[mking]

A little background.....

I live 45 miles from work. lived and worked in the same places for 8 years. good job, i intend to stay there.

the commute has gotten worse over the years. started at 2 hours a day, now have risen to at least 3 and often 4 hours. it’s affecting my work and home life.

we love our existing home (despite having only a smallish garage for slot car space) and it is close to friends, and has a wonderful mortgage (4.375%) that will be paid off well before we are ready to retire (11 years).

we could sell and move very close to where i work, but the home prices more than double, and even for that amount we get less of a home, and probably be forced into a new 30 year note.

another option is a 2 bedroom older home that is inexpensive (relatively speaking) and located just blocks away from a major transit hub (buses and trains, my work location is also right next to a similar transit hub, so buses really would work). in off peak hours (my schedule is flexible) it’s a 30 minute trip each way. the older house is about halfway between work and our existing home, in an ok area.

the older house would give me a place to crash during the work week, and we would keep the home we love for the weekends (fri, sat, and sun nights), and would have one of the homes paid off in the foreseeable future.

now for the slot car part. the older house has a full basement and 2 garages! one garage is 10x25, one is 24x24, and the basement has a heated finished room (if you can call fake wood paneling a finish) that is about 10x20. i could put up every single bit of track i have (HO and 1/43), have pit area to host races, and have room to add a nice routed track, with plenty of elbow room.

the track manager thinks im a bit nuts. whatta you think?

 

[roadrner]

Guess you could factor in getting a new track manager too. :devil: rr

 

[mking]

been there done that

Guess you could factor in getting a new track manager too. :devil: rr

there too hard to break in, and this one is a keeper

 

[buzzinhornet]

You can NEVER have to much room for slots so I say yes. (But remember, happy wife=happy life.)

GP

 

[noddaz]

You are a bit nuts...
But I like the idea!
If I could afford a second house to have as my hobby room I would do it...
And I would seriously think about setting it up as a business for two or three nights a week...
But that is me....
Scott

 

[mamilligan]

I'd buy the house, put an apartment above the garage and rent out the house.

 

[sethndaddy]

convince the TM that the house is more then a "slot house". which from the description, it is. happy wife=happy life, but throw in a very demanding, way too long drive to/from work + the normal everyday stress of work, sometimes happy wife doesn't always mean happy life, because your not happy.....oh no, I feel a Home Depot rage coming on again...!!!!!!!!!!!!
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happy thoughts
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slot cars
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ahhhhhhhhh
works every time

 

[SplitPoster]

Ditto on renting part of it, an apartment with a garage near a transit hub will sound good to lots of folks I bet. And, a business and investment sounds better than a slot car house.

("Mr. Banker, I'd like a mortgage on a slot car house." "Oh really? What scale?")

Just don't put the renter and the track adjacent to each other.... If I were leaving a bunch of my stuff in the town house I suppose I would feel better about it being occupied while I wasn't there.

 

[Mike(^RacerX^)]

Slot cars aside,sounds like the older house with the two garages is the way to go.The space for slots is the icing on the cake for sure.


Commuting SUCKS.Im fortunate in thatmy biz is about 4 miles from my house.The engine I dropped in my Camaro about 5 years ago has less then 8K miles on it

Im in the process of shopping around to get a house built by the end of next summer.
I told my wife,and she hemmed and hawed at first,that instead of a detached garage,I want one of those pole buildings.
Big enough so I can build my be all end all slot layout,rehearse my band,and keep my car in.
I told her that she would never have to look at any of my "junk" ever again in the house.
SHe liked that.

Mike

 

[roadrner]

I want one of those pole buildings.
Big enough so I can build my be all end all slot layout,rehearse my band,and keep my car in.
I told her that she would never have to look at any of my "junk" ever again in the house.
SHe liked that.
Mike

Man, I need one of them! Heck, add a bathroom, bedroom, kitchenette, my wife would never have to see me or my junk. :devil: rr

 

[sethndaddy]

Funny, my wife would bitch if I packed up all my stuff, she loves when I get lots of cars or trains in the mail, she sits there with me when I open everything.

Speaking of houses, as a few of you know thru last weeks chat, I did put a down payment on a 10 bedroom house w/commercial rental, and a second house that was a bar, will be an old time Hobby Shop if I get my way,and my TM will be the real TM too. All I need to do is wait for this house to sell.

 

[boss9]

I think it sounds like a great idea!

I know first hand the trials of a long commute, but never expected the traffic to intensify as it did-

My wife travels even farther than I did...97 miles-each way!
She has put in for a transfer (Gov.) and if it comes through, we'll be moving.
We expect to know something in the next month or two-


I hope the best for you, your wife, and Daddy-O's future ventures-


Cheers..