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w8andsee
LIF Adult
Member since 10/09 1193 total posts
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To buy or not?
I was discussing this with a friend and didn't know how to respond. They have a small home that is paid off, but would like a bigger, newer home. However they also like to vacation a lot. If you were in the same situation, would you sell and buy something bigger? Keep the small house and buy a summer home? Or just stay put and do more traveling. One spouse will be retiring in 10 years.
They can't afford to buy the bigger home and vacation.
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Posted 6/11/18 1:47 PM  |
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NervousNell
Just another chapter in life..
Member since 11/09 54921 total posts
Name:
..being a mommy and being a wife!
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Re: To buy or not?
We are in the same situation. We just paid our house off this month.
It is an AMAZING feeling to have no more mortgage.
But our house is woefully small.
You can barely turn around in both bathrooms.
No basement
A crawl space for an attic that is hardly even usable for storage due to cross beams.
A kitchen that you bump into each other if we are both in there trying to cook together.
It's really the size of an apartment IMO
However, I have no desire to move. We only have one child, so while the house is small, it's doable. If we had 2 children we would be expanding our current house by putting a second floor on, rather than moving. I like our yard, our location, our school.
But for now, we are enjoying the extra money per month, going to start saving more, I will eventually lease a new car for myself, and yes, put the money towards more travelling.
Personally I wouldn't do a summer house either because I'd prefer to go to different locations and if I bought a summer home I'd feel obligated to always vacation there.
Message edited 6/11/2018 2:00:03 PM.
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| Posted 6/11/18 1:54 PM |
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NYCGirl80
I love my kiddies!
Member since 5/11 10413 total posts
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Re: To buy or not?
Too many variables to answer that. Do they have kids in school? Do they like their area? Do they have the money to expand their house? How small is the house actually? There's small and then there's tiny.
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| Posted 6/11/18 1:56 PM |
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blu6385
Member since 5/08 8351 total posts
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Re: To buy or not?
I would also need more input. Is it only them? Kids? How much time now do they spend home?
My parents are looking to travel when they retire soon and they are looking to downsize. Now there house is paid off so I did tell them I would think it would be better they just kept the house for when they are not traveling cause there cost would really only be taxes and I am not sure they can find somewhere to rent that cheap. I can tell you if they sell and they do need another place it would be much smaller.
Either way I can tell you I would not buy a summer home if they want to travel. Buying a summer home to me would mean that is where I am going every year for my vacation.
Now if this summer home would be where they will retire too and stay there forever then I would buy it assuming that I can buy that home and still travel after I retire. If I can't travel still then again no to a summer home.
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| Posted 6/11/18 2:29 PM |
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w8andsee
LIF Adult
Member since 10/09 1193 total posts
Name:
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Re: To buy or not?
Posted by NYCGirl80
Too many variables to answer that. Do they have kids in school? Do they like their area? Do they have the money to expand their house? How small is the house actually? There's small and then there's tiny.
Yes, they have 2 kids in middle school. They like the area and the schools just wish they had a bigger home with a bigger property. They are currently in your typical starter home (approx 1200 square feet). Kids share a room. They don't want to deal with the headache that comes with expanding.
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| Posted 6/11/18 2:44 PM |
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w8andsee
LIF Adult
Member since 10/09 1193 total posts
Name:
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Re: To buy or not?
Posted by blu6385
I would also need more input. Is it only them? Kids? How much time now do they spend home?
They have 2 kids in middle school and spend a majority of the time at home.
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| Posted 6/11/18 2:46 PM |
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GoldenRod
10 years on LIF!
Member since 11/06 26792 total posts
Name:
Shawn
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Re: To buy or not?
Posted by w8andsee
Posted by NYCGirl80
Too many variables to answer that. Do they have kids in school? Do they like their area? Do they have the money to expand their house? How small is the house actually? There's small and then there's tiny.
Yes, they have 2 kids in middle school. They like the area and the schools just wish they had a bigger home with a bigger property. They are currently in your typical starter home (approx 1200 square feet). Kids share a room. They don't want to deal with the headache that comes with expanding.
The headache of expanding is not necessarily more or less of a headache than buying and maintaining a summer home, or selling and buying a bigger home.
If avoiding a headache is high on their list, they should just just keep the house situation as-is, and vacation more.
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| Posted 6/11/18 2:53 PM |
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SusiBee
. . . . .
Member since 3/09 8268 total posts
Name:
S
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Re: To buy or not?
Too many variables to give an answer.
I would have to decide what was more important.
With retirement looming in 10 years, would I want to take on more debt ?
My answer would be no. I'd rather take these remaining 10 years to build up my retirement savings so that I can continue vacationing after retirement.
(I'm at this stage in my life, planning my retirement)
Would it be possible for them to add on or modify their existing home ?
