Today is a good day. Ray and I have made some big financial decisions and changes that will affect our future. We have secured a private loan on the house that is for sale in Texas, which means that we are taking it off the market. Instead, we will keep it and lease it out. Ultimately, this adds to our net worth, which is great. Also, we can control who lives there since we’ll own the house. This is important since it is right across the street from our Texas home. Also, this loan – which we were unsuccessful in securing during the recession – will go further than simply letting us keep the house. We will be able to pay off our debt related to the house restoration, as well as have enough money for a few other projects, such as putting in solar in Ojai and also creating a couple of other rentable spaces to bring in revenue. The best part is that the rent from the house should pay off the loan every month so that we have no out-of-pocket expense. We own both houses in Texas outright so this makes all of this possible.
To say that I am relieved with this turn of events would be a vast understatement. Juggling our finances through the recession became a full time preoccupation, and though I think it was good for us to look critically at where we spend needless money and eliminate those expenses, I must say the idea of not worrying every month will come as a great relief. Ray and I are both cautiously optimistic. We signed the loan papers yesterday and we are beginning to breathe sighs of relief.
The positive side of all of this money worry is that Ray and I have been completely united on dealing with this issue and this has been very good for us. Also, we’ve worked our socks off to bring in new work for both of our business, as well as creating a new business in which we both work. So, I don’t think this has been bad in terms of keeping the mind flexible and the body poised for new possibilities. On the other hand, now that those pieces are in place, it would be wonderful to let the shoulders sink back to their natural position versus tensed right up to our ears. Ah, what a concept.
Many people might look at our situation and say, “You own property in two states. How could you be feeling such a pinch?” But the truth is that Ray’s business was hard hit with the recession and with that lessening of income, we’ve had to completely reorganize. It’s true there are many people much worse off than we are even when we are struggling, but that doesn’t mean that our struggles haven’t been real for us. We have been property rich and cash poor. Not the worse situation, but remember, in a recession most people are unable to buy property. That doesn’t mean it’s worthless, but it certainly doesn’t pay the bills. Alas, I believe I’ve learned and grown from this experience, but I am ready and willing for it to now stop. I am hopeful that life will, in fact, shift to something quite positive. In other words, all of that hard work will have come to something.
Ah, bliss.
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