My wife and I made a decision a few years ago to move into my in-laws house and take over their mortgage. They moved into a small apartment. They have a very sizable tax lean on the house. The goal was they pay the tax lean off over a 4 year period, we buy the house for the remainder of the mortgage when paid off. Sweet deal right? If would have been except her scumbag mom hasn't made a mortgage payment in 8+ months (despite us paying her more than the mortgage value) and he house is foreclosed.
We are going to have to rent for the time being as we do not have time to secure a mortgage and close on a different house. We also have kids and want to keep the environment as stable as possible, so we will rent a place for at least a year or two then purchase our own home. Because we DO NOT want to change school systems, our options are limited, and I will have to forgo shop space in the sake of family stability. So I guess this is goodbye for a while.
My question is, does it make sense to put my larger tools in storage, or just sell them? I plan on keeping everything but my table saw, planer, band saw, and drill press. Everything else is fairly small and can be stored in my parents basement. A storage unit runs about 150/month. At a minimum of 12 months, that 1800.00. At full retail prices, those items would cost me about 1,400.00. Since everything is fairly new, I could easily sell them for about 700.00 (fire sale prices) and realistically 1,000.00 if I get selective.
However, the stuff I have is nice. It's perfectly tuned, free of the little defects some people have, and I have a bunch of jigs and what not specific to these machines. I am leaning toward selling, but would like some opinions.
Tough call, and I'm not sure there is a perfectly correct answer. But with the costs of the storage unit being so high, it would be easy for me: I'd sell and start over when ready. Besides, you don't know what would happen to them over a long period of time, they may come out of storage needing some investment (time and/or money) to get them back into shape. Sell them and be worry free.
lumberjoe - sorry to hear about your dilemma. I think you're asking a question from a very practical standpoint as I probably would, since I'm also an IT manager. Here's what I see the math coming out to:
If you were to replace after ~2 years of time, assuming there is a price increase of +15% max price increase after 2 years, you're looking at a cost of $1,400 + $210 = $1,610 (before taxes). Offset by the low price estimate of selling the tools: $700. Total bottom line = $910 to resume. Divided by $150, that means your break even point is about 6 months of storage.
Based on that calculation, if I were in your situation, the question I would ask is…is…your time re-tuning tools worth ~$900? In addition, would you want to take the opportunity to upgrade when you resume?
lumberjoe, I don't know what part of the country you are in, but a storage unit around here that would be large enough to hold the tools you listed would run approx $40 per month. That's monitored, 24-hour access. That's not climate controlled.
I would hate to see anyone in your situation sell his tools. I wonder if there might be an opportunity to rent a workspace. A quick Craigslist ad might get some responses. There might be a widow with a 2-car (or larger) garage who is using only one side, or an outbuilding on a farm that is no longer being used, or a non-profit with unused space.
Do you know someone with a garage who store them for you free of charge?
If I leaved closer I would be glad to do that for you.
Make a new post on LJ and ask any one within two hours drive to do it, you shopudl find someone willing to do it.
Your story sucks bid time, sorry for you.
Sounds like a no brainer to me sell. The only other thought is do you have any friends that would have a place to park a storage trailer? I have seen some pretty decent ones go at auctions for about what you would pay for a storage locker for a year and you still have a used trailer to sell when you are done. another possibility would be a used cargo trailer but you will have trouble finding a decent tandem axle 16' or longer under $4000.
I agree with Fred. From a money standpoint, it makes more sense to sell and buy again when you are ready. Also, you never know what the future will hold for you. You may find that your woodworking habits change and by the time you move into your own house, you may not want to work with large power tools any more.
This happened to me. I sold my house and took a job in another city during the recession. I went ahead and sold the large power tools and took the smaller power and hand tools with me. By the time I was in a place where I could do some woodworking again, I had become fascinated with hand tool only woodworking. The only power tool I have now is a Milwaukee drill that you recommended! I hope this helps.
One more option to considered. In my area, it is possible to purchase a nice movable 8×12 storage shed for about $1300 delivered and set up. If the rental home or your parents' place has the space, you could store the tools and when you get a new place of your own, either sell the shed or keep it for additional storage space.
Whether that is worth doing would depend upon the geography and just how attached you are to the current tools.
Mike, thanks for the offer! I wouldn't want to impose on anyone because it could turn into a few years. My step daughter does not handle changes well AT ALL, so we need to keep things consistent - especially schools. Houses that we would actually purchase don't come on the market that often in this area, and they are never rented. The best case scenario is a duplex type rental for at least 12 months while we look for a suitable house to buy.
I am fairly attached to these tools even though they are really nothing special. It's all Ridgid, Craftsman, and harbor freight stuff. With that said, if I did sell them, I would very likely purchase the exact same items again. The only tool I may upgrade is the table saw. However , with that said, everyone that has recently bought a home knows that capital expenditure gets put on hold for a while as we would like to put a sizable chunk (60 to 80k) aside for down payment and upgrades. The likelihood of buying another R4512 is pretty high, the likelihood of buying a $3,000+ cabinet saw is pretty low - and honestly I wouldn't replace the R4512 for anything less than that.