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| Posted 6/11/18 2:54 PM |
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MsSissy
xoxoxo
Member since 3/07 39159 total posts
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Re: To buy or not?
Do they really need a bigger home or just want a bigger home?
And if they paid off their home it means they've been in it for a while. So why now? If it was doable all those years, why bring on another mortgage?
I'd stay put!
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| Posted 6/11/18 3:12 PM |
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NervousNell
Just another chapter in life..
Member since 11/09 54921 total posts
Name:
..being a mommy and being a wife!
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Re: To buy or not?
Posted by w8andsee
Posted by NYCGirl80
Too many variables to answer that. Do they have kids in school? Do they like their area? Do they have the money to expand their house? How small is the house actually? There's small and then there's tiny.
Yes, they have 2 kids in middle school. They like the area and the schools just wish they had a bigger home with a bigger property. They are currently in your typical starter home (approx 1200 square feet). Kids share a room. They don't want to deal with the headache that comes with expanding.
Honestly, IMO it's a bigger headache to find a house, coordinate it with the sale of your current house, pack, move, unpack.
Expanding seems to me to be the less headachey option.
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| Posted 6/11/18 3:27 PM |
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LuckyStar
LIF Adult
Member since 7/14 7274 total posts
Name:
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To buy or not?
I'd buy the bigger house. No question. I'd rather spend time every day in a place I loved than travel a few times a year.
My house is only a bit larger than theirs and I cannot imagine having two middle schoolers here. I have one toddler and feel like I'm running out of space.
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| Posted 6/11/18 8:33 PM |
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To buy or not?
My house is 1275 sqft.... choppy layout since it’s a split. We are a family of 4 and I don’t feel cramped. I have a crawl space the length of my house for storage and it forces us to not overbuy. I LOVE to clean and purge... and I mean love. I’m very organized and keep my house clutter free AND I have all the kids stuff which thankfully has gotten smaller after 1! I would honestly just keep the house and travel more. Why live for a house when that house is paid off? Travel more, go places etc. she has financial freedom! I wouldn’t take on more. I wouldn’t buy a vacation house because I would like to go to more than one place and i feel like if you aren’t there all the time who will maintain it?
Message edited 6/12/2018 5:25:49 AM.
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| Posted 6/11/18 8:59 PM |
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LSP2005
Bunny kisses are so cute!
Member since 5/05 19458 total posts
Name:
L
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Re: To buy or not?
1200 sq feet for four people is really small. I would not buy a vacation home. Realistically the kids are home for less than eight years. Do they want to have a bigger house for those eight years? If they want to travel, I would say budget for travel. I would not get a vacation home.
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| Posted 6/11/18 10:38 PM |
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Re: To buy or not?
Posted by NervousNell
We are in the same situation. We just paid our house off this month.
It is an AMAZING feeling to have no more mortgage.
Congrats!!!! I’m so jealous lol the day my mortgage AND student loans are paid off I think we are just going to take off on a vacation with no return date! That will be without a doubt the best day! Aside from
When my kids were born lol
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| Posted 6/12/18 5:27 AM |
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NervousNell
Just another chapter in life..
Member since 11/09 54921 total posts
Name:
..being a mommy and being a wife!
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Re: To buy or not?
Posted by TwinMommyToBoys
Posted by NervousNell
We are in the same situation. We just paid our house off this month.
It is an AMAZING feeling to have no more mortgage.
Congrats!!!! I’m so jealous lol the day my mortgage AND student loans are paid off I think we are just going to take off on a vacation with no return date! That will be without a doubt the best day! Aside from
When my kids were born lol
LOL thanks.
We paid it off in just under 17 years. DH was fastidious about always sending extra money each month and marking it to go towards principal so it paid down pretty quickly by doing that.
We figured if we threw that extra $400 a month into our savings account it would make next to no interest, so why not put it towards getting rid of a loan with a higher interest rate you know?
And now that that huge monthly nut is gone, we can start building our savings back up
Message edited 6/12/2018 9:51:47 AM.
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| Posted 6/12/18 8:47 AM |
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LSP2005
Bunny kisses are so cute!
Member since 5/05 19458 total posts
Name:
L
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Re: To buy or not?
Nell, congratulations! That is amazing!
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| Posted 6/12/18 12:45 PM |
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To buy or not?
This is a constant argument that I have with myself.
We have a mid-sized house, but the layout is really really poor. We'd ideally like to add a full second floor and remodel to fix the layout, or figure out a way to remodel with a small addition that would fix the issues, but then part of me is like, who cares if the layout is stupid, it's livable, and I'd rather go on vacation or buy a vacation home. Also, we have two kids, which is part of why the layout isn't the best, but at the same time they have a roof over their heads and they'll hopefully move out in 18-20 years, so is it really worth pouring money into the house just to make it a little more comfortable.
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| Posted 6/12/18 2:04 PM |
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NervousNell
Just another chapter in life..
