<p>Interesting turn on our block. The house to the right that was for sale as a result of the divorce proceeding is now back in the hands of the husband. It appears he bought out the wife. No doubt he got it for a great price, as the other divorce house down the block sold for a song, thus giving him a great comp for appraisal. He bought it right before Hurricane Isaac and is making full use of any insurance payments he received, having now removed the tree that came down on my roof during the storm. He also has a lady friend living with him. The wife has moved to another city with her new beau, who I believe is already her husband.</p>
<p>The house on the left of us, that had been abandoned for years, was up for short sale and still never sold, has its tree still resting on its roof. The county has put a notice on the door that it will be put up for auction. The realtor removed her lock box and sign. She told my husband that she had seven good offers on the house, but the bank would not budge. I don’t know what happens to the bank now that the county will auction it, whether they’ll get any money out of the deal. The bank stood firm on a final price of 165K, coming down from over 200K. People taking pictures of damage yesterday, so I guess we’ll see some more commotion going on over there.</p>
<p>We will have to sell FIL’s house on the coast, unfortunately. He left very little life insurance and seems to have put his life savings, including IRAs, into the slot machines over the last two years. We will have to sell the house just to pay the taxes on his gambling winnings, since he didn’t bother to have taxes withheld. The little life insurance left over after bills will pay for his funeral. We are all stunned that he left us this legacy, the man who always told the boys they’d have nothing to worry about. We only hope we can sell the house quickly so as not to come even more out of pocket for utilities, insurance, taxes, until it’s sold, but have to wait for the BIL to gather his inherited contents. BIL refuses to put anything out of his pocket and instead tells my H to just deduct his share from the proceeds of the house to what he owes us. Nice.</p>
<p>So sorry, Montegut, about your FIL’s passing, and the state he left things in for you to deal with. I hope the house sells quickly for you. Both of my parents have passed away in the past two years, and bless their hearts, they really did their best to take care of things before they died. My mom, who was mentally ill, had nothing when she died, but somehow managed to invest what little she had into her burial plot and funeral expenses, leaving very little for my sister and I to have to deal with. I was very surprised and grateful to her for that. My dad, too, lived as frugally as he could the last few years. In home care ate through a portion of his estate, but not all. I miss them both. I am motivated to get our house more in order, financially, though we still have 1 and one half college tuitions left to go. It’s our own fault – five kids!</p>
Probably you already know this, but do you have any kind of record of how much he lost? You can deduct gambling losses up to the amount of winnings declared on the tax return. It’s a miscellaneous deduction not subject to the 2% limitation on schedule A.</p>
<p>^^^Yep, doing that already. We were able to piece together what happened to the money by the records of cashed checks and ATM withdrawals at the local casinos. BIL still believes we will go through his books and find cash hidden in the pages. We assure him that will not be the case. </p>
<p>Thanks for the reminder on the funeral arrangements. I have yet to purchase a funeral plan for my mom, which is supposed to be exempt from Medicaid, as the funds from the sale of her house are dwindling and she shows no sign of passing away anytime soon. I’m afraid my siblings will be left with her care, as I am in poor health and she is sure to outlive me.</p>
<p>I know from selling my Mom’s house that we will spend a good bit keeping up insurance and taxes and minimum utilities just waiting for the house to sell. It will probably sell for less than 50K. It’s in good shape, but we will have to sell as is, no updates, so will price to sell.</p>
<p>Are they good offers Mstee? Almost certainly they are (or will be if there are 3).<br>
Our house has been on the market almost a month and as far as I’m aware has not even been shown. Realtor said other realtors had been shown around and and there had been an email inquiry. Altogether not very promising.<br>
Congrats on your offers and hope they are good enough to help with your ambivalence.</p>
<p>I don’t know if they are good yet – planning to discuss them with the Realtor tomorrow. I want to sell. But it’s hard leaving California. It’s a pretty nice place. I’m not very good at letting go. But, it’s time.</p>
<p>Mstee, Ok…My ex boss and friend left the Twin Cities area to move to California. He does like the cost of living in Minnesota compared to California. Why are you moving to Minnesota. It is cold out there. :)</p>
<p>One to Go – good luck with your house. I don’t know what area you are selling in, but you only need one buyer. I hope that buyer finds their way to your house soon.</p>
<p>Husband changed jobs – good opportunity for him, and good schools here for the high school kid, and relatives in the area. However, I can see myself moving back to California, or at least wintering there in a few years.</p>
<p>Mstee- good luck with a hard decision. I know several friends and relatives who have rented their Ca homes out while they live and work elsewhere. In most cases they had owned their Ca home for a long time and felt if they sold they would not be able to afford to buy back in after retirement.
The last several days I have been reminded how grateful I am to live in such a mild climate. I was born,raised and have lived my entire life in Ca. I don’t think I would adjust to quickly to cold.</p>