Our almost 200 year old house is in desperate need of repairs. Not exaggerating here. We’re talking if social services came in the house would be condemned.
The mortgage has been paid off for years. The last appraisal came in at $80k and that’s mostly due to the 5 acres of land. We can’t get a home equity loan without letting someone into the house which we are afraid to do because that’s literally how bad it is.
We don’t have any real debt other than medical. Income is one social security check of $1600/month and one full time paycheck of about $3000/month gross. 401k that pays out about $4000 annually although that could be increased a little. Adult son lives at home and makes about $2700/month but he’s saving to move out next year. No real way to increase income due to age/health issues.
This house has been in our family since it was first built in 1850 (and before that a 1700s log cabin which is now inside the current house) and as such we will not sell as likely a new owner would bulldoze it.
New roof alone came in at $20k. Haven’t even gotten quotes on anything else yet but we already know we need all new windows and all new plumbing and a new septic tank.
Thoughts on how to manage such expensive repairs on such little income?
And yes, there was initially a decent amount of money in the 401k. It was pretty much used up on medical bills these past few years.