I have a dilemma that i'd like to hear people's thoughts on.
Prior to COVID, i had been planning for over a year to do a major tear down and renovation of our house. I had everything lined up, contractor in place, permits, and even moved out of the house into a temporary apartment in mid-March. Now there is an indefinite construction hold on the project because of city regulations around COVID. Our jobs are secure for now, but i am worried that will not be the case long term.
This project would increase our leverage in the house from about $90k to $340k…it's a major rebuild. We can currently afford it, but if one of us loses our job, it will be very tight financially. Plus i do not know what the real estate market will be like in 6 months, 12 months, 24 months+. I am also afraid we could easily go underwater on the mortgage.
Construction has not started yet. The contractor is owned for some expenses, including permits, etc.
Our apartment lease runs through December. I don't think we can get out of that.
Would it be best to cut my loses and walk away from the project? Other thoughts?