Update 6.1.12
LONG TIME AWAY, I was having withdrawals.
Unfortunately I don’t have a whole lot of images to share with you, house related at least. I have a whole bunch from San Diego and Las Vegas… that’s not really what this is about though. I do have one:
This was how my amazing family protected my house while we went on our trip. I was working late prior to the trip, they looked at the weather and it was going to rain while we were away so they got out the ‘big-ass’ tarp and covered it up in hurricane style winds, AFTER long days of working themselves. Thank you guys! Great peace of mind for our little vaca.
So I have actually gotten more done since this picture, I had a great work day last night, finished wrapping, got a good portion done on the roof, will hopefully finish that up tonight. It was far too dark outside by the end of the day to get any images though. I will get some ASAP and post that. I also have two doors sitting in the back of the truck ready to be installed, tonight should be another great work night!
Since I don’t have much to update on with the actual build I thought I should update on some financials (not relating to the tiny house exactly, though I did recently update my budget!). Some of you who know me know the story but you may not know the conclusion, for others, here is the run down. Five years ago I got married to a ‘not-so-upstanding’ individual, 4 years ago I got divorced and have been battling BofA (formally Countrywide) on my house every since. It is actually closer to four and a half years. Ultimately the house foreclosed (which is actually a terribly good thing and has contributed a lot to my little project here, I’m SO lucky none of the short sales went through!). Anyway, I have been battling that for years and years and as of last Tuesday IT IS OVER!!!! I had a lawsuit against me from the HOA that I was able to settle on. This is a VERY condensed version of the miserable hell that that whole thing was BUT, now that it is over I have been excited to focus more on my finances again. Because of complications with that whole thing I was not able to to be as aggressive and strategic as I otherwise enjoy, financially at least. So here are some lofty goals that I feel are pretty attainable.
Oh, by the way, I found this little article through the Tiny Tack House’s facebook page (now available from my ‘helpful links’ tab). That has almost no bearing on my little plans but it is a very cool little document and can certainly help me achieve my financial goals, even if that isn’t the point.
Ok, so a new life goal based out of my struggles with BofA is to never borrow money from a banking institution ever again. I’ve been through that, I see that its very one sided, in my head it doesn’t even seem smart anymore. It did at the time, I would rather be a renter though the rest of my life than borrow money (from a bank) ever again, and we all know how much renting sucks! That being said there is nothing quite like being a home owner. This tiny house I am building won’t fit the family I want someday so I have other plans… for ‘eventually’. I’m not really a person that leaves ‘eventually’ to work itself out though, I am a planner. If I want to be a homeowner, lets say by the time I’m 35 AND without the ‘help’ of a bank that planning starts now. I’m not sure how comfy I am putting all of my financials out on the internet for the world to see, I mean I’m not opposed to letting people know the specifics of my strategy but I’m going to go ahead and let you all ask if you want to know more details. In short though I have a pretty aggressive but very feasible plan that, I think, will allow me to save $100,000 cash within the next five and a half years with still maintaining a pretty enjoyable life.
Basically by the time I am 34 I should have that much cash (I believe it’s possible for me to have more, but I am staying reasonable). Now life tends to happen and things change but this is my starting point goal. Hopefully I will meet some handsome, intelligent stranger in the meantime to start a life with and all that jazz but there is no sense on having the ‘meeting of the stranger’ be the goal… (And I have realized I use my tiny house and peoples’ reaction to it as a standard of attraction. I mean if you can’t handle this aspect of me then how the heck can you deal with the rest of my crazy self ;-). So, after this time, when I am 34ish I buy a rental property (by my experience and my guesstimate the economy will still be in the crapper by then and it is pretty reasonable to be able to buy a pretty decent rental property in Boise for 100K), either with a lot large enough to house my tiny house or a duplex. That would give me equity and additional income. I may not live in the area by that time, most likely won’t, but this property could be anywhere or it could stay in Boise, that’s not really the point (there are obviously a lot of factors that will need worked out AFTER the cash is in hand, this is just a rough outline…). Once that’s rolling along it all rolls a lot quicker. I have had in my head the design of my ‘real’ dream house. It is a strawbale/rammed earth house that I have designed, about 1,200 square feet (that will irk some other tiny housers I’m sure but hey, I’m an efficiency designer, not a magician. Pretty sure I’ll need more space for a couple kids… that house is a little more my style for the long term). This tiny house is COMPLETELY suited to my life now and for the next several years. And will make one hell of a family cabin down the line.
Anyway, rambling. I have some more stuff to get outlined more precisely on my financial plan (I was however surprised to see that the highest interest rate I could find at a bank/credit union was only at 3.01% and is my own current checking account, I was looking into 5 year CDs and everything, nothing even compared. Does anyone know of a high interest online bank by chance? or any other options?). I have plans of this dream home of mine that I am excited about that I will probably share at some point in time, I’ll go ahead and focus on this tiny house for now. It’s sure exciting to be able to plan my financials again though!
Screw you BofA!! (just had to throw that in there ;-))
BofA has been my own private purgatory for a few years now too. Here’s to $100K !!!!!!
Cheers! 😉
It’s odd to see pictures of the house in the daylight…it’s becoming an actual house now!
Congratulations on prying the monkey off your back, too. Four years is a looong time to be dealing with your past, but I’m sure you don’t need to be reminded of that.
Thank you and thank you! It feels amazing, I have waited a LONG time to get past that, damn it feels good! 🙂
Our Financials were not nearly as Hellish as yours sound…..We decided just to foreclose initially (after talking to an attorney), instead of short-selling. It only took us a year for that crap to work itself out. At least I THINK we are done with it….I guess we will see, right?
