I was a little afraid to look, but took the plunge & added up all of the numbers. In positive news, our net worth is up substantially. This is due to maxing out our retirement, receiving our January bonuses, and multiple stock vests.
ALL of that money, save for our retirement, (and all other possible liquid assets) went towards our down payment. I know, somewhere, Sluggy is gasping for air at the additional liability, so this one is for you, Sluggy. ;-) We put down a sizable down payment on our house - $650,000. Things will be pretty tight until we get a few more stock option vests, and build back up our emergency funds again. In a good news/bad news scenario, I had a $10,000 CD that vested two days two late to be able to use towards the down payment. The bad news is that we had to scramble to find other sources of funding. The good news is that CD will now go towards a few required houses expenses (fumigation for termites, moving, etc) & then start the rest of an emergency fund until we get our next stock vest at the end of the month. We will move everything ourselves, with the exception of large/heavy furniture. We're not 20 anymore. ;-)
We also have other crazy expenses coming up: property taxes & income taxes to prepare for. Yikes!
How has our net worth changed since January 1st? Well, we crested the $3M mark, and are up $248K month over month. However, we are obviously VERY heavily invested in the real estate market, which keeps this girl up at night. M & I have had many debates about keeping the Seattle house, but I don't feel good about keeping so much of our assets tied up in real estate. We have a fabulous interest rate on the house, and are at a break even point on the asset. Our tenant's lease expires at the end of May, so the timing is good to clean the house, address any small repairs, and put the house on the market. My goal is to have the house sold by September. The market in Seattle (right now) is VERY hot. We will do well if things stay the same. However, it's a risk, and the current political climate is tenuous, which is always risky for the market.
What will we do with the proceeds of the Seattle house sale? I expect that we will split the money, with half going into the market, and half going into income generating, lower risk funds. Once we have rebuilt our emergency funds & dusted ourselves off after the house purchase here, I will (again, third time's a charm) plan to leave my job & find something more flexible. This puts the timing around January of next year, but of course, anything can change.
So, that's the housing update! What about you? How are you doing with your net worth in 2017?
I think the risk will be worth for you. You both have high paying jobs and once the Seattle house sells, you'll be fine. sound all very exiting.
ReplyDeleteFor us, unfortunately , we lowered our 401 K commitment so we get more money in my husbands check. We were at 23 % so I hoping once we get rid of the one last card that we put our Federal taxes on last year we can re up the 401 amount.
Sounds like a good plan! Our January bonus automatically defaults to maxing out our 401K. Typically, that's fine for me. This year is one of those times where I wish we had known about the house earlier, so I could have done a slower contribution over the course of the year. We could have really used the $18K.
DeleteGlad the purchase went through. I am like you, would probably get rid of the house in Seattle, although I don't see prices there going down anytime soon. The good news is that with both your jobs you can ride out the tide. I can see why you put off discontinuing your employment but hopefully everything will fall into place so that can happen for you.
ReplyDeleteThat's the plan with the house/work. Right now, I'm casually looking for another job with my current employer. Something with less international travel & less operational (read: on call 24x7). If I can find that, I may be more flexible with my end date.
DeleteI think you are in a good place. Your young still, and if the worst happens, sounds like you could weather a financial storm. Maybe just knowing your life is more settled will help with work stress.
ReplyDeleteIt is super helpful to feel settled. Really, it is. Looking forward to having the move behind me, so we can relax a bit more & plan for the future.
DeleteWe get a huge raise this year. Son 3 graduates so No. More. Tuition.
ReplyDeleteWow - that is huge! How exciting.
DeleteI know y'all will be fine and get through this squeaky tight spot with time. Being leveraged so highly w/real estate would keep me up nights too.
ReplyDeleteI'll be in the corner here breathing into a paper bag for awhile. ;-)
I knew it would! :-) I'm by far the more conservative member of the family, so M & I balance each other well. But, it's not without a struggle. He finds my perspective fascinating (& frustrating) & the reverse is also true.
DeleteI'm happy that you found a house! The rental thing with kids and schools is stressful. Do you have fruit trees at your new place? :)
ReplyDeleteWe actually just bought three fruit trees & will plant them at the new house. But, sadly, no mature fruit trees there already. I will definitely miss all of the citrus fruit!
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