Author Topic: Having a hard time deciding what to do (storage/sell)  (Read 5500 times)

Roland of Gilead

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Having a hard time deciding what to do (storage/sell)
« on: April 17, 2014, 10:59:21 AM »
A few of you may know our plans to ER in 2015 and travel around the USA in a custom built expedition vehicle pulling our sailboat.

We definitely are going to sell our house and most possessions but I am having second thoughts about getting rid of our vast collection of woodworking and metalworking tools.  I do not mean a small amount...we have about 20 years of tools.

Can you think of a cost effective way we could keep this stuff?  I was toying with the idea of buying a small plot of land and putting a steel workshop on it, or trying to find something similar already built (probably cheaper).   Another idea would be to find a small house on a couple of acres cheap, put a steel outbuilding on it and rent out the house while we are traveling the USA, keeping our tools and such in the outbuilding.  If (big if?) we were able to find good tenants we would then have some protection from trespassing.

The downside to owning something is of course real estate taxes and insurance (both for theft and liability).  Plus the money tied up in the something is not working for us generating income (except maybe for the rental idea).

We love building things and may decide after a few years that we want to get back it.  It would be a shame to have sold off $60,000 worth of tools only to buy them back a few years later...

If we did decide to buy something, would it be better to buy it around here (kind of high cost area near Seattle) or possibly in the location we plan to call home for tax and healthcare purposes (Florida)?  Obviously if we bought in Florida I would have to move all of our stuff across the country, but it might end up being cheaper on purchase price and taxes long term.

ZiziPB

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Re: Having a hard time deciding what to do (storage/sell)
« Reply #1 on: April 17, 2014, 12:31:09 PM »
Can you just put them in storage?  Even if you keep them in storage for 2-3 years, the cost shouldn't be huge.  Buying a property just so that you can store your tools on it seems a bit much ;-)

Roland of Gilead

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Re: Having a hard time deciding what to do (storage/sell)
« Reply #2 on: April 17, 2014, 12:35:28 PM »
Can you just put them in storage?  Even if you keep them in storage for 2-3 years, the cost shouldn't be huge.  Buying a property just so that you can store your tools on it seems a bit much ;-)

Well true, but it would take about 2 storage units and the tools would not be useable all crammed into two 10x20 units.  I estimate that would cost me about $240 a month in fees.

It does sound cheaper though than buying land and a shop but I was trying to be all mustachian and figure out a better way.   

Villanelle

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Re: Having a hard time deciding what to do (storage/sell)
« Reply #3 on: April 17, 2014, 12:39:47 PM »
Do you have a friend with a garage or shed of some kind that would rent the space to you? Or at least someone who would want to split a storage unit with you?

Buying property for this purpose seems silly.  You could bank that $60k, make interest on it, and repurchase the tools if necessary.  So unless you want to own property for other reasons and it would be a good financial move in and of itself, I'd not go that route.  Unless you can find a pretty low cost storage option, I'd sell and re-buy if and when necessary.  I think storage is generally a waste and fairly unmustachian, but it probably makes more sense than buying property. 

Roland of Gilead

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Re: Having a hard time deciding what to do (storage/sell)
« Reply #4 on: April 17, 2014, 12:55:04 PM »
Well, the tools would probably only bring 20K but would cost over 60K to replace (or a hell of a lot of time and luck on craigslist).  Now obviously we may not need to replace them all, but the big stuff like the cnc bedmill and the hardinge lathe would be sorely missed.

Eh, this is probably just some unreasonable feeling I am having toward being homeless and wanting to grasp at ownership of something, even though I hate maintaining our large home right now.

Spudd

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Re: Having a hard time deciding what to do (storage/sell)
« Reply #5 on: April 17, 2014, 01:10:02 PM »
Can you just put them in storage?  Even if you keep them in storage for 2-3 years, the cost shouldn't be huge.  Buying a property just so that you can store your tools on it seems a bit much ;-)

Well true, but it would take about 2 storage units and the tools would not be useable all crammed into two 10x20 units.  I estimate that would cost me about $240 a month in fees.

