We rent a two-story house from a landlord who only once raised the rent in 17 years. The rent is so cheap, we never really seriously considered buying a house or moving elsewhere, as we would not find the same kind of deal.
The house is in an "OK" neighborhood, close to my job, supermarkets, etc. It's allowed us to live a simple lifestyle with one income. There are many benefits.
However, we're under two threats. One, the landlord has made noises about selling the house. They offered to sell it to us for a very low price, but...
Two, we have a neighbor directly behind us and unclear property lines. No one wants to pay for a survey (there are other two adjacent properties: one is vacant are bank-owned and the other is owned by a woman who is selling out to get away from said neighbor). This person has been a nuisance in our lives for 10 years. He damages property, but only when there are no witnesses. I can't go into further details, as this is now a legal matter, but recently he went over the top and we are now involved in a lawsuit.
I really want to move away from this jerk. I never thought buying the house was a good idea, as my spouse is disabled and can't do the kind of work this house needs (probably all new plumbing, new porches, possible new roof, complete kitchen redo). Of course, if the house is selling for less than its appraised value, we can borrow money against it, fix it up, and hope to sell it. But that seems like a helluva risk in a neighborhood that is OK now, but is probably not going to come up or be gentrified. It's in a crappy little coal mining town next to a major interstate as it is. And with this looney living in my backyard, only a slumlord will want to buy the property.
In the past, I did agree to move forward with the purchase. This was two years ago, maybe three? We went to a lawyer, with the makeshift contract the landlord gave us. The real estate attorney we consulted said changes had to be made to the sales agreement before we could move forward (plus the survey). We told the landlord and they never responded. So I let it drop.
I'm really scared about what is going to happen. I can barely afford to pay more in rent than what we're already paying. I'm not sure I want to be a home owner, b/c I'm pretty sure the house I could afford is not one I would want to own (with apologies to Groucho Marx). I do have some money for a down payment, but I was hoping to max out my 403(b) and then start an IRA and max that out. I make about $35K a year and have only $68K for retirement, and I'm 52.
(I realize I could post a case study, but I feel far too vulnerable and thin skinned for that right now).
So what do you do when your simple life might implode??