About the house...

One of the joys of home ownership is maintenance.

When we moved here three years ago,
my husband had two requests.
1) no basement (high water table)
2) a VERY simple roof.

The last house we bought was his choice.
The water ran through the entire back at times.
The wood was way too much to take care of.
Still, it was heaven.

The Delaware move was going to happen
one way or the other. 
My turn to pick a place. 
1.5 acres in a neighborhood (my top priority)
Near a stream
Perfect interior lay out. 

What did he get out of it?
A basement and

a Not So Simple Roof.

The basement has been perfect, not a leak or a whimper.
It holds the load of kids that come to visit 
and a great movie room.

The 27 yr old roof....needs to be replaced.
Shingles are blowing off with every storm.

The roof is HUGE and complicated.
First bid? $25,000!
The price of a car!
The "I told you so(s)" are rolling everywhere. 

I fussed and fussed. 
Then I did the math.
If, for the last three years (and the next three that we live here),
we paid $250 a month for HOA (very common here), we would have been out a chunk of change.
That is about $18,000. 

If we had rented a smaller house in the area
We would be out about $108,000.
Yes, we would have had that in the bank from our last house,
but the reality is that interest rates are so low.....
it would hardly make up the difference. 

I have started to look at all of our money this way.
Opportunity cost. 

Now I am hoping that the roofing company takes credit cards.
At least I should get a free trip around the world for this one!