[poncho-mike]

Hi,

My mother passed away at the age of 83 about three weeks ago, leaving behind me, my brother, and sister. Her passing wasn't unexpected as her health had been in decline for several years. My sister is executor, and her and my brother are moving pretty quickly to liquidate the estate. I live about 3 hours away from the old home place, but my siblings are still local.

I'm not thrilled with the speed at which my siblings are moving to settle the estate. All I will say is that I've done much better than they have and I can understand their excitement in receiving inheritance. I don't even want to discuss opinions on the speed at which this is happening.

There is about 11 acres of land, a fairly new mobile home, about a 45 x 32 garage that needs some repairs, and a number of older mobile homes on the property. Dad rented out mobile homes for many years, but stopped in the early 90s. I've been using a couple of them for sheet metal and parts storage since then.

My mom and dad lived on that property for more than 60 years, and it's the only place I remember living as a child. I knew the day was coming where my mom would pass away and I'd have to either buy out my siblings or move my stuff so they could sell the property. That day has arrived.

The real estate isn't particularly desirable, but it's definitely not a bad location either. The property is just outside the county seat, which is a south-central county location. The area is largely farm community and is dotted with small to medium sized homes. Most of the new development is taking place to the west and south-west of the county. It's unlikely there will be any demand from developers.

I would love to have the old home place. I thought about buying out my brother and sister, fixing the garage and using it for storage, and renting the mobile home. I currently own one rental house, and it's been a royal pain over the years. I know I would have a hard time dealing with a tenant that trashed mom's house, so I would be reluctant to rent it. I also thought about keeping the old home site as a second home.

I'm almost 57, so retirement isn't that far away. I've already been looking around the NC mountains for a place to retire and work on my cars. Buying the old home site would effectively kill the chance of getting a place in the mountains.

I know a lot of you guys on the board are in your 50s and 60s, so I'm curious about how many of you have been in a similar situation and might be able to offer some advice. Has anybody bought their childhood home and made it into a rental? How did it work out for you?

The estate consists of some money and the real estate mentioned, so I could sell a car or two and use my share of the cash to buy my siblings out. It could swing the financials without much difficulty and avoid taking on any additional debt. The other option is to go along with selling the property and use my share of the estate towards a retirement place in the mountains.

Anyway, I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Mike