Is this possible or are we being unrealistic and naive ?

[MarkJ]

Ummmm $50k for a house built in 2002?

Something's fishy


And it was sold in 2004 for $116,000

I know the USA is in bad times, but that bad???

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Ummmm $50k for a house built in 2002?
I know the USA is in bad times, but that bad???

Yes it is.
Here's 289 homes built between 2000 and 2013 for $50k and under in that immediate area.

Covington Real Estate & Covington Homes For Sale — Trulia.com

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by Bill4

We are quite homely people and live very modestly.

While you may well be homely, I think you probably meant to say that you and your wife are "homey."

(I know, it's just a typo, but it was too funny to resist. )

Originally Posted by Bill4

We want to... spend a maximum of $190,000 on a sailing catamaran about 40' in length. This will leave us with $290,000 to live on.

No it won't. I guarantee you that you are going to find things that need to be fixed right away. And then a boat and a home are different enough that you are going to need to spend some money getting yourself and the boat squared away for living aboard full-time. I think you will be VERY lucky if you don't find at least $10k-$20k worth of expenses that you have not accounted for within the first 3-4 months.

That's another good argument for spending a bit less on the boat. If your total budget for buying the boat and setting it up for living aboard is $190k then my advice would be to spend no more than $150k on the actual boat purchase. You can get a really nice boat for that sort of money in today's market.

Good luck to you!

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

While you may well be homely, I think you probably meant to say that you and your wife are "homey."

Yep...I remember my Dad had to tie a bone around my neck, when I was a lad, so the family dog would like me. I was that homely...

[europaflyer]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

While you may well be homely, I think you probably meant to say that you and your wife are "homey."

Nope, homely is correct in British English (English, as in spoken by the English living in England...). I didn't know about the alternative North American meaning until now! Damn colonials...

[Greenhand]

Originally Posted by europaflyer

Nope, homely is correct in British English (English, as in spoken by the English living in England...). I didn't know about the alternative North American meaning until now! Damn colonials...

Tisn't colonial - the OED has the unattractive meaning as primary.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by europaflyer

Nope, homely is correct in British English (English, as in spoken by the English living in England...). I didn't know about the alternative North American meaning until now! Damn colonials...

Not sure anyone speaks "English". Over there they speak British, over here American. Sometimes felt like I needed an interpreter on trips to the UK.

Asked the time, was told it was half 8. I thought they meant 4 o'clock.

I was so jet lagged I couldn't tell the difference anyway.

[Bash]

If it's homely you want, get over to Yachtworld and look up the Hans Christian Christina. For $100k you can get a turn-key liveaboard with all the cruising toys (such as SSB) already installed. That adds $90k to the cruising kitty, which will take a huge strain off making it 17 years on what you've got.

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Greenhand

Tisn't colonial - the OED has the unattractive meaning as primary.

Maybe that's what he means LOL

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Bash

If it's homely you want, get over to Yachtworld and look up the Hans Christian Christina. For $100k you can get a turn-key liveaboard with all the cruising toys (such as SSB) already installed. That adds $90k to the cruising kitty, which will take a huge strain off making it 17 years on what you've got.

I dont see anything homely about the Christina at all.

[Bill4]

Thank you all for your replies. I am feeling quite down after reading through the thread because the overwhelming consensus is that we do not have enough money to be able to do what we want to do. I cannot see us living and cruising on a monohull. Catamarans are what we know. I do not know where we go from here but it feels like our dream is broken.

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Bill4

Thank you all for your replies. I am feeling quite down after reading through the thread because the overwhelming consensus is that we do not have enough money to be able to do what we want to do. I cannot see us living and cruising on a monohull. Catamarans are what we know. I do not know where we go from here but it feels like our dream is broken.

Bill, it's not broken at all, maybe just delayed a year or two. At the prime earning capacity in your lives with probably minimal loans, this brief setback is nothing!!! If you have your heart's set on a 40 foot cat, just recalculate after another couple of year's work, I am sure this will be all that is needed to make your dream succeed. Your current plan just has absolutely nothing in reserve.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

Bill, it's not broken at all, maybe just delayed a year or two. At the prime earning capacity in your lives with probably minimal loans, this brief setback is nothing!!! If you have your heart's set on a 40 foot cat, just recalculate after another couple of year's work, I am sure this will be all that is needed to make your dream succeed. Your current plan just has absolutely nothing in reserve.

What many of us have done is a variation on this theme. Sell the house, buy the boat and move aboard and then continue working for a year or two while you tweak the boat and build up the kitty simultaneously. Suddenly, you've got 10% more in the kitty, and two years fewer to finance. Now you can afford to eat out once in a while, or at least drink something other than rum.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

I dont see anything homely about the Christina at all.

As someone with an advanced degree from a Scottish university, I was using "homely" in its very best sense. Admittedly, the term is ambiguous.

[europaflyer]

Originally Posted by Bill4

Thank you all for your replies. I am feeling quite down after reading through the thread because the overwhelming consensus is that we do not have enough money to be able to do what we want to do. I cannot see us living and cruising on a monohull. Catamarans are what we know. I do not know where we go from here but it feels like our dream is broken.

Come on, cheer up! Just get a smaller monohull. Much like cats, only heel a lot upwind which is great fun. Or just go for it! If you do run out of money, you could always just sell the cat, which would leave you with a healthy lump sum.

Originally Posted by Greenhand

Tisn't colonial - the OED has the unattractive meaning as primary.

Not my copy...

Originally Posted by skipmac

Sometimes felt like I needed an interpreter on trips to the UK.

Asked the time, was told it was half 8. I thought they meant 4 o'clock.

Never thought of that before! Careful when going to Germany as well, halb acht would mean 7:30.