Moving Blues Straining My Marriage

Lol, here’s another. Actually I make my wife very happy and she is insulted that somebody would ever indicate that I would need to never have an opinion. We have a partnership, lol. You do you.

 

Perhaps start there in conversation if you haven’t already? You’re not opposed per se to the move, but not too keen on the area she’s eyeing. That could lead to perhaps looking into a compromise in location, further from where you are now but not as far or in the same area your wife is eyeing? I think ya’ll will figure it out as long as the conversation stays open and compromise is had. Thanks for starting this thread. Honestly it’s helping me just as much as I’m sure it’s helping you a bit. Seeing the viewpoints and opinions of many other married men is quite helpful and I’ll be taking some points here away in my own marriage.

 

Well, we have decided to list the house. Spent the past several days working on it, painting, patching holes, etc. Wife has been a completely different person since I agreed to prepare to list. We still have a lot to do to get the house ready, but in the meantime, here is a link to the house on Zillow with the photos from the previous listing from before we bought it. https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/506-Wabash-Ave-Kansas-City-MO-64124/2281829_zpid/

And here is a link to an article about the house, authored by the listing agent at that time: https://dvrealtykc.wordpress.com/2017/05/08/506-wabash-ave-kcmo-64124/

We think we'll list in 6-8 weeks, could be sooner if we buckle down. I'll update with the active listing and current photos at that time. When we're done with this place, the one pictured in the above links won't even look like the same house.

 

That's a beautiful house. I love the wood work. I can see why you would have wanted to stay there. I am sure you will find another house though that you can make a home together as a family and build beautiful memories.
Good luck with the sale and subsequent house hunting!

 

As promised, here is the update of home progress. My estimate of 6-8 weeks was conservative. We listed today. Here is the new listing:
https://506wabashavenue.epropertysites.com/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/506-Wabash-Ave-Kansas-City-MO-64124/2281829_zpid/

 

Looks great and good luck with the sale. I'm sure it'll go quick.

 

Man that's a really unique house. Very cool. Hell of a time to list though. My wife and I are listing our house soon too. I guess we'll see what the housing market is made of with this virus.

 

Thank you! I love the house. Not many like it left in the city, especially as well preserved as it is. Ugh, I know, we may have missed our chance because of the impact from the virus, but I really hope not.

 

My wife works for a title company, she's seen a few people cancel contracts because of the virus but not many. Most people are still proceeding. I think the prices may hold for a little while so the bigger issue is just finding someone that isn't afraid to buy.

I'll say this, I damn sure don't want to buy a house right now. We're going to sell our place and rent. That's must me though.

 

I am the same way I have no interest in buying at these prices. I'm ok to rent for a while. The more my wife sees how far our dollar will go in this market, the more she's buying into my approach.

 

Update on the house: we sold it! Well, we are just waiting on appraisal and closing, so should be a slam dunk. I am honestly very surprised it sold during this super weird time of global quarantining.

 

Don’t live that American dream of buying house you can’t afford, especially right now. Also it’s not about the school your kids go to it’s about the support they have at home after school. The last thing your kids need is to come home from school and feel tension at home because you are house poor. Plenty of people appear to be living a great life but you really don’t know, I bet most people you know are leased and loaned to the max. I’d stay put pay off that house as quickly as possible and live debt free, its much more peaceful.

 

Well, we closed on the house a couple weeks ago. Ended up being a great financial move. We were able to pay off all our consumer debts, which were more than 30k (including the Tundra!), and still have enough to put a year's worth of my salary (after tax, but still respectable) into savings. We are currently renting half a duplex about a block from the house.

Proud dad moment here...Several guys commented early on in this thread about schools being a motivating factor for moving out of the city. I have hard data to back my position on this. My son was accepted into Lincoln College Prep Middle School for the upcoming school year, which feeds into Lincoln College Prep High School. Both schools have district-wide academic thresholds to meet for acceptance. Below are US News & World Report's high school's rankings for Missouri and the KC metro area (which includes the majority of the top ten high schools in Kansas). I know people who have moved across state line to send their kids to one of the Blue Valley schools. Bam! My kid's school in the urban core is better overall, and across several relevant metrics.

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/missouri
Top Ranked Missouri Schools

• #1Metro Academic and Classical High School4015 Mcpherson Ave, St Louis, Missouri 63108
• #2Clayton High#1 Mark Twain Circle, Clayton, Missouri 63105
• #3Ladue Horton Watkins High1201 S Warson Rd, St Louis, Missouri 63124
• #4Lincoln College Prep.2111 Woodland, Kansas City, Missouri 64108
• #5Kirkwood Sr. High801 W Essex Ave, Kirkwood, Missouri 63122

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/missouri/rankings/kansas-city-mo-28140

1. Sumner Academy of Arts and Science
   Kansas City, KS
2. Lincoln College Prep.
   Kansas City, MO
3. Shawnee Mission East High
   Shawnee Mission, KS
4. Blue Valley High
   Stilwell, KS
5. Blue Valley North High
   Overland Park, KS
   

 

Closed on the new house a couple days ago. Moving in while trying to work from home has been a whirlwind. We're about 1/4 the way there lol. I can't believe how long a saga this has been. I made this thread in February when my wife and I were a lot closer to divorce than I realized at the time. We're both really excited about the potential of the new house and hope to call it home for a lot of years.

 

Your wife was extremely prescient at the time in being concerned about safety. Looks like you only moved a block away, though. Seems you’ve gotten out of debt which is probably the best thing I’ve read about your thread.

 

Let’s see the new place!!