In a recent retirement blog about trying to be in control of my retirement life, I made, what I hoped, was a tantalising reference to a big decision I had made concerning our land and proposed cabin in Colorado. In a more recent blog I partially revealed the nature of this decision and linked this to my thinking about delegating projects generally.
I can now bring my readers up to date with the implications of what I called ‘a big decision’. So yes, we have decided to transfer the project to my daughter and her husband. That you knew if you’ve read previous blogs. In the last couple of weeks, since we made this decision, my son-in-law has, as I knew he would, cracked on with this task. All done on the internet with which he is far more comfortable than myself.
I have to admit to mixed feelings with some of what has happened. Some of the people / companies he has contacted have shown the same kind of indifference as that I received – it starts well and then they seem to lose interest. Strange in that we’re trying to put business their way. Obviously the American economy is doing better than I thought, at least in the Durango area.
So there was both a comfort (it wasn’t just me they were ignoring) and disappointment (we liked a cabin building company he found but they haven’t so far responded to his further enquiries). He has however found a local contractor who he has been communicating with and this guy does seem enthusiastic about doing the work.
This doesn’t include the actual building of the cabin (something like the above?) but does, at stage one, have 5 parts to the building process – 1) Access road, 2) Flattening the building area 3) Installing footings (I assume concrete pillars as the site is steep and rocky, 4) digging an area for the water tank (there seems to be a general view that digging a well isn’t practical) and 5) installing a septic tank.
It’s good that the first stage has smaller, discrete stages because we can start off with 1 and 2 without committing too much money to the project. These initial tasks can be funded out of money we already have in the bank. I.e. no commitment, as yet, to the dreaded equity release which we still don’t like the sound of.
Anyway this limited commitment will give us a chance to, a) get cold feet but b) more positively, see if our chosen contractor (his name is Mike by the way) can do these tasks for a price at around his quotes and our budget. If for some reason the project does not go ahead in its entirety and the land has to be sold, we think these actions will add value to the land. That, at least, is what we are telling ourselves.
Incidentally, Mike was very cautious about the suitability of this location for an all-year-round house. I think he thinks it might be difficult to access through the winter. Well, maybe so but I do know that people live in this area through the winter, so, true to my nature, I thought (and this is me having delegated control of the project) well we will see about that at a later date. One step at a time?
We intend to give Mike the go ahead for a first step, this very afternoon (Wednesday) for tasks 1 and 2. He has told my son-in-law that he can start at the beginning of June and finish this bit, 2 weeks later. We pay half at the beginning and half on completion, which seems fair. This will account for approximately one quarter of our stage one budget.
My next task is to contact the resident’s association and enquire about what they need to know in order to give permission for the cabin to be built. I hope they are more responsive than they have been thus far. I’m sure when they realise we are serious, they will want to provide us with all the information we need. Won’t they?
The other tasks that remain within my remit are to contact our solicitor and ask for advice about inheritance tax, gifting, land title transfer and equity release. I’ve started this part of the project. I also contacted our accountant but unfortunately he has not replied to my enquiry. It’s the same wherever you are in the world, it seems. Some people just don’t want to be helpful.
So no going back now, the decision has been made. I hope I can strike a balance between giving up some control of this project and reducing my retirement stress levels. I will keep you informed as we proceed.