Member since 11/09 54921 total posts
Name:
..being a mommy and being a wife!
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Re: To buy or not?
Posted by LSP2005
Nell, congratulations! That is amazing!
Aww thank you.
My house is tiny, and while it certainly is not what I would call my dream home, it feels so much nicer now that it's paid off!
Message edited 6/12/2018 2:37:54 PM.
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| Posted 6/12/18 2:35 PM |
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LuckyStar
LIF Adult
Member since 7/14 7274 total posts
Name:
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To buy or not?
Omg Nell that is amazing. Congratulations!!!!!
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| Posted 6/12/18 2:42 PM |
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NervousNell
Just another chapter in life..
Member since 11/09 54921 total posts
Name:
..being a mommy and being a wife!
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Re: To buy or not?
Posted by LuckyStar
Omg Nell that is amazing. Congratulations!!!!!
Thank you so much! 
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| Posted 6/12/18 3:25 PM |
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luvbuffet
LIF Adult
Member since 7/10 6470 total posts
Name:
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Re: To buy or not?
Keep the small house and buy a 2 fam vacatioN home and Airbnb the shiiiiiiit out of it.
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| Posted 6/13/18 12:24 AM |
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Aries14
Can't plan life...
Member since 8/08 2860 total posts
Name:
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To buy or not?
I personally would buy the bigger house. I would enjoy living in a home I love and feel comfortable in way more than fancy vacations. You will most likely live in this house for the rest of your life (or at least for many more years..). I would rather enjoy it everyday than a big vacation. You can always find cheaper ways to go on vacation in my opinion.
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| Posted 6/13/18 9:02 AM |
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Re: To buy or not?
Posted by LSP2005
1200 sq feet for four people is really small. I would not buy a vacation home. Realistically the kids are home for less than eight years. Do they want to have a bigger house for those eight years? If they want to travel, I would say budget for travel. I would not get a vacation home.
I think whether it's tiny depends. Many ranches in the area I sell in often (Wantagh, Bellmore, Merrick) are around 1200 square feet, but they have full basements. Basements aren't included in the square footage but, if finished, can practically double the living space.
I think it's hard to weigh in, because it's a personal decision. But I would probably keep the smaller house and use the extra money I have to enjoy traveling or get a time share or vacation house.
If the kids are already in middle school, they presumably will be out of the house more and more as they get older and into high school, and they could possibly be going away to college in a few years.
A lot of my clients seem to overestimate the amount of space they need. A big yard? How big is necessary? I mean, a standard size lot is usually big enough to have room to bbq/entertain, even put in a small pool. We only use our yards maybe 5 months out of the year on a regular basis.
A lot of my clients talk about needing huge amounts of space to entertain, but most people host a holiday a couple of times a year and can make it work with the space they have.
But if your friends were the type of people who didn't like to travel and wanted a huge yard to make it a resort like setting -- big pool, cabana, etc. -- and planned to stay home all the time and enjoy it, that's different.
It's just about personal priorities. For me, if I had made a house work for an number of years and it was paid off, I wouldn't necessarily upgrade unless there was a reason (e.g., a friend just remarried and now there are twice as many kids in the mix, and they bought a bigger house together to start fresh).
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| Posted 6/13/18 9:36 AM |
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bunnyluck
LIF Adult
Member since 1/14 3196 total posts
Name:
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To buy or not?
I'd definitely choose the vacations and life experiences over extra space. What are they going to do in the extra space? I'm doing the opposite, going from 3000 sq ft to 1250 and am so looking forward to it. Less cleaning, less maintenance, easier living!
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| Posted 6/13/18 11:46 AM |
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lululu
LIF Adult
Member since 7/05 9511 total posts
Name:
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Re: To buy or not?
Posted by luvbuffet
Keep the small house and buy a 2 fam vacatioN home and Airbnb the shiiiiiiit out of it.
This is actually a great idea.
Our house is a good size but we are on a very small piece of property. I have always said that I want to move to a similar size house but on a bigger piece of property. However, we live on a great street with awesome neighbors so we will never move. Instead we bought a ski house (really it's a tiny condo) and a Summer house (also a relatively small condo). Now we rent those out which helps with the cost, and we also belong to a vacation exchange program where we make our house available to members certain weeks and we in turn earn points to use other peoples vacation homes. We just got back from an amazing week long vacation in Bermuda that cost us little more than the airfare.
I would MUCH rather have a less than ideal home and be able to travel and give my kids and myself life experiences. Not to mention I love it when I am at either of our vacation properties because you can literally clean the whole house in about a half an hour! We don't have much "stuff" there so we do a lot of things outdoors. It's just such a nicer way to live if you ask me. Even if my current house was smaller than it was I think I would still feel the same way. And FWIW I have three children ages 6, 7 & 10 so it's not like I am short on kids....
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| Posted 6/13/18 7:23 PM |
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