To stay or sell... from a financial perspective (feedback, price, escrow)
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Keep the house and fix it. Take out a home improvement loan if you need to but I rather save the money and fix it as you go.
You can plan the renovati No over the years.
AC I wouldn’t do anything until you need to replace it. Then check out the cost of repair vs replace.
Roof same thing. Unless it’s leaking or you got missing tiles or need to do a tear off ...the cheapest route is to imstall new shingles over the old.
Kitchen.... unless your cabinets are trashed or water damaged you can do a resurface.
The new house assuming a 30 year you’re looking at 120,000 every 10 years so 360,000 upin additional costs. And you’ll need to refurbish that house also.
If the house fits the needs you would be insane to trade a low interest 1/3 paid off house for a new house with higher payments. ( you’re not taking into account you already paid 1/3 of this mortgage off. You’re just restarting the clock.
Hell put 1k a month away in a account and renovate as you save. That’s how I do it.
I actually love this idea... put 1k away per month to save for renovations. I hadn’t really thought of doing that, but we could do it...and we can just renovate as we go.
I never try and make a home buying decision based on a spreadsheet analysis. Ask yourself two questions. Question 1. Would buying a new house better meet our needs in the foreseeable future? Question 2. If so, can we afford it and still maintain an acceptable standard of living?
Basically the new house will cost you 30K more. Is that worth comfort of home? to me yes. You have to decide if spending 30K for better house is worth it. To me it sounds like you already made up your mind about moving but just trying to justify it. Go for it.
Your current house will sell for $350K and new house is $440K = 90K difference but you made $60K profit on the house. So 90k-60K = 30K differences
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlaskaErik
I never try and make a home buying decision based on a spreadsheet analysis. Ask yourself two questions. Question 1. Would buying a new house better meet our needs in the foreseeable future? Question 2. If so, can we afford it and still maintain an acceptable standard of living?
These sum it up for me. It's not really a financial decision to move, although finances could dictate a no answer if it really wasn't financially feasible.
But assuming it's feasible even if there is a financial cost to it, the real question is whether living in a home that suits you better is worth it. I put a lot of value on living in surroundings that are comfortable and that make me happy, so I would lean towards moving. You can get more room, esp. in the kitchen, and you can get a layout that works better for you. I wasn't clear from your posts if a move would also improve the quality of the schools you'd be zoned for, but if yes to that, then that's another enhancement.
But to me, assuming you can comfortably absorb the increased expenses (although it's not really $1000 more a month if you counter balance that against the money you'd be putting into the current house), and you decide that the quality of life improvement is worth it, then it's worth it.
I made the choice to move 4 years ago. We could have stayed where we were, but the layout wasn't working for me any more, and while I was happy with my son's elementary school, I was not very happy about our zoned middle and high schools. I liked my neighborhood a lot but knew that if we moved, it would be to another neighborhood that I also liked a lot. Financially, I could reasonably afford it on a cash flow basis because I was paying extra on my mortgage each month plus I had an HOA fee. I ended up with the same amount I was paying each month, because the extra from that HOA fee and the extra I paid each month made up that difference. Not that there weren't other costs, but I decided those were worth it to me because my monthly cash flow still worked, my retirement savings rate still worked, etc. And I am so happy we moved, the new house works perfectly for us and our lifestyle and the school has been great. I'm ok with incurring costs for something that improves my life.
Basically the new house will cost you 30K more. Is that worth comfort of home? to me yes. You have to decide if spending 30K for better house is worth it. To me it sounds like you already made up your mind about moving but just trying to justify it. Go for it.
Your current house will sell for $350K and new house is $440K = 90K difference but you made $60K profit on the house. So 90k-60K = 30K differences
I agree!
The current home doesn't work for you, so buy one that does. Even if you renovated it seems like you will need a lot of money for the home to work for your family!
If I was you I'd speak to a realtor and then to a lender and receive the actual numbers. That way you'll know exactly how much more your payments would be. To me if you have that much equity, your payments will not go up $1k. Moving would give you what you need with less of a hassle in the long run.
Incorrect, most areas allow two layers of shingles before a complete tear-off is required. I agree that in the long run a complete tear-off is a better investment as it typically lasts longer than a second layer.
After some research, I find that you are correct.
But, what I am seeing from roofing contractors is that they insist on 1 layer.
AFAIK the only time that needs to be done is if you got clay tile or wood shingles. If it’s asphalt shingles you should be able to to it. Maybe I’m wrong it’s been a while codes change.
Quote:
Originally Posted by keraT
Basically the new house will cost you 30K more. Is that worth comfort of home? to me yes. You have to decide if spending 30K for better house is worth it. To me it sounds like you already made up your mind about moving but just trying to justify it. Go for it.
Your current house will sell for $350K and new house is $440K = 90K difference but you made $60K profit on the house. So 90k-60K = 30K differences
How do you figure? The new house will cost a hell of a lot more than 30k. There is a lot more than the sell for this buy for that subtract this from that and bing bang boom done you got a new house. You need to add the costs over the term of the loan (closing costs, higher loan rate, higher property taxes, this new house will eventually need refurbishing etc) not just the way you’re adding. Not to mention the initial costs of sales commissions, closing and move in costs will eat a good portion of that potential 30,000 dollars.
So you still think the house is gonna cost only 30k more? .....Truthfully you really have no idea what the house will sell for nor did you take in account the other costs.
Financially it makes more sense to stay and remodel what’s already there. In the the long run it’s the cheaper route. And you can remodel the way you want not limited to what the builder offers
Are new homes being built any better than homes built 20 years ago? I don't know about that.
The two things that jump out to me are the school district and the kitchen.
If this isn't a decent school district and the kitchen isn't working, then it is time to look at neighborhoods with decent school districts and kitchens that would allow the whole family to cook together.
We lived for years in a house with a dreadful kitchen. Cost $40K+ to renovate it and took us four years to save up.
These were the four years that our kids were in middle school and wanted to help cook, but there simply wasn't room. We tried.
By the time they got to high school, we had a workable kitchen, but by then we had missed the moment.
We stayed in that home for years and came out all right.
When we bought our current home, I looked for an undervalued home in and undervalued neighborhood. Sic years later, homes around us are selling for 50% more.
I actually love this idea... put 1k away per month to save for renovations. I hadn’t really thought of doing that, but we could do it...and we can just renovate as we go.
^THIS. $12K a year will go a LONG way towards renovations, to boost retirement savings, and/or travel. I am of the mind that unless it's a MAJOR issue, there's no way I'd take on an additional $12K/year expense.
Does the $1000 mean you would finance over a much shorter term? I wouldn't take on a new 30 year mortgage as that will cost WAY more long term
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