Blackmoor Vituperative

I woke up at 05:45 this morning, and like yesterday, I spent the first hour of my day trying to go back to sleep, and hating the house we will be buying.

We close on January 12. I keep hoping that something will go wrong and we can walk away from it. I hate this house. I have hated it since the day I first saw the inside of it, back in June. I hate it more every time I step inside it. So why are we buying it? Firstly, because it’s closer to where Susan works. She has been driving an hour each way to work for the past couple of years, and that just sucks. I wouldn’t do it: she should not have to. This house is something like 15 minutes from where she works. Secondly, it’s a decent deal. We are getting it for $251,000, and it appraises for $265,000. Of course, after we spend $100,000 remodeling it (and we will: it’s a nightmare), it will still only be worth $265,000, and I will still hate it, but hopefully I will hate it a little less.

But the main reason we are buying this is because we have to buy something. We have been renting for the past six years, which is just throwing money away. Even if we sink $100,000 more into remodeling this house I hate and then sell it in ten years and lose money on it (and we will: I guarantee it), we would lose even more by renting for another ten years.

If we are going to spend $350,000 on it anyway, why not buy a house that costs that much: one that I actually like? We have seen several such houses. Because there is a difference between a $251,000 mortgage and planning to spend $100,000 on remodeling, and having a $351,000 mortgage. If money gets tight, we can choose not to remodel. If we have a mortgage payment to make, we lose that option. A $351,000 mortgage would stretch our budget to the point where even the slightest disruption would put us in the red. We would be completely unprepared for even minor emergencies, much less something catastrophic. It would be irresponsible to put ourselves in that position for the next 20 or 30 years.

That’s what I have to keep telling myself.

So I wake up each morning, hating this house, and reminding myself why buying it is the sensible thing to do.