The day for demolition is coming.  I’m going to call the Town of Hopkinton offices tomorrow to find out if the road is open yet.  I’m also going to find out what the fee is for the demolition permit so I can complete that paperwork and send it to Randy, the contractor, so it will be ready when the road opens.

I’m happy to see that the account at North Country Savings continues to grow, but I have some major misgivings regarding the payment of everyone’s share of the taxes.  First, I haven’t seen anything from one member of the Konsortium.  I won’t name names here, but it’s pretty obvious who it is if you look at the Google spreadsheet.  Couple that with the tardiness in the payments from others and I have to take a step back and reconsider things.  Yes, it’s true that most everyone is up on their payments in one way or another through March and this is currently April, but you have to remember that the tax bill and insurance will be escrowed with the monthly mortgage payment.  That means I need to have the tax money in the bank at the time the mortgage is paid, which will likely be sometime in the first ten days of every month.  I shouldn’t be burdened with the entire monthly bill every month while I wait for payments to come that might be delayed by months.

Another thing that has to be taken into consideration:  what if, Heaven forfend, I get laid off again?  It happened once, it can happen again.  Living in Florida, it’s certainly easier to find a good paying job, but the older I get, the more difficult that may become.  What happens to the monthly payment if there’s still a mortgage left and I’m out of a job for an extended period?  This must be considered as a possibility.  I certainly considered it when I bought my house; I wanted a mortgage payment reasonable enough that I might be able to cover it if I were to be laid off.  Good thing I thought about it because it helped keep me in my house during those lean months.  I’m going to have to consider the same things with the kamp if I can’t be assured that timely monthly payments could be made by the Konsortium.

And while it’s true that there is plenty of money in the NCSB account at the moment to cover all of these contingencies, remember that most of that money will be gone when construction is complete.  That’s the purpose of the majority of that money: to help pay for the construction.

So, with these things in mind, I’m altering the initial plan.  The size of the kamp will be reduced to the single story without the L-shaped wing for the sleeping area.  The original two-story plan called for two rooms downstairs that could be used as bedrooms, and those will remain in the floorplan.  This accomplishes two things.  First, it reduces the cost of construction, thus reducing the amount borrowed and the monthly payments.  Second, a smaller building will (hopefully) produce a smaller tax bill, which will also contribute to a smaller monthly payment.  This doesn’t mean that we can’t someday add that wing or the second story; it just means that it needs to be put on hold for the time being to be sure we have something and I can afford to make the payments without compromising the lifestyle to which I’ve grown accustomed.  🙂