I Have a Huge Home Equity Loan

November 12, 2007

photo by joguldi

There, I said it.

I recently read a post over at CleverDude about being open about your debt and how liberating it can be to get it out in the open and off your chest. I decided to try it, and I think I’m going to make a practice of it here. A lot of PF bloggers display their net worth on their sites, (the good and the bad) and I can see why. I’ll probably start doing this as a way to keep myself motivated and accountable.

How much is huge? How about $98,865.35. How did it get so huge? I put an addition on my house, specifically a 2 car garage, a new front porch, and a new coat of stucco and paint. I have to admit, I severely underestimated the cost of the job. I should have paid closer attention to my dad’s advice when it comes to building projects, “triple your budget and double your time.” Lumber costs, concrete costs, miscellaneous thing I never thought of kept pumping up the price.

Back in 1999 we bought a typical Southern-style ranch block home with an updated kitchen and a nice pool, but with no garage, just a carport. I was a little disappointed, but because I wanted wifey to be happy, we bought it sans garage.

8 years and 3 kids later, we just couldn’t keep all the stuff (tools, bikes, toys, etc) out of the elements and keep the place from looking like a trailer park. So we went ahead and hired and architect and started rolling with interviewing subcontractors. I acted as my own general contractor, which gave me greater control and allowed me to save more money. I’ll probably do a later post on this.

I love the garage, just not the price tag. Had I known the total cost before I started, I would have probably waited. But that’s usually the way it is with construction projects.

My only hope now is to put extra payments on it and pray the Fed keeps lowering the prime rate. It’s actually a HELOC, so every time Mr. Fed lowers the rate I get a break.

Posted in Home Improvement, Life, Mortgage, Stupid Tax Tuesday