taking a big leap...buying land

[jackson'smama]

the survey is getting scheduled today to plot off our future 10 acres.  we are getting a great deal and are paying cash.  plan to build at some point but there are a few things to think about,,,

1) we are renting  - have been for 5 years.  rent is less than half our former mortgage.  no lease.  landlords want us to stay b/c we take such good care of it(200 yr old log home on 4 acres).  i feel certain our rent will never go up.  if we couldn't pay it for a while (which is not a concern - just looking at our "benefits") - they'd be fine with it.  when things go wrong, they fix it or we do and subtract it from rent.  truly, it is ideal financially and for our kids - they love it - huge yard, fields, woods, garden, chickens...

2) always wanted to build our "dream house" across the road and now the land is about to become ours.

3) i work a day a week as an rn - otherwise, sah homeschooling with  three kids 6 and under.  we want to be able to remain in the current work situation so that i can continue to homeschool. 

is it the best time to build now with these "hostorically low rates"?  should we wait and just see what happens?  it seems like it's gonna be more expensive to own than rent.  if we want the land, now is THE time to buy it - the chance won't come again for multiple reasons (we can't believe they finally agreed to sell!)

advice?  i'm scared!  i've owned before, but i didn't have kids then and dh and i both worked fulltime.  i'm just a little scared of moving out of this comfort zone.

[AngieB]

It sounds like you are pretty happy where you are now and there is no hurry to build the house or move so I would not take out a loan and slowly build the dream house as I could afford it. Then in the end you wont have a mortgage or rent.

[tinuviel_k]

If you can manage it I would buy the land now and continue to rent your current place. You seem to be in a great house with lots of land, with super landlords. The low cost allows you to SAH with your kids. Get the land and sit on it for awhile!
While you rent you can take as much time as you want/need and work on saving up the money to build with as much cash as possible. There will be time to plan and build your house, and you will save so much by paying for as much of it as you can with cash.

[jackson'smama]

but what about the low interest rates now???????  that's what i can't stop thinking about.  by my calculations, we can afford almost double now what we we could when we owned our last home, just thanks to the lower interest rates right now. 

seems we're missing the boat if we wait.  tell me why we're not!

[tinuviel_k]

Are you thinking of taking out a building loan, then? (You mentioned you were buying the land with cash...) If so, figure out how much would your loan be, what is the interest rate for such a loan right now, and what has it been historically?

The question I'd ask is: how much money can you put away while renting the house you are in and owning the land across the street? If you can put away a good amount each month it might be worth your while to wait and use more cash, especially if your family's income goes up at some point.
If it will not be possible to save a good amount of money it might make more sense to build now when the rates are low IF you can afford the payments on the loan.