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House/possible move- decisions...
We love our neighborhood. And while we love our house & figured this could be our long-term (through kids in HS) house when we bought it- we also have long term plans to expand/change our home, convert a sunroom into year round living space, carport into 5th bedroom/mastersuite, etc. Not easy, but at the same time not total addition nightmare (?), and we could do a lot to our home w/o being in danger of over-improving.
A larger version of our home (additional bathroom, 5th bedroom instead of den, 2 car garage, larger deck,) on a more desirable lot has been for sale for almost a year. Price recently dropped. It is just out of reach if we took the traditional approach, however, if we sold our house for what we paid and then rented the larger house for 2 years (with the rent being less than what we currently pay for mort + taxes, etc.) we could do it. We e-mailed the seller (our former neighbor) and they are open to exploring this option.
I am so torn. Part of me is terrified by the thought of staging and trying to sell this place, and then there is the emotional attachment we have to it, changes we have made that we are proud of, the memories, etc. The other part of me says we should suck it up, make the sacrifice because it would probably cost us more to add onto/expand our house, plus the pain & suffering of living in a construction project is probably equal to staging a home w/ 2 young children, plus we can't improve our home's location, etc.
Re: House/possible move- decisions...
OMG - wow - that's exciting and terrifying!
Here would be my concerns - what if you have trouble selling your house? I know you love it, but that style isn't for everybody and it might take awhile to find a buyer and even then, what if you had to take a hit on it?
Also - how would this affect your future baby plans? IIRC, you are thinking you will go to 3.
Also - you've said before how annoying/exhausting all the home repairs and renovations are - are you ready to start over again? Also - waht about for the 2 years you're renting? You wouldn't be able to do anything.
Ditto, the market really sucks right now. Have you consulted a realtor as to what you might get for it now?
We have just begun researching the whole rent-to-own thing, basically our rental of that house would be contingent on us selling our home. We are prepared to price our home competitively for our community/area- there is a home on the market that is smaller than ours and not as nice that we would list lower than. We couldn't take a major hit, but do have a lot of equity in our home, so we can handle a small hit. We have already accepted that we would be taking a hit in terms of "losing" the money we spent improving our house.
The home we are considering has 3 bedrooms on the main floor, (3 up & 2 down.) Our house has 2 and 2. So space wise this house is much better for having another baby.
Based upon our initial research it looks like w/ a rent-to-own arrangement you are allowed to make improvements to the home because we would be renting w/ the intent to purchase the home. The kitchen on this house has already been completely re-done. Bathrooms are better than ours (and the additional bathroom is an ensuite master, which is what our house lacks.)
We need to walk through the house again- but basically this house is very close to what we would want our house to eventually be.
Blog
Planning Blog
Bio(With For Sale Items)
BTW - I think staging is over rated. If your house is relatively clean/organized (even if there's kid clutter) I don't think its a big deal.
Our house was "staged" and it still took 6 months and a 60K price drop to sell.
I think you should move. It sounds like a bit more stress now for a bigger payoff in the long run, especially since you seem to be in a good position for unloading your current house. My parents moved several times when we were little, and while I have nice memories of those previous houses, it's the house we moved to in second grade that I have the best memories of clearly. And for my parents, they have good memories but they also have a sense of "that house was great, this one is better" (better for various reasons.)
And it sounds like you are talking about some significant housework which I think would be a huge PITA with kids. Moving woudl be annoying but only for the few months it takes to sell.
I will say I do think staging is important. My parents sold their house last year - it was priced lower than other houses in the area when you factored in size and upgrades - and it sold in 3 months, and they got a few offers, but some basic staging really made the big difference. staging doesn't have to mean your house is completely different.
I'm going to just throw out some random thoughts:
If you list the house for what you paid for it, have you factored in realtor fees and closing costs? Most buyers today are pretty much demanding sellers pay a good chunk of closing costs. It doesn't mean you have to, but it's something to consider if you're trying to sell.
What is the possibility of actually renting both homes- renting yours from the seller and renting out yours? Since rates are good, you would probably get a good rate for your new home, and also if you refinance your current one. I'm sure you could get a renter to cover your mortgage.
Have you looked into different mortgage options for the new house: FHA vs conventional etc?
Would any of the comps in the neighborhood support your listing? Realtors can give you any number they think, and I wouldn't use what's currently on the market as a comp- use what has sold within the last 180 days.
We just spent the last month or so going through all of the above- listed our house, and decided to pull it. It is a terrible market to sell right now. Our realtor offered a stager and a professional photographer as part of his services. We had an offer within 5 days of listing but after the appraisal, we decided to no longer keep our house on the market.
What really hurt us was the appraisal. Appraisers don't care WHERE the house is. It doesn't matter to the appraiser if you are in a good school district etc. All they are looking at are comps of houses that have sold and the condition of your house.
I agree that if you can sell your house for a reasonable amount and in a reasonable amount of time, you should do it.
As pp have said, keeping a house clean/staged is a lot less aggravation than living in a construction zone. And renovations always take more time and money than initially anticipated.
Good luck!