Bought A(nother) House!

It's a funny old world.

I'm in the process of buying probably the largest AND cheapest house I've ever bought. The fourth house I've ever bought.

This one is going to be.. hopefully fun, not 'fun'. It's in Texas, so there will be another tax return to do. It's a rental property.

The returns are good on paper, but we'll see how it pans out. It is a relatively small purchase so, even if it goes wrong, shouldn't be *too* expensive a mistake (think.. nice mid-range luxury car).

What makes my head spin is that, as I said, it's a reasonable size - three bedrooms, garage, roughly 1/5th acre lot, and yet it is about 1/8th the price of my house in the UK. Once the renovations are done, perhaps 1/6th. Roughly a quarter of the price of the house we live in here in Canada.

It's not a mansion, far from it. Solid (fingers crossed) - metal roof and siding.

I am nervous about buying in the US, but the returns, as I said, seem good. Greed or good sense? Time will tell.

In other news: The tomatoes are doing nicely, the courgettes are getting close to being done. We just spent $500 on one car (two new ty/ires plus some little bits), $180 on the other (oil, fuel filter, wheel balancing...) which.. is a bit painful but I guess it's just part of the driving habit.

Kara just did a job up in Iqaluit where it snowed a little on her last day - in August! I'm just back from Mont-Tremblant. And next week we take a mini-trip down to the US.

I'm retired? I don't know. I'm puttering or pottering. Not really sure what I'm doing - is 'investor' a job title? 'Lazy bum'? Oh yeah - stay at home father. Just under 3 months now, ohmygodohmygod.

I don't know what to think about impending fatherhood. At Tremblant, I spent a little time with my (wife's) nieces - 3 and 5 years old, or there abouts. I guess I'm avoiding thinking about it too much - what will be, will be, worrying about it (which is something I do about lots of things) won't do much.

5-6 more food boxes to do - can't wait for that to be wrapped up. Then, in theory, I'm really free - I could just take off for three weeks. Abandoning my wife, 6 weeks before her due date, though? Well - she's working til the start of November. So I could - for a week, 10 days maybe. Maybe I will.

The other thing.. is cars. We have two. Once the food boxes are done, one will be entirely surplus to requirements - so what do we do? Sell the (my) Crown Vic, which I got a hitch on, and really like? Or just put it off the road? Or keep it on the road, and put the Civic off for the winter/until Kara goes back to work?

Leaving a car sitting all winter.. not the best. Off the road but put into a warm garage? Well, that's just wasteful, and it'd be almost as expensive as keeping it on the road. Selling seems best.. I suppose. But I love my Crown Vic! And if we keep the Civic, we can't do the soapstone (easily) - plus buying a vehicle in Ontario leads to sales tax, so 13% of the purchase price.

Oh well. I did need the car this year. I should've bought a minivan (something I can sleep in, for fun). But I have enjoyed my Crown Vic.

Well, that's enough of a ramble on a Sunday night. Happy long weekend, if you happen to have one!