To be honest, I am scared out of my wits. I am not in a position to take on a mortgage, even though the ONLY way I can preserve wealth is to have tangibles, not paper. I have 11 acres of land here in Nebraska... I have a well, power and trees planted... BUT I cannot commit to building until I am working FT... There is no way the bank will go with only one income... and we figure, at 30 percent of net earnings, that $186,000 is the most we should take on. (That figure being determined by 30 year mortgage and the fact that you generally pay twice the principle in interest... so I gave us a little cushion)
Thought about buying an existing structure, but around here most houses are 40-50 years old, poorly insulated, and not up to code. Then there would be the additional costs of relocating the structure to the site of our land, no small cost there. So the only viable option is to build. Besides, if I am going to pay for a home until I am 80 years old, I damn sure want the house I like, and not some others’ “hand-me-downs” ;)