Under the Weather

I haven't been posting much because when I came back from vacation I was:

1) ill (Allergic Rhinitis and Bronchitis, according to my doctor); and

2) trying to catch up on some work.

I have been following the roiling of the financial markets (down another 2% yesterday, with several world markets also slumping overnight) when I was vegging out on my sofa with my hacking cough and going through a box of tissues. The illness has just left me without much motivation to blog (or read) much.

The builders are supposed to be by today and tomorrow to fix my roof and build my new carport. Among the repairs, I have been making other improvements because I am still leaning toward selling the house I inherited (with its payment) to move into a smaller house. A 1700 square foot house with almost an acre of land is just too much for one person, really. That's not to mention the three storage buildings. I thought about converting one (the largest one) into an efficiency apartment/cottage, but my heart wants to move to another area. Most of my neighbors are elderly and I want to live in a more vibrant area.

The conundrum is that under current prices here in Oklahoma City, the realtors that I trust are saying that my 1700 sf house with almost an acre of land would only sell for about the same amount as one in the part of town that I want to live in for a house that is half the size, a yard 1/3 the size and about the same age as the one I am in now (and not necessarily in as good of a condition). Even with the new roof, new carport, new paint inside and out, new water tank, a remodeled bathroom, new gravel in the driveway and all the other repairs and improvements that I have made, the value of my house, I am told, will stay about the same. Just those repairs alone have cost me over $15,000. Mind you, the large repairs, like the roof and the carport, were mostly covered by insurance, but all the other stuff wasn't.

I am looking for ways to downsize and save money, but other than the savings coming from having a smaller electric and gas bill, I am not seeing much savings moving to a smaller place in another neigborhood. The insurance and taxes would actually be higher somewhere else. The payment would be about the same and there are the fees associated with both buying and selling a home.

What to do? I am not sure I can get a good answer.