You guys were smart, I wish that is the path I would have taken, it would have been over a lot sooner. If you foreclosed they only had 90 days to file a claim against you, if that didn’t happen you are out and clear! I have some wrap I’m going to take back to you by the way, if I were to drop it by tomorrow would someone be there to take it in?
Yes, that is exactly why we foreclosed. We did not want to wait the 5 year term from short-selling. I figure in 5 years I will have enough money that would justify them suing me for it! (but not in 90 days)
You were much smarter than me! I learned that the hard way, about a year after trying to short sale it. After that things just got ridiculously complicated by the extent of the errors made on my ex’s part throughout his life… we got lost in the miserable system. My advice now to anyone if they found themselves in a similar situation would be to just foreclose and be done with it ASAP!
I like your design. I look forward to seeing it completed (although probably not as much as you are) 🙂
Thanks Dan! It has been a really fun process but you’re right, I want it done! 🙂
Never quite been trusting of banks to begin with myself. I am trying to save about that much to buy about five acres and build a small place. A not so tiny home is Ideal, not sure that I could live as a minimalist. Ideally I would like someplace that I could become self sufficient, grow my own food, generate my oen electricity etc…
That’s pretty close to my goal as well, I think its a great goal! I don’t think its a bad idea to work up to that by getting a couple rental house that can start to pay me income. I think I can get some major ground made prior to turning 40 and then I can spend the second half of my life not ‘having’ to work but ‘getting’ to work, on whatever I may be passionate about at the time! Thanks for the comment Joe!
Macy its so good to have another post, I was starting to wonder what was going on LOL
I’m currently with BofA and they are nothing but a pack of thieves and liars. Currently working on moving my checking etc to a credit union. Wish there was a way to go purely on a cash basis, but its not feasible right now.
I’m currently going through a foreclosure also. Bought a double wide in a nice little family park cuz my loan & lot rent was $650 @ month cheaper than renting. Got a divorce and husband had ran up my credit cards so had to do a bankruptcy. Called mortgage company told them wanted to reaffirm the loan, and that’s how it shows in BK paperwork. Loan company didn’t process on their end. Spent about 5 years fighting with them trying to fix thinking it would further improve my credit score. Meanwhile house value for unit plummets from $28K I paid to around $2,500 and lot rent has skyrocketed to almost $800 @ month. So noone wants to buy them, nor can you rent them for enought to cover costs and maintenance. I finally walked away in January of this year, and they foreclosed. The nice thing is, because of their ineptitude they can’t come after me for a dime.
Working now plans to have a financial future where I can do work I want to do, not have to do.
Sorry to ramble, thanks!
I have come to realize that a good portion of people have a story, I have yet to hear a positive one, about B of A. I certainly don’t blame this thing entirely on them, I mean my whole process should have been over before they even bought out Countrywide. I do have to say they are a step up from what Countrywide was if you can believe that! But they suck. They skipped processing my paperwork because ‘it slipped ‘the account managers’ mind before he went on vacation.’ So while he was out enjoying Costa Rica he was unintentionally making my life hell. There was a string of events that occurred that never should have, complicated immensely by my ex husbands debts and thus liens.
All-in-all I choose to see it as a good thing though if you can believe that. There is no better educator than the hard knocks. I was engulfed in the system for a long while, I got to see just how messed up our system is and I was given the opportunity to use that to my advantage and find ways around and figure out ways in which I can ensure my own security rather than relying on sketchy systems (which is really just common sense that gets lost in the romantic ideas of consumerism). I was so pissed at the time at that guy for not processing the paperwork but in hindsight it was a HUGE blessing. As Jason said above, I would have been on the hook for YEARS more and would probably be a pretty good candidate for them to bring a lawsuit for the default amount.
Thanks for the concern about me being MIA ;-). I’ll do a better job of announcing my vacations! It was much needed but I feel so far behind now too! I’m looking forward to a full weekend of work and lots of updated in the near future!
Have a great weekend!
Read your post and did a whole lot of nodding. I am in the planning and saving stages of my little house journey so you are an inspiration to me.
I don’t want to have a loan of any sort after my current financial entanglement so I’m with you on the save-save-save bandwagon. Good luck with your financial journey and I look forward to continuing to follow your progress.
Thank you MTM, that is very nice of you to say! I think we have very close initials as well! (MSM, just one letter off!) Thank you very much for your encouraging words and good luck with your project, I would love to follow along with you!
Girl some days it is just damn scary…..with 30 plus years difference in our ages we think so much alike…..wonder where the Starbucks is half way between us???……we could meet for coffee once every 90 days or so……oh hell no not on my budget!!!!…..we maybe when the Haul is finished and the dust settles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’ll be in Denver next month or in August, I would totally meet you there! I’m not sure if that’s half way but it’s closer 😉 I would love to try to make your open house too!
ING direct has one of the highest interest rates. you can do a savings account or a checking account now with them. although they did just affiliate with Chase…. another banking giant.
I’ve been renting from 1997 to … well, 2012, just 3 weeks ago! so glad to have my own house – debt free. Shane has always had houses / mortgages, but had to foreclose and it was a good decision for him.
Shane says turn any cash into assets, assets will be worth more than cash….
– Carrie
Assets seem to equal ‘things’ which I don’t like to keep around. The plan is to get enough cash to turn it into a more functional asset. Or I can buy seeds and bullets and get ready for the revolution! (bad joke… :))
seeds and bullets… nice. haha. I guess by assets I mean land / real estate. something that will (more likely) hold it’s value long term.
– Carrie
I totally agree, that is the ultimate plan but I will purchase them without bank involvement so I am looking for a high(er) interest, lower risk account to pad the savings in the mean time :). Ill take interest from a bank but the plan is to never pay them interest again!