my own land, I'd be darned if I'd give it up for anything..I'd die before I'd move back to a city..but that's me..to each his own.

MaryNY · #6 10/02/06, 05:10 AM

My first thought was a little different . . . why not get rid of both of them and get a farm or smaller farm closer to your work? As someone suggested, list the farm on the real estate section of the barter board here on HT, and I believe there is somewhere to list it on the Backwoods Home Forum, and there may well be somewhere on The Mother Earth News Forum. List it in places folks who want a "farm" will be looking. Also, are you trying to sell it yourselves? If so, get a realtor . . . and, get a lawyer!

If you can get rid of the farm before winter and move into the city house, you can spend the winter and spring hunting for a small "farmette" closer to your work, and maybe put the city house on the market in the spring, sell it, buy the farmette, and be closer to your work and back out in the country by next summer.

Or - and this just occurred to me - really work hard to sell the farm, rent the city house (as others have suggested) and start looking for the "farmette" closer to your work and move there as soon as you can sell the farm -- and still have the rental income from the city house, and the back up possibility of being able to move back into the city house if something unexpected happens.

A slightly different take on the situation.

Good luck!

MaryNY

kitaye · #7 10/02/06, 05:20 AM

Why don't you stay in the city house during the week but come back to the farm on the weekends. That way you keep the dream alive while crimping some of the out of control costs of living so far away.

**Terri** · #8 10/02/06, 06:17 AM

The commute CAN be a problem, many people have had this trouble.

You know, I really LIKE the idea of having a weekend place. Yes, you might have critters but you would have had to sell them regardless if you moved back to town. You could both live in town during the week and at the farm weekends.

So, you might make an offer on a house near work CONTINGENT on the city place selling: a half hour commute would be better than a full hour as you would have if you kept your current city house.

Working on the farm the weekends, your wife would be able to have a garden, bee hives, and keep any friends she might have made. And yes if you go with her it helps your marriage, even if all that you do is put dinner in the oven while she weeds.

Last but not least: When do you retire? Then you will not HAVE a commute!

LAstly, you are gone from home at LEAST 11 hours a day 5 days a week! Yes that certainly WILL make marriage harder! So, If you can, if it fits your time table, tell your wife that you would like to kick back with her during the week and have a bit of fun. Let her set the day, perhaps today or tomorrow? Perhaps she could rent a video (you can survive a chick flick until a happy habit is set), and make popcorn.

Love and marriage takes time, and a bit of peace! You fell in love before, and I bet you will all over again! So, have a bit of fun! You two deserve it!

michiganfarmer · #9 10/02/06, 06:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kitaye

Why don't you stay in the city house during the week but come back to the farm on the weekends. That way you keep the dream alive while crimping some of the out of control costs of living so far away.

that crossed my mind too. His wife could have the farm she wants, and he could reduce his commuting. It would be a good trade off if they diidnt mind being away from each other during the week

tweezle · #10 10/02/06, 07:03 AM

That's exactly what my grandparents did for nearly 30 years. My aunt was sick as a child and they needed out in the country (according to their doctor), so they bought an affordable farm in the next state, while my grandfather stayed in his family's business. My grandfather would drive home faithfully every weekend which was more than a 400 mile round trip. It worked well for them.

sisterpine · #11 10/02/06, 07:59 AM

perhaps the house in town would sell more easily than the farm...you could sell the house in town, refinance the farm with the additional down you got from the house in town, lower the farm payments and both stay where you are. You could bunk in town when the weather insists that is wisest and spend the rest of the time working to make your marriage more comfortable?
just my two cents. sis

Auric · #12 10/02/06, 08:22 AM

Is your city job something that you could do remotely? Many jobs can be accomplished via telecommuting now-a-days. Then you wouldn't need the city home...

Wayne02 · #13 10/02/06, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scaryguyoy

If i sell the city home then i feel like i am selling away a safe decent house just to get a time out from the farm debt.
Frank

Looking at it from an objective viewpoint, I think your above assessment is right on the money. Listen to your gut, sell the farm, fall back a bit, regroup, and plan to get back to the country on your own terms, when the time is right.

Wayne

scaryguyoy · #14 10/02/06, 05:54 PM

We currently live in the city house.We did rent the city house out when we lived at the farm.We also tried living at different houses and living at the farm on the weekends,we actually seemed to spend more money that way.also i didnt feel comfortable with my family out at the farm all by themselves.Thanks for all of the advice.Our plan is to find a closer place to my work if we are able to sell the farm and city house.I was feeling a bit overcome by it all yesterday.If anyone would like to see the place it is listed on remax .com it is located in Brookville,Indiana 47024.if you see the pics you can see why it is a hard decision to sell.we are asking 263,500 .
Frank

**Terri** · #15 10/02/06, 06:28 PM

Um, Yeah...

I was curious and I looked, but I did not see it.

Perhaps there has been a glitch? I would hate to think that they had blown the listing.......

scaryguyoy · #16 10/02/06, 06:33 PM

The agent just changed companys to remax from sibcy Cline,so go to sibcycline .com they still have it.I really dont like the remax website and when our contract runs out i will be finding another agent.
Frank

**Terri** · #17 10/02/06, 06:53 PM

I think this is it.
http://www.sibcycline.com/viewlistin...=SearchResults

A house, a pond, and 40 acres that looks like it is all in grass.

Do you sell hay? It looks like you probably could, perhaps having it cut on shares.

The extension office could probably hook you up with somebody.

Jena · #18 10/02/06, 07:56 PM

Ask the realtor what you need to do to sell the place. They generally know what you can do to make it more saleable. When I looked at the pics, the first thing that hit me is that these are old pics (no leaves on the trees). Make sure they keep updated pics so it doesn't appear like it's been sitting on the market forever.

The pics of the inside appear to be from a vacant house. Have you already moved out? If not, put pictures up that show a lived in house...something more homey. Get a better pic of the outside of the house. That pic makes it look very small and doesn't have much "curb appeal". You also need pictures of the barns. That will be important to the people who would be interested in this house. These are just thoughts off the top of my head. A good realtor should be able to give you the best advice there.

I, personally, am in sticker shock at the price and my instinct is to say you paid too much, but then I don't know your area. That is ovre $6500/acre....with no tillable land or anything. Ouch.

Jena