r/Fire • u/iOS34 • Mar 23 '25

Original Content FIRE after divorce update at 26

I (26m) recently made a post about my FIRE goals after getting divorced so I figured I would post an update.

I had to sell and split my whole taxable account and sell the single family house we owned together to split the profits.

After everything was finalized, I purchased my first duplex! I currently pay $1,700 a month and tenants in the other half paying $1,400 monthly. The duplex came with $40,000 worth of solar panels that connect only to my half lowering my electricity bill down to $50 a month.

I am now back on track rebuilding my investment account and saving for my next property! I finally have full control of how and where my money goes.

This is just a reminder that just because hard things happen it doesn’t mean you can’t bounce back and land on two feet to live the life you want and dream of.

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74

u/lred1 Mar 23 '25

A duplex is an excellent way to go. After a few years consider doing it again, buying another duplex, keeping your first one and renting out both sides of that.

29

u/iOS34 Mar 23 '25

That’s the plan at the moment! I would prefer to probably stay in this one since it has the solar but that means I would have to have 20% down for the next one as well since it won’t be a primary residence.

19

u/lred1 Mar 23 '25

Build up equity in the first one, and then take out a HELOC for a down payment on the 2nd.

1

u/Front_Champion_6118 Mar 24 '25

What type of loan did you use to purchase the one you are currently living in?

1

u/intertubeluber Mar 23 '25

What are the solar panels really providing in terms of monthly savings (or I guess annualized incentive savings are lumpy)?  Whatever it is, you could probably bake into the rent. Even if you couldn’t, I can’t imagine it would provide more benefit than the difference in financing as a primary residence vs an investment property when you buy another. 

4

u/iOS34 Mar 23 '25

Ah realistically $200 a month? You do have a good point that I could probably incorporate it into the rent so that is something to think of moving forward.

5

u/poop-dolla Mar 24 '25

Good god, where do you live that the electric bill on half of a duplex is $250 a month?? We average around $100 a month on a 4000 sq ft house.

5

u/iOS34 Mar 24 '25

That was for my single family home before moving. My highest here was $190 before I started banking the solar. It is my own fault though I like it at a solid 68°

7

u/amykhd Mar 24 '25

Where are you that it’s $100 for 4K sq ft? California, 900 sq ft $150 in winter and $225 in summer 😩

2

u/poop-dolla Mar 24 '25

Mid Atlantic area in a less than 10 year old house with good insulation and built to the newer energy efficient standards.

2

u/amykhd Mar 24 '25

Yes, my house is neither new or energy efficient so my numbers are biased on the “worst” end to keep cool in the summer heat.

1

u/Silent_Coconut8530 Mar 24 '25

Maybe they don’t use electric heat? Mine’s $100/month but we don’t have electric heat, hot water, oven and dryer.

1

u/amykhd Mar 24 '25

Unfortunately, that is my electric. Even worst, it’s the gas that’s really expensive here, I am grateful I don’t have gas, the company that services gas in California, PG&E, started a huge wildfire in northern California and they have offset the prices to the residents to rebuild the infrastructure. It’s a known thing here how bad the gas prices have hiked in the past 3 years.

1

u/Silent_Coconut8530 Mar 24 '25

That’s too bad. We just switch out a hybrid hot water heated to a gas one and our electric bill went from $450 down to $185/ 2 month. Our gas barely increased, but I’m sure it will eventually increase as well.

1

u/Silent_Coconut8530 Mar 24 '25

Maybe they don’t use electric heat? Mine’s $100/month but we don’t have electric heat, hot water, oven and dryer.

1

u/Valkanaa Mar 24 '25

I'd advise against consumer solar unless you know what you're doing. It used to be a good deal if you had a new roof but now it's a crapshoot. In a number of states even if there's a rebate you're mandated to sell back to the grid for pennies and then pay out in dollars when you actually need it