Hey Folks!
So, I have a question for the PF minded among us as to if this is a good idea or not. I live in a neighborhood that was a development about half an hour outside a major metropolitan area where the houses were all built in the early 2000's (2004-2006 right before things went sideways). About 3/4 of the lots in the area had houses on them when the market tanked, and the remaining 1/4 have slowly been building up as time goes on.
To put it into perspective, this is all SFH's on 1/4-1/3 an acre, usually a split or modified split with a 3 car garage and 3-5 bedrooms, 2500 square feet. Average home price is currently about 210k, and the market is pretty decent right now.
Anyway, the last few lots in my neighborhood have now all been built on except for one more which is situated directly across the street from me. I have a 7 year old son and within a block of me we have about 10 more kids 6-9 who all are friends and play in the area (at someone's house or in the yards or whatever... it's very much that 60's style "Go play I'll call you in for dinner" sort of thing).
I'd like the lot across the street to stay empty, as it's fairly centrally located and they kids run through there all the time, and play kickball and things there all the time now.
Is an empty lot at all a decent idea to purchase? I don't intend on doing anything with it other than keeping it mowed, and maybe get a bigger play system (think rainbow play system or something) for all the kids to play on.
It's not really a question of whether I can afford it, but I'll give you the rundown on numbers anyway:
Only debt is my house, I owe 230k at 4.25%, house is worth 260 conservatively.
Income is 120k salary a year, 30k stock (at current market value) per year. I currently max a 401(k), Roth IRA (backdoor), max an HSA, and have a relatively decent amount going to a 529 until it's funded to my satisfaction. I have 4 months emergency fund in liquid assets, and about 40k in brokerage.
Lot would be a 25k or so purchase.
AND SO THE QUESTIONS:
Is this a stupid idea?
Can you take out a mortgage for a property you have no intention of homesteading?
Would it make sense to pull money out of the market and drop into the property? I don't have much portfolio exposure to real estate... that could help that?
Thanks for looking/any answers I can get.
Submitted May 04, 2017 at 11:25PM by SunnyinMN http://ift.tt/2pFRaLY
