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Comment by gavinray | Hacker News Reader

Why are you going to lose your house?

You bought it while you had tech money and the bicycle mechanic money can't pay for it now?

Have you considered doing some consulting or something on the side? So sorry to hear this.

yah, I have the tinniest cheapest house pretty far outside of the city but the mortgage is just too much without roommates (which is how all my coworkers afford apartments), but it's small enough that I really don't want to do that

I've tried to do some consulting work, but never could figure out how to get any clients. Apparently this is a thing people do somehow, but everyone I asked just knew somebody to get their first ones.

Same thing (on the housing situation)... except I'm currently in fear of losing my home to an active landslide that just recently took out my septic.

Currently been using a portable toilet, for weeks, with no end in sight. Perfect metaphor for the mid-life crisis that's fortunately been co-happening during this same shit period =P

Currently seeking land with less of a view, and more solid foundations.

"shit period", pun intended?

Jokes aside, good luck, so far I've been really lucky and haven't had any major house issues, that's super tough.

Have you considered cashing out? Meaning selling the house so you get you equity back. Maybe you can use that to move somewhere more affordable and start over.

I've thought about it, but I don't think that's actually an option. Renting is just going back to throwing money into some asshole landlord making profit off of other people not wanting to be houseless, and everywhere else where I'd have any possible desire to live is getting more and more expensive too, so even though I'm lucky in that my house has gone up a lot it doesn't actually do me any good if I want to buy again and I'd just be wasting that equity slowly by renting (and then be back in the same position in a few years having burnt all that equity up). Might as well try and figure out a way to stay instead; if I fail and lose it I'll just be in the same position I otherwise would be in, just a few years earlier.

I hope/pray you find a way

>even though I'm lucky in that my house has gone up a lot it doesn't actually do me any good if I want to buy again

That's only true if you want to buy again somewhere with similarly priced real estate rather than somewhere with cheaper real estate.

I mean, I'd love to buy somewhere cheaper, but that would require being even further outside of the city (and further from work) than I already am. Taking a job outside of the city means lower pay, making that place just as expensive as being sort of near, but not quite near the city. Not to mention that I'm already in a fairly cheap market (I mean, it's the Atlanta area so it's not "cheap", but it's not New York or San Francisco or what not). Trust me when I say that you can't live in (or near) the city without roommates unless you make a software salary or are very lucky.

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