# What to do with the house...



## Sammy64 (Oct 28, 2013)

I am now happily divorced from my XW, and the Kid ( D10 ) seems to be in a good spot in life with what has happened to our family and she seems to understand why now. My question is what to do now with the house. 

In Texass ( Yes, extra S ), if you owned the asset ( Any asset ) before the marriage, you leave the marriage with that asset, well I bought the house 19 days before we got married and after the divorce I keep the house. I did offer it to XW and she said no, to many memories and did not want to keep it so I did. Well now a yr. and a half after they moved out I am still in the house, and now I understand about the memories, there not bad but there.

Beening a Vet, I got a really good deal on the house, had it refinanced about two yrs. ago to free up my VA loan. 
I don’t know what to do and would like some advice on what I should do. I can sell the house and pay off all the debt, both community and personal with extra left, I can stay in the house and keep paying the debt off or rent it out and go do my thing I guess (Whatever it is, still not sure) I just know down inside I am confused on what I should do. 

My daughter is ok with the selling of the house she grew up in, at first she was a little unsure, now she is all excited to go looking for a new home, being an apartment or house ( Don’t think I will buy a house again in texass ).

I’m just not sure what the right thing is, and I know I will get a lot of different options on this, and that is what I am looking for.


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## badsanta (Oct 13, 2014)

You are actually in a great position to put your house on the market because you are NOT desperate and do not mind to continue living in the house if it does not sell. 

Put it on the market for a price that you would be happy to sell and then see what happens. You may get an offer and can move onto better things, or you may realize that your market is still down and that you are best to stay put until things recover. 

In the meantime, it never hurts to keep all the maintenance up on your home. Odds are you have about $2500 to $5000 in repainting, repairs, general upkeep, and a few odds and ends such as replacing the overgrown landscaping with something that makes your home look new again. These are things you should do even if you plan on staying in your home as it improves the overall value of your neighborhood.

Good luck!
Badsanta

PS: Repainting will help the home feel new and move past old memories.


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## Sammy64 (Oct 28, 2013)

Agree, and the housing market where i am is up right now, The real estate agent said that there is only 3 or so weeks of inventory so that would drive the cost up to almost $ 92 a Sqft. 

I have kept my house up for the most part, there is one wall i would like to finish, but would sell anyways if i never tuched it again.

in the back of my mind, i think that if i wait, then the house would go down in selling price, if i waited to long to make up my mind on the sale, and i might now be able to cover all the debt if that happens..


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## tech-novelist (May 15, 2014)

I'd sell. I believe this is another housing bubble like the one that crashed in 2008, maybe even bigger.


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## EleGirl (Dec 3, 2011)

I guess if you sell, you could pay off all the debt. Then reuse your VA loan to get into another home with very little down.

If you sell in a bubble, then if you rebuy you are buying in a bubble. So that can change the benefit of selling... except that you can get rid of all that debt.

Or you could do enough remodeling of your existing home to help get rid of the memories.


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## Sammy64 (Oct 28, 2013)

Thank you EleGirl, i am going to sell the house, get an apartment and live life.. Wait a few months maybe and start thinking about buying a house again.


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## Constable Odo (Feb 14, 2015)

Financially, this is a difficult question to answer. There are a lot of variables and things we do not know.

You have to live somewhere. Rent is not deductible. Paying rent is simply building someone else's equity.

In my section of the woods, renting is almost as expensive as owning. For example, renting a 2 bedroom apartment in a decent area will easily cost you $1200+ per month.

The mortgage on my house is < $1500, taxes included. When you factor in I'm easily in a 50% tax bracket (federal/state), I'm able to reduce my income by a sizable amount, which I see directly as a benefit in my taxes, by owning a house.

All of this is dependent naturally on where you live, and I do not know your market. However, if you can "downsize" by selling your place, and then buy a smaller place with some of the proceeds after paying off all your other debt, this may be the best of both worlds for you.

And, finally, thank you for your service to our great nation.


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## Sammy64 (Oct 28, 2013)

I pay such a low rate now, even after i refi it a few yrs. ago to pull my VA loan out so she could not touch it, But at 3.4% there is not a lot of tax write off for it. I think last yr. i paid 3k and when i did the taxes this yr. it did nothing to my taxes. Right now, i pay $717 including tax and INS, a 1 bed room here in my area is about $850 and a 2 bed room is around $1300. My D only stays 2 nights a month (Her Choice as i will not force her to do something she don’t want to) so a 2 bed room is out of the question RIGHT NOW. Yes i will buy another house, not sure here in Texass.

Thank you...


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## Constable Odo (Feb 14, 2015)

Sammy64 said:


> I pay such a low rate now, even after i refi it a few yrs. ago to pull my VA loan out so she could not touch it, But at 3.4% there is not a lot of tax write off for it. I think last yr. i paid 3k and when i did the taxes this yr. it did nothing to my taxes. Right now, i pay $717 including tax and INS, a 1 bed room here in my area is about $850 and a 2 bed room is around $1300. My D only stays 2 nights a month (Her Choice as i will not force her to do something she don’t want to) so a 2 bed room is out of the question RIGHT NOW. Yes i will buy another house, not sure here in Texass.


Okay. A little more to work with, but still some variables.

The insurance is not deductible. The taxes are. As is the interest. So, depending on where you are in the mortgage, you may not have a lot of interest to write off. Of that $717 you are paying, $100 may be insurance, $100 may be taxes, $500 may be principal, and $17 may be interest, which means you'd only see a $117/mo, or about $1500 tax write-off.

Only you really know how much you're dealing with there.

However, unless you're going to run in to some major repair bills in the near future, it would still likely be advisable to stay where you are. You would be looking at paying an additional $1500/year ($~130/mo x 12 mo) plus lose the deduction of the property taxes and interest.

I guess if $1500+ is worth it to you to escape from the "memories", then by all means, go ahead. Me? I'd just make new memories.


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