Opinions?

Guys, my wife and I are about to become parents. We live in a 900 ft2 house, and need to either add on, or build new. I have a 2yr. old CaseIH Maxxum 140Pro tractor I bought new, but am thinking about selling it and buying something older that I could own free and clear. This would put our much needed room for our growing family on better standing incase the farm economy slows. So my question is...What would you do?

I'll guarantee you can buy two older machines to get the work done and put money in the bank for an addition for the payment on your CIH. No brainer. You might not be as comfortable, and it may not be as pretty. But you'll definately have more peace in the house.

What does your wife want to do? All kidding aside, these are the decisions that you both need to agree on. Without telling us all, figure out how much money you would have left after selling the MX and buying used. Decide how much money you want to spend on the house you have now to upgrade to comfortably house a family of 3, 4, however many you hope to have. My wife and I are in 2500 sq ft with our 3 boys and sometimes that feels too small. It's an older farmhouse, but it's built to be "formal" and doesn't really lay out well for a modern family. My personal opinion...unless you are really tied to the house you have, it's best to move into something that can handle a family. It's a great time to be selling tractors and buying real estate.
AaronSEIA

I think that you have a good idea. I know others on here will say you should keep the tractor but I'm a big believer in carrying a little debt as possible.

Congrats on the baby soon to be......



Rick

Might want to look in to the tax implications if you've already taken a good sized investment tax credit on it or something. You might end up worse off than before.

I think you are on the right track. One thing to consider is the tractor paid off? If there are no payments on it then I would say keep it, but you know your situation best. My wife and I started off in a 720 ft2 house with no basement. She already had our oldest boy at that time and we lived there comfortably, if not a little cramped for years. Along came boy #2 and we realized pretty early on that it just wasn't going to work and bought a bigger place.

As far as adding on, whats the house like? Dose it need new windows and insulation? Other major work? Like wiring upgrades or plumbing? That can turn a simple addition into a major expense.

As someone says make sure you talk to your wife about this and maybe your accountant.

Rick

I never did like to sell anything I could make a living with. I don't think 900 square feet is a small house for 2 adults and a baby or two, but to each his own. If you make your living with the tractor you need to crunch a few numbers, how much will a used tractor that will fill the bill cost? good used tractors are not cheap at present, how many years will you need to get out of a used tractor in order to make up the difference if you have to replace the used tractor sooner than you would have the new one? What would you lose in tax advantages if you traded down? To be honest, it sounds like your on the right track, planning ahead and trying to keep your debt level low, maybe you and your Wife can work out a compromise to wait and see if a couple more good years put you far enough ahead where it is not a problem. Hope it works out like you need it to.

Oldtanker....The simple answer is yes. This house needs windows, insulation, wiring, plumbing, HVAC system, the basement leaks, but structurly the house is solid. Improvements are new septic system, and brand new 30yr. roof, I refinished all hardwood floors about 6 years ago(which if we build a new house I will put some of this hardwood into the new one). Wife and I have had many conversations about this, and we are having a general contractor give his opinion on Tuesday.

I probably cannot offer much useful advice for your situation beyond stating what you, no doubt, already know, that being that you will take a beating selling your two-year-old machine.

For totally different reasons, I am facing a similar dilemma with my two-year-old NH T4050 that has been sitting in my barn for two years and has less than 50 hours on it. I rarely use it but cannot decide whether to keep it or sell it.

Dean

I would sell the tractor and repair only whats needed until the economy improves.

My last child was raised in a 12x56 trailer house.

Kids don't really take up a whole lotta space for the first couple of years.

In fact, the first year you'll probably spend most of your time with the baby in your room anyways.

Maybe instead of selling anything or making any major changes now, just start putting money aside as you can until you HAVE to do something.

... keep in mind too that time FLIES when you have a kid. They'll be three years old in the blink of an eye.

If you are using it to make money with , and if it IS making you profit , then keep it. If it is just a good looking toy and you have to "find" it something to do to justify it to the wife , then you allready know what to do.

Remember to figure in the upkeep of a used tractor you know nothing about if you do trade for a used one. If you use it enough to pay it's way, keep it. Save for the house. Remember to keep the wife happy tho....James

first, congatulations! I've got 5 now, ages 29 to 5. Every one of 'em is my life.
Second: Like I think JR said, that child is gonna spend the better part of the next 3 years in your room, so don't be afraid to wait on both selling the tractor and the addition. By the time that baby's 1, you're liable to have another one on the way and that addition will need to be even bigger.
3rd- if you do add on, avoid the temptation to build the baby's room(s) close to your own...by the time (s)he's 8 you'll want it as far from your room as possible.
For my part, I was faced with the same thing when baby #3 came along...we tore off one side of the ranch house, put in a new master bedroom/ master batch/ walk-in closet, 2 car garage, and actual HVAC. My contractor friends now say i should have tore the roof off and gone up rather than out...

if you are farming quite a bit, i would sell the tractor and buy two older ones. Then you have around 15-20k invested in those two tractors and have leftover money for upgrading the house and possibly adding on.

my 2cents

good luck and congrats! I am sure you will make the right decision for you and your family.

"We live in a 900 ft2 house, and need to either add on, or build new."
WHY? It's newborn, they don.t take that much room.
consolidate first, Your aspirations can be delayed for a couple of years, then the economy may have taken off,
You will do good coin by selling that tractor,and to buy what? Something to throw the money at. the devil you know is better than the one you don't. I would sit back and enjoy the event,
congratulations to both.

Congratulations! Kids are the greatest gift from God but the greatest challenge as well. They add a wonderful new dimension to your life - but some stress/worry as well. So don't do anything that will financially stress you and your wife... as you will have enough to adjust to with sleepless nights for the next 2-3 years and occasssional temper tantrums (it is inevitable). And yes, the guys who have already replied are right - kids don't take up that much room the first few years (though their equipment will eat up some space: car seat, high chair, etc.). Waiting would enable you to save every penny possible toward your additon or building a new home... though if the economy improves, interest rates will also go higher in correlation with that. If you do decide to remodel or build a new house, I recommend making sure you get a "fixed rate" mortgage - the interest cost a bit more, but adjustable rate mortgages (ARM) can land you on the "homeless list".

We have 3 kids and have gotten by just fine in a small house of about 1,100 sqare feet. Our girls (10 years apart) had to share a room... but we made it work. We hope to have our farm totally paid-off about the time our youngest graduates (would have already accomplished this - but we tiled our farm a few years ago, so are now paying that debt off). The only other debt we have is the recent purchase of a good used pickup for $8000. Life is A LOT more fun if you do not have a lot of debt. We try to stay out of debt as much as possible - and only take on a debtload that we know we can handle the payments even if one of us were to lose our job.

Also, I grew up in a family of six kids in a three bedroom home. Again, a bit of a squeeze but it worked.