Decisions decisions

For the last few years I have been toying with the idea of selling my double wide mobile home. This idea always pops up following an unexpected repair bill, and there have been many since I acquired singular responsibility for my house and property in 1999. The time has come to make a serious decision.

I was just told that a man I know is buying trailers, fixing them up and renting them. This person has an honest reputation and I would have no problem dealing with him. My house plus an addition sits on 1/2 acre of land and has 1,747 sq feet of living space. Although it is 36 years old it is in good shape for its age. I am very aware that the offering price would not be as much as I would like.

The big thing is, am I really ready to sell and move to an apartment? This question became serious when I found out there was a possibility of actually selling it. Before that it was just an interesting thought that came up now and then. I am trying to decide what my first step is. Do I talk to the man first or do I check out apartments to see if I would be happy living in one?

Scratching both of those for the time being I decided to make a pro and con list of moving to an apartment. The pro list was almost twice as long as the con one, which shouldn’t have been much of a surprise I guess.

Basically, selling and moving to an apartment would reduce my stress about keeping what I have in constant repair and in many ways give me more freedom. If I chose to stay where I am I would be holding onto something that is too big, too much work and too expensive to maintain.

What it boils down to is fear of letting go of something familiar versus taking a chance on something unknown. Owning a house/property does give me a feeling of security, but what if something major happens like needing a new roof or furnace? No way would I be able to handle that kind of expense on my fixed income. I know from experience that plumbers, electricians and so forth are not cheap today. If I rented an apartment problems like that would belong to someone else.

One more question just popped up. If I happen to win the NM lottery and have plenty of money would my pro con list remain the same? Maybe or maybe not.

I’m still making the decision of what step to take next, but my intuition is saying, “If you have a way out take the opportunity and do it.”