When do you know it's time to "move up" in house?

[hueyeats]

Good for you!

[Osito]

I was going to say "when my stuff starts taking up too much room" but yes making enough money to cover a bigger space would help too.

[gigimac]

If your offer right now doesn't pan out, you can still plan to move up in housing, but perhaps not quite as much money as the one that brought you into the house-hunting world again so quickly. That was just a deal that was uncovered, but at a price that had you somewhat concerned.

But I think looking now is a good idea, not only because of the coincidental push with the first deal, but because of your baby addition, and in general your description of your neighborhood. You are a parent and this changes the way you look at your environment, has you checking your resources as to what you COULD do to improve things, add space, etc. But I'm also advising the extravagance of a home versus your REAL financial comfort zone is what I'm saying to adjust to. I think you'll be fine going for the house you have an offer on now, so if it works out, great. But if it falls thru, regroup for just a little bit, imagine your dream house features, reduce your price point, and then go have a fun look-see for what is out there that would perfectly suit your needs, but still watching the numbers. Look for something in between your current home's value and the value of the one you're looking to buy, altho I must admit, advice to buy a little more than you can afford is actually not a bad idea. Because sometimes when you move somewhere, you never move again.

And watch that balance on selling house money versus purchase price. Also, do not drain savings. Keep stuff realistic. I know you know what you're doing, but I wanted to simply suggest you pick a larger house but in a lower price range than you just happened to be steered into doing just because a deal showed up shortly after you expanded your family. It's a little too quick, too arbitrary. But glad you're into it now, hope the deal works out if that's really what you want in a home, and I just have to say: One time I couldn't find what I was looking at in what I thought was my price range, so on a whim I looked just below my price point, and guess what!? I found the PERFECT house, heaven-sent, for far less than what I had been looking at.

[MaseMan]

Thanks for the input, everyone. The offer we put in actually was accepted (after we upped it a bit due to another offer coming in). Now we have to sell our current home. Have had it on the market now for one week, so we'll see what happens.