How H and L kept their condo and advanced their professional careers
H and L faced the prospect of selling their condo, but found another way. They are a lot like other young college educated adults. They are hard workers and good planners. They are 27 and 28 years old. They are willing to make compromises in order to not go backwards on their life plans.
L is still in graduate school. H is now out of full-time work and going back to school. Their combined student loans are $250 a month, so far. That is better than average. Finaid.org lists near $93,000 as average debt for H’s degree and $40,000 for the one the L is pursuing. One of the compromises that H made was to go to a less prestigious professional school. That is one of the bars to his ability to get another high-paying job now. Compromises have consequences.
OK…back to how they kept the wolves from the door of their condo:
They are renting it and moving to a cheaper place. Kudos to those who guessed right last week.
H and L are moving this weekend to a smaller and cheaper place that is more walker-friendly. They sold their car. This will allow them to make the mortgage payments, rental payments, and living expenses. They can live on on their savings plus another round of student loans. A year from now, H hopes to be back at work for about one-third the income he had, and work up from there. But, by then he will be happily on a career track that suits him better.
H and L were lucky in a few respects:
1. They bought a property in a high-rental area. They are able to get a rent for the condo that pays the condo expenses with a few hundred extra for them. (In retrospect, they are pleased they used a big down payment and that they borrowed far less than their lender would allow.)
2. They found a rental that was cheap enough, accessible enough, and did not hassle them about having children. This was a lucky, but also huge compromise. They moved to less than half the space they left.
3. They are both willing to give up creature comforts for a few years.
Would you give up your car and live in half the space in order not to sell your condo and lose equity? Ask your spouse. Could both of you agree to a plan like this?
Do you think this is a good compromise, in the long run?
