Questions

[errantember]

So here I am, a year and one Burning Man after quitting my corporate job. In that time, I've traveled to four Burn events and Hawaii, gotten my first free and first for-pay App into the App Store, managed my money well, and I have reached my goal of coming back from Burning Man with 6 months of money in the bank.

My intention is to remain self-employed, travel more, continue reducing my expenses, and earn enough money from my own efforts to make real progress toward financial independence. One thing I learned from my mother is that it's a really good idea to have six months of money in the bank as an emergency fund. That means that I'm basically living on my emergency fund right now. I have a bunch of stuff to sell that will net me another month or two, and I also have some extraneous retirement income that I never integrated into my main 401k account that I could tap in an emergency.

The big question now is, do I continue working on only my own businesses and damn the torpedoes, or do I set a cut-off date for months-in-the-bank when I start looking for part-time work to keep me afloat longer? Having a Plan B seems like the Responsible Choice, but, as Seth Godin has observed, having Plan B often means taking Plan B instead of accomplishing one's primary goal. The worst-case scenario would be that I no longer have enough money to pay my mortgage, and am forced to sell my house. While I would like to keep my house, I'm already moving in a more nomadic direction, and I'm completely capable of being happy without it. The equity I would cash out would be more than enough to buy a small RV and still have enough money for another year without having to work.

I'm suffering from a small demoralization at the moment, because while I do finally have my first for-pay App in the App Store, I've made effectively nothing from it so far due to a combination of first-time-quality and non-existent marketing. Moving forward I'm going to get interested parties involved in the development process early, so I have a guaranteed number of minimum purchases when I publish. I will also be co-developing games with friends that already have established networks of followers for the same reason.

The main thing I'm getting out of Thinking Out Loud on the Internet is that what I really need to decide is at what point I need to put my house on the market. I need to still have enough money to do whatever repairs would be necessary to get the maximum amount, plus enough to pay the mortgage until the sale. It looks like it's time to start researching how long it takes to houses to sell in my neighborhood, and keep an eye on that number. It would also be good to start any longer-term repairs and upgrades. It's important to realize, though, that with my roommates covering most of the cost of my house at the moment, even moving into an RV will mean an *increase* in my monthly living expenses, not a decrease. However, it would greatly improve my ability to focus as I would no longer have the substantial work and stress of being a landlord hanging over my head. Another option instead of selling the house would be renting it out, which would allow me to continue to build equity and have a back-up place to stay in an emergency. I might even make it part of the rental plan that the RV remains at the house, while the new residents live inside.

Comments

[gailmom.livejournal.com]

Just keep in mind that at the moment housing markets are flat. Several homes in my neighborhood (a good one that *usually* has a high turnover) have been on the market for going on several years now. In other words don't get to a point where you *count* on selling it, because you might get lucky, but odds are against you there.

Also, just about every realtor everywhere will tell you that your town is special and not subject to the same housing market fluctuations the rest of the country is suffering. don't believe it.

Congrats on meeting your goals so far, and good luck as you go forward, sexy person.

[errantember.livejournal.com]

The thing to do is to talk to a local realtor and find out how long houses in my neighborhood are staying on the market, and update that number every month. The market here in Austin is, in fact, actually better than a lot of other places. Making sure the house is in fixable condition is also really critical.

[goudananda.livejournal.com]

Listening to what you've said two particular points come to mind. Even if you don't mind being nomadic housing is currently a buyers market. Financially you'd do better to wait years until the market improves then sell but of course you have to manage the house in the meantime. If your roommates are dependable why not just use it as a rental property? That way you have it as a possible fall back and you're building more equity over time. You could come in and out of town and just park your vehicle in front when you're visiting.

With work and money I don't see it as an either or. I keep a job at a chiropractors office while I'm building my own practice on the side which takes time. There's no reason to completely oust one over the other. Just depends on what sort of additional work you can pick up that would help create more stability. I like adding jobs that add to whatever it is that I'm already doing. In your case I'm not sure what that is but it's whatever work would dovetail into whatever you're already doing and give you an edge.

I'm all for someone chasing dreams, just seems that it's easier to chase dreams incrementally while knowing you can still pay a mortgage on a house that's been purchased.

Again, I just don't think it has to be all or nothing. I like the diversity of multiple income sources and ways of living. Ymmv.

[errantember.livejournal.com]

I agree that having multiple income streams is the way to go. I could probably be getting positive cash flow out of the house if I rented the entire thing to a single family. An important part of my decision-making research would be to find out how much it would cost to transform it into a 100% rental property, with handyman assistance when I was out of town, and see where that puts me income-wise. Renting the house and parking my RV or trailer in the yard during the parts of the year with nice weather might well be an excellent option.


My main issue is that I don't currently have an easy way to simply Turn On The Money Spigot whenever I get low on cash. The best I could do at the moment is take a 6-12 month contract and then live off that money in between, but that would put me right back being stuck in one location and under someone else's thumb for long periods of time.

I did think of you recently because, after seeing the massive improvement in my own life after switching to a more Paleo diet, and knowing that I like to cook, I had considered the idea of doing on-site cooking like you do as a way to pull in a little extra cash. I realize there are a million reasons why it's probably a lot harder than it looks, and probably also pays less.