Perhaps an off the wall suggestion, but here it goes…..
Rent a large enough storage space, to be utilized as your shop. May not be able to be "fully" functional and you may need to limit project scope & size, but it would help to serve the addiction!!!
If you are considering storing them for the long haul for about $1800 than it tells us you are willing to spend a small amount of money to hold on to what you have. But when you remove your tools to setup again you have no way of making that $1800 back. What about finding a small enough enclosed trailer (5×6, 5×8) to store the tools in. They only take up one parking spot and most apartment complexes allow them. When you are ready to set up again sell the trailer and get some of your investment back. Or keep it to deliver your awesome projects to your new clients
My advice in this order:
1-Storage in enclosed trailer
2-Sell and rebuild.
3-Mobile shop. Look at this!
There is no way I can suggest a storage unit. Horrible return on investment. You would net a smaller loss by selling and rebuilding.
Can you rent a POD? That's a very substantial roll off container that is water tight and very secure. Possibly you're parents could accommodate. I would suggest holding on to them, protect them with a suitable compound to prevent rust. Prices are going up, if its good stuff. I would keep it. But that's just me.
try to find cheaper storage. $150 doesn't sounds unreasonable, but you might be able to find something better (or not).
If no reasonable storage can be found, I would go for selling. you have gained experience and knowledge as to what works for you, and can always find it later again albeit might have to wait for that 'sweet deal'. as they say "there are more fish in the sea"
tough decision and not a happy one, but bottom line might be the lesser of 2 evils.
Sell and replace when you have the time, space and desire. I have sold all my tools more than once and replaced with newer and better. When you have the space you will be able to get new tools as you need them.
JSB's "mobile shop" idea is Ron Paulk's portable shop. I happened across a Sketchup plan for it the other: Paulk Mobile Woodshop
That might not work for your large tool storage, however. I think if it was me, I would try to come up with some sort of at-home/backyard storage method. You can rent portable storage containers and even have them moved for you. If I had the time, I think I would try to pick up a used trailer that would hold the stuff. If you're careful buying, you could probably sell it later for what you paid for it. Otherwise, I might try build some sort of temporary outdoor storage shed, myself. In fact, if you could put it near a patio or drive, it might be possible to use them now and then there.
As much as it would pain me to do it, I would sell. In my experience the best laid plans can go straight in the crapper more often than not and you could be three or four years down the road and still paying storage fees.
Two options I can think of, stay there during the foreclosure period and work on getting a house. In the current foreclosure environment it can be well over a year for a bank to finish the process. Start packing everything to move and search for a house. At only 8 months there is probably another 4-6 till you actually have to leave. Other option would be to short sell it and buy it from the in-laws through the short sale.
Everything I have is on a mobile base and my shop is a 1 car detached garage sharing space for a car. I put everything away each nite. If you get a place with a one car garage you can manage to store the stuff in your rental. No shop per se. Find your rental first then make the decision. For 3 years following a divorce I lived in a condo with a carport. I chained everything to the metal posts to prevent theft and it worked.
Again - find your new place first, then make the decision.
Well said, derosa. I really like the idea of exploring every avenue that leads to staying in the house. It has to be a win/win for everyone - it certainly will cost the lending agency something to go the foreclosure route and I'm sure they would like to avoid that expense if there's another way. Good luck with it all.
As an aside, my shop is a converted chicken coop (about 500sf) a few miles from my house. I am fortunate to rent it for $500/year, including electricity (110/220v). It's brilliant except that the floor has heaved in places due to the hydraulics of a very high water table. Careful placement of my table saw and runout table minimizes that problem, though. Most all of my big tools are on wheels and can be put to the side when not in use. So, there are places out there if one takes a few days to scour the countryside.
I'm inclined to keep the tools because in today's economy, those same tools a year from now will cost more and may not be the same quality. Here are two other possibilities: Buy a small enclosed trailer that can hold all the tools and park it in the driveway; Build a packing crate that will hold all the tools and have a moving and storage company store it at their facility.
We explored that avenue. The foreclosure process is 4 months underway, and scheduled to complete May 15th. It could take some time after that, but the bank takes control on May 15th. We are also dealing with HSBC, who is very aggressive when it comes to foreclosure proceedings. The IRS will get this house before the bank does though, there is a 200k tax lean. It's actually not that nice of a house. We would be buyers at the remainder of the mortgage, which is substantially less than even a shortsale would yield. There is no way we would pay more than 60 grand for this house. It needs new everything. Seriously. Walls, floors, plumbing, heating, electrical, roof, windows, siding, etc. It's livable and looks good cosmetically, but there are a lot of issues we band-aided for the time being. You'd be surprised what a few coats of paint and cleverly placed area rugs can do. This house is the equivalent of a 2 year old Mercedes that was fished out of the bottom of a lake.
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