I need help. I don't know what to do over here. We have been faced with an opportunity to buy a spectacular house (house #1), about 1.5 years before we were ready. It is a house that meets all of our "dream house" requirements (big garage, basement, trees, storage, more storage, dormer windows, hardwood floors, four bedroom (potentially), fireplace, lots of character). AND it is a house that seems underpriced. AND the realtor selling it is WILLING TO BUY OUR HOUSE (house #2) in order to get us into house #1. (He owns house #1 and needs to get rid of it ASAP and would buy our's and turn around and put it on the market. Basically, it would be easier for him to sell house #2 in the current market than house #1) If it all sounds confusing, then, well, you get it. We have been going around and around about this for a few weeks now. If we decide yes, it literally means moving in (sit down Kelly. Are you sitting down? Sit down.) ...... February. Yep. FEBRUARY. With no hassle of trying to sell house #2 for us.
Of course, the big elephant in the room is "Can we afford house #1?" The answer is well, no. I mean, yes. I mean, no. Okay, we could afford this house if we made some sacrifices. I mean, Friday night pizza night would be gone. Less Doodlebops concerts and more meals at home. Less needless running around wasting gas at $40 per fill up. I mean, the kids would get fed but we'd all have to wear our winter coats inside. LOL Just kidding. But you get the point.
This is a house we would stay in for the duration. Like, for sure until the kids were in college. Maybe even, gulp, forever. It's that nice people. (Seriously, it's not like a friggin' mansion with maid service or anything, just meets all of our requirements in a big way).
So we don't know what to do. Recession? Housing market crashing? Interest rates might increase if recession hits (we can get 5.25% right now)? Selling our current house might take 1 year if we didn't go with this opportunity? There are few houses in our price range in Bton that meet our requirements? What if something goes wrong? What if we have an emergency happen? Part of me says, "DO IT!" and part of me says, "I'm too scared. It is all happening so fast." yes. no. yes. no. yes. no.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! Any ideas?
I'm writing this blog to keep friends and family up to speed on what's happening at our house! Also, I hope it will create a nice "memory book"... a reminder of sorts about what life was like when my kids were little. I post updates about my kids, my life, my thoughts, my feelings. Let's face it..life is anything but a piece of cake!
Followers
Kate, K, Katie bird
Loves: Kindergarten, reading, dancing, playing Barbies, everything princess, and making new friends
Dislikes: white milk, big changes in life, having to say goodbye, and onions
Dislikes: white milk, big changes in life, having to say goodbye, and onions
5 comments:
Hey there... well my initial thought is do it (!!!) but given the state of affairs with the economy and particularly the housing sector it is a scary time for home buying/selling.
Also, we were shocked in some ways by the cost of buying a more expensive home. A home that we loved and still love & while we thought of the hidden costs of buying a more expensive home (silly things such as the cost of heating a bigger home and the care of a home, even a brand new home...) the reality for us was the first six months were some what daunting.
Once we got used to increased costs however it was/has been worth it. In addition, our house was much lower in cost than it should have been (or so we think - the guy wanted to sell - motivated - so he kept dropping the price which was to our advantage) but we also worried about the whys and what ifs of that until we found the reason he was moving (he was getting remarried to woman who also owned a home and they bought some 1/2 million dollar home in another part of town - our house was perfectly fine just not in the posh section of town that he wanted to live!)
We luckily got out of our 1st house before the proverbial shit hit the fan in the housing market. We gave up our 1st house invariably for a teeny tiny profit. I also think (have come to realize) that if you choose to live in Bloomington IN and you buy a home here you are not going to make a (huge) profit. Especially on the lower end BUT even at the higher end of the range - I feel lucky to have SORT OF broken even (we actually lost money when we added up the updates and repairs we made to our 1st home but potato/potayto) Bloomington is not like the SF Bay area or Manhattan or Chicago. You buy a home here and no matter how long you live in the home in B-town it is not going to sky rocket in value like some locations.
That is what I learned from buying & selling a home here (totally my opinion... I suppose if I spent 30 years in our house I would hope to turn some kind of profit but who knows...) Probably things you already know or thought of.
That said the house is BEAUTIFUL! We actually were saying recently that while we love our home now we also wish we could have waited a bit longer because we can afford a much more expensive home now with the things that are so lovely about this home (LIKE THE YARD - OMG! and granite counter tops... It is fabulous!!!!)
Great schools too! Brian is a good guy. That is who we bought our home from and he tends to deal in higher end homes and is fairly honest about things with reference to a given home. 4500 sq feet!!! WOW! I love that. Not sure I am being helpful. Obviously this is your personal decision.
I think after all of that being said I would totally DO IT! As you said it means giving up some things for a while but you will also settle in and find that the things you felt you had to give up will slowly go away as you adjust to changes in your budget (does that make sense?!) We have adjusted and found that it is not as bad as we initially thought! I am rambling. I will go now. Hope that is helpful!
I say go for it. If you can make it work with only a few minor budget adjustments I'm sure it will be worth it. I agree with Christina that your budget will just flex and pretty soon you won't even notice it! The house is gorgeous!!! I think it's amazing that the realtor will buy your current house especially since that's the problem that most potential home buyers face right now...selling their existing home.
good luck!
Ok, so after I had my good cry last night, which stemmed from completely selfish emotions (damn pregnancy hormones), I have to tell you that I am so excited for you guys and I can't wait for you to (hopefully) get your dream house! I'll even suck it up and help you pack and move. ;) Keep me posted!
Hi there....I found you by googling doodlebop birthday cakes....you must mention something about the beloved doodlebops on your blog.....so I have been reading about your fam, and checked out the beautiful house you are wanting to purchase...LOVE IT!! I hope you will be able to purchase it!! I have a 2 and 1 year old and live in Colorado!! Anyway, just wanted to say hi and good luck with the house!!
Buy it. I know how much you are already in love with it, and you're right, it's AMAZING! Opportunities like this, to get your dream house, your old house sold for you with no effort needed on your part, the low mortgage rates... need I say more, don't come along very often. It's a sign. You'll grow into the house and money always has a way of working itself out. I have plenty of old blankets and can make you guys another to help keep heating costs low. ;)
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