Jumbled Numbers ....

.... in my head ....

I can't sleep! The numbers are swirled all over the place. They won't stop moving. Just when I think I have them in order, I go back to them and start all over again. What numbers are jumbled in my tiny little head, you ask? These ones:

*the price of our land, now up for sale - a hard decision to make

*the small remaining amount owing on our house, which was up for sale on the weekend but we will take it down now today - knowing how much equity we have helps us figure out the size of the new house

*the phone number of the gentlemen who has expressed great interest in our land - waiting for him to call back with a time to view

*the proposed price we would be comfortable with to accept if he makes an offer

*the price we would hope to pay for a new piece of land we found yesterday, if it's still available, but with no online listing to be found, we've come up with what we think it would be worth, based on the other land we looked at yesterday

*the "best case scenario" cost of what it would cost to build on said land, if it is available and a decent price

*the number of months it would take to build a decent sized home

*the timing of when we would then sell this house - moving twice is not an option but thankfully our bank has already confirmed we would stay here as our equity more than covers a build

*the potential new equity we could achieve by building from the ground up vs. buying a house to reno or buying a house that needs no work - gaining equity at this point in our lives is important for our potential move to the West Coast - what we build here will buy comfortable there

As you may have guessed by now, we've switched gears a bit to explore the idea of building a new house from the ground up. On Saturday, we looked at several homes with a realtor. One that needs a ton of work and is way overpriced (his term but we totally agree), one that is so outdated that it lacked life and one that was charming and needed no work. But only gave us 100 square feet more than we have now, at a premium price, more than $150,000 above our home's value. And in that house, as much as we loved it, we'd lose a bedroom, a formal dining room and an office for dh. We'd gain a fireplace in the master bedroom, a walk-in closet too, a walkout basement for dd and grandson, a bit larger lot and a lake view. Keeping it on our list but I think in the end, we'd kick ourselves for paying higher for a beautiful look but less functionality.

Yesterday, we viewed 6 pieces of land in our County. The first 2 were right in town and the others were 5.5 minutes out, 3.5 minutes out and 1.5 minutes out. The last was our favorite but that is the one that we have no idea if its available. Realtor sign is on the land and out on the road but not online. Fingers crossed the realtor calls soon so we can bid it a fond farewell and keep looking. Or start figuring out if that is the right one. Excited about the idea of creating our dream home, to suite our needs now but also in the future when it's just the two of us. And build good equity for resale when we're ready. 

I hate that I often have numbers rumbling around in my head. Watching "Call the Midwife" and "Games of Thrones" and creating visual budgets in my brain at the same time. Because we live a very frugal life, the numbers are important to me. I can't let them get out of hand and we refuse to take on debt. We'd only go this route if the numbers work out in our favor. Selling our land is giving us that edge up we need to enter this project. Without it, we'd never entertain the idea as the cost of land around town is not cheap. 

Exciting new adventure! It may not work out in the end but giving it a try and we'll see how it all falls in to place. My parents raised me with the idea that if it's meant to be, it will unfold but if it's not, it's not worth the energy to fight it in to place. 

Happy Easter Monday! I'm off to start dinner prep. Big family dinner at our table tonight.