One of the benefits of building a new home (and selling your current one) is the opportunity to take stock of the things you really need or want — and purge those that you don't.

I've spent the better part of the past month sifting through stuff I've accumulated during the seven years I've been in my house. It's the longest I've ever lived in one place as an adult, and the first time I've had an entire unfinished basement for storage, so you probably can imagine the sorting and purging I've had to do!

What I kept were things that had meaning and memories for me, like the German mushroom-shaped music box from my infancy, my beloved collection of Kodak Brownie cameras , and many photos, scrapbooks, and yearbooks.

And what I didn't keep? Well, early on I'd made the decision not to have a rummage sale — I just didn't have the time or energy to organize one. Instead, I had a "free sale" where I invited my friends and family members over to take what they wanted. My best friend Charlie got a wooden caddy he'd been coveting for years. My mother took back many of her own belongings. Barbara got artwork, vases, assorted paper products, and lots of books. She was thrilled to have them, and I was thrilled to give them a new and deserving home.

Everything else I didn't need or want was hauled off in three tax-deductible trips to my local Goodwill . The rest was packed into a PODS container  and shipped off to storage.

Now there's an idea I wish I'd thought of: They bring you the container, you load it up at your leisure, and then they take it off to storage and deliver it when you're ready. Genius!

Have you experienced your own great purge, maybe after moving out of the dorms at the end of the school year? Was it as cleansing for you — both physically and emotionally — as it was for me?

Posted by Staci at 11:00 AM |  Contact Staci |  Permalink  |  Comments (1)
Found in Home Ownership, Preparing, Wells Fargo Bank

Okay, technically, it's not ME that has been framed. It's my new house!

Now that the walls are up, it's starting to feel more real each day. My contractor says I can expect to be finished sometime in September, almost a month earlier than planned. That means I need to get moving on selling my existing home — good thing I watch a lot of "Designed to Sell"  on HGTV .

Although I'm optimistic that I won't have too much trouble selling my current place (fortunately, the real estate market is still pretty healthy here in the Midwest), I've started to panic about funds. That's because in my Online Banking profile, I can see all the money that I'm on the hook for: my existing mortgage, my home equity loan (which I used to buy the land), and my construction loan. Let's just say that the debt outweighs my deposits by quite a bit, not a comfortable place for me.

Gulp. I keep reminding myself that real estate is an investment.

I've also been keeping an eye on mortgage interest rates, since I will need to secure my permanent financing fairly soon. Unfortunately, they have not been going in the direction I'd like them to! I'm trying to be optimistic about this, too. Worse comes to worst, I may end up with a higher rate initially and will plan to refinance down the road.

If you're not yet in a position to build your own new home, or if you think I'm just plain nuts to be doing so, you can get some practice by building a virtual one in Stagecoach Island. They've even got their own HGTV-esque show!

Posted by Staci at 10:00 AM |  Contact Staci |  Permalink  |  Comments (2)
Found in Budgeting, Debt, Financial education, Home Ownership, Home equity loans, Interest rates, Money management, Mortgage, Preparing, Wells Fargo Bank