They don't need to be usable, they just need to fit in the unit. You will want to tetris as many as possible into the unit rather than carefully laying them out to make them usable. Keep the expensive/hard to replace ones, and get rid of the others.

thesinecure

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Re: Having a hard time deciding what to do (storage/sell)
« Reply #6 on: April 17, 2014, 01:45:24 PM »
where do you live?

how about you let me have them, i'll use some to keep them running and build some cool stuff, the rest will just sit inside waiting for your return.

GregO

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Re: Having a hard time deciding what to do (storage/sell)
« Reply #7 on: April 17, 2014, 01:57:18 PM »
where do you live?

how about you let me have them, i'll use some to keep them running and build some cool stuff, the rest will just sit inside waiting for your return.

I would think you could find someone that would be willing to make a deal like that.  Do you know anyone that has a shed or something similar?  Even if they ruin a few of the tools using them, it'd be a lot cheaper to replace the ones they ruin then selling and rebuying.  Plus, thatway they are getting used and not just collecting dust (and rust) in storage somewhere.

trugrit03

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Re: Having a hard time deciding what to do (storage/sell)
« Reply #8 on: April 17, 2014, 03:10:17 PM »
Have you given any thought to renting them out until your adventure is over? If you are talking about $60K worth of tools, I would imagine someone who didn't want to invest that kind of money would be willing to spend at least a few hundred a month to use them. Then instead of it being a cost to store them, you've turned those tools into an income stream and still get the tools back.

I would guess the downside would be that you would have to find someone that you trusted to take on this agreement and work out some details regarding maintenance, what happens if something breaks, etc. I think it is doable, just make sure you get a contract that protects you.

CommonCents

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Re: Having a hard time deciding what to do (storage/sell)
« Reply #9 on: April 17, 2014, 03:17:48 PM »
Have you given any thought to renting them out until your adventure is over? If you are talking about $60K worth of tools, I would imagine someone who didn't want to invest that kind of money would be willing to spend at least a few hundred a month to use them. Then instead of it being a cost to store them, you've turned those tools into an income stream and still get the tools back.

I would guess the downside would be that you would have to find someone that you trusted to take on this agreement and work out some details regarding maintenance, what happens if something breaks, etc. I think it is doable, just make sure you get a contract that protects you.

+1
You could require the person to maintain insurance on them or get insurance on them to rent out.

zolotiyeruki

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Re: Having a hard time deciding what to do (storage/sell)
« Reply #10 on: April 17, 2014, 07:17:28 PM »
For $200/mo, I'll happy store them in my basement :)

Roland of Gilead

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Re: Having a hard time deciding what to do (storage/sell)
« Reply #11 on: April 17, 2014, 07:21:02 PM »
For $200/mo, I'll happy store them in my basement :)

The cnc mill alone weighs 7000 pounds...how big is your basement?

RootofGood

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Re: Having a hard time deciding what to do (storage/sell)
« Reply #12 on: April 17, 2014, 07:23:43 PM »
Maybe find a woodworking group near where you live or where you're moving and find someone who wants to borrow the tools for a few years? 

Weedy Acres

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Re: Having a hard time deciding what to do (storage/sell)
« Reply #13 on: April 18, 2014, 06:42:26 PM »
Perhaps do a mix of things:  find permanent or temporary homes for (ie., sell or rent) the big stuff and put the smaller stuff in storage.  Around here you can rent a 20x20 climate controlled unit for $130/month, so since you're traveling perhaps you can find a lower-cost locale to stash your stuff as you embark. 

Argyle

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Re: Having a hard time deciding what to do (storage/sell)
« Reply #14 on: April 18, 2014, 09:13:30 PM »
You can store them in my locked, otherwise empty garage (next to my house) for $750 per year.  Seriously.  I'm in a city on I-5 in Oregon.  Let me know if you're interested.

zolotiyeruki

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Re: Having a hard time deciding what to do (storage/sell)
« Reply #15 on: April 19, 2014, 06:57:49 AM »
For $200/mo, I'll happy store them in my basement :)

The cnc mill alone weighs 7000 pounds...how big is your basement?
1600 sq ft big enough for ya?