White Elephant
Sat., March 17, 02:25 PM
This is not the first time I have written about the Cheesebox, and you can look here if you want more information. (I can't imagine why.)
Several factors came together thirty-six years ago that helped us decide to buy this house. Our family was growing, and we needed bigger living quarters. Decent apartments were expensive — more than a monthly mortgage payment would be — and we had enough saved for a good-sized down payment. If you can swing it, it is usually preferable to buy equity in a home instead of paying rent to a landlord.
The house was new construction and considered very modern. It was all-electric which, as the ads said, avoided the cost of plumbing systems for heating and cooling. Electric heating at that time was competitive with oil or gas, so it looked like a really good deal. Of course, when ecology concerns affected the fuel used to produce electricity, the price of electricity went up, but we managed.
As it happened, we were able to pay off the mortgage in less than fifteen years, against my mother's strong objections. All the economists she read advised against “paying off a loan with inflated dollars.” I didn't think inflation was coming down any time soon, and I had another concern that she did not need to know. I did not want my husband to reach retirement age with a mortgage still hanging over his head. My mother didn't care much for the house, and she hated my ignoring her advice, but it worked very well for us.
We might have sold it and found something bigger, but we never did. We might have improved it — but we didn't. Nevertheless, we had an investment for our retirement.
More than ten years ago I actually mentioned it. The kids were grown up, and Husband was retired. I was still working, but I could do my thing anywhere. Real estate prices in our area were high. And so I suggested that we sell the house and move some place where we wouldn't have to shovel snow. He was absolutely against it! “You can do that when I go!”
Please note, he is still here. I am the one who is too tired to manage a house, even if it did not include caring for a needy old man. I need to live somewhere that doesn't require a car. But now I will have trouble selling this house.
The housing boom peaked a couple of years ago, and now the Cheesebox has two strikes against it. First of all, electricity prices have just doubled. Last month's bill was about 60 per cent of a typical social security check. For people on fixed incomes, this must be a real hardship. Secondly, property taxes in this town have just about doubled.
One of the best things about our location was being with walking distance of (1) a greengrocer, closed; (2) a supermarket, long since moved; (3) a synagogue that moved a few months ago. But, after all, there is a garage — with an automatic door. Important, since you now need a car here. Even the elementary school is seven blocks away.
It's not especially picturesque, nor is it old enough to be historical. My best selling point is that it is cheap; so much for depending on a retirement investment.
My dictionary defines a white elephant as something that is both expensive and useless. Well, I have one right here. Y'know anyone who wants a Cheesebox?
