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What to Do When Your House Is Too Big for You?

December 7, 2023 | Leave a Comment

Large white two story home with a pool in the front.

My husband and I moved last year from Arizona to New York. Our three kids were 18, 14, and 12. Unfortunately, we only had one week in New York to find a house before the move, which limited our choices. Our first two offers on other homes fell through, so we ended up with our third choice, a 2,040-square-foot, four-bedroom house. However, our oldest decided to move out of state for college, so quickly we had a house that was too big for our family. My husband and I have discussed this situation at length, as having this size house seems wasteful.

What to Do When Your House Is Too Big for You?

Ultimately, even though the house is too big for us and will only get bigger as our younger two grow up and move out in the next five to seven years, we’ll stay in the house until we’re much older, likely our 70s or 80s. We plan to stay in this house for 20 to 30 years more. Here’s why:

We’ve Already Put Significant Repair Money In This House

When we moved in, the house had several issues we needed to address; the most important was the leaky basement. We’ve spent a few thousand dollars on repairing the leaks. In addition, we’ve had to fix the garage door, replace the washer, dryer, and stove (all were original to the house and broke within the first year we moved in), and update the electrical outlets. We don’t want to think about moving again only to have to update another house. Now that we have this one in good working order, we’d like to stay here.

The Interest Rate

Person with three blocks. Each block on the end has a percentage sign, and the block in the middle has a house

We bought this house when interest rates were on the rise. I was unhappy to pay 5.375 percent interest when we bought the house in August 2022, but now, when I look at how high mortgage interest rates are, I’m happier with the rate we have. If we moved within the next year or two, we’d have a much higher interest rate and a payment that would be several hundred dollars more per month even if we bought a house at the same price we bought our current home.

Smaller Houses Aren’t That Much Cheaper

In our area, most houses are two-story houses the same size as ours. There are fewer smaller, one-story houses. They’re hard to find, and when you do find them, most tend to be in less desirable areas, making eventual resale more difficult.

In addition, we don’t find utilities for our house expensive. Utility prices are cheaper here than in Arizona, so moving to a smaller home wouldn’t make much of a difference when it comes to those costs.

Kids Might Move Back for a While

Even though all of our kids might leave to go away to college, one or two of them might return for a while. I had an interrupted path through college myself and moved back home two times for a total of four years I lived with my mom after I graduated high school between the ages of 18 and 27. Our children might do the same, and it would be nice to have room for them.

We’ll (Hopefully) Need a Big House When We Have Grandkids

Our kids are now 19, 15, and 13. Within the next 10 to 15 years, we likely will have grandkids. When we do, we want to have a big house to accommodate our grandkids and all of our kids’ families when they come to visit. Staying in this home makes that possible; moving to a smaller home does not.

The House Will Grow in Value and Appeal to Families When We Move

Our subdivision is filled with families since most of the homes are larger. The subdivision was built 20 years ago, but it’s still well-maintained and a desirable place to live in our small city. I don’t see that changing, so selling will hopefully be easier when we are ready to move. In addition, we’re hopeful that our home will continue to increase in value, especially as we make necessary changes and improvements.

We Hate Moving

Man and woman packing up boxes

Finally, we hate moving! We have had three major moves during our marriage: from Michigan to Illinois, from Illinois to Arizona, and from Arizona to New York. Moving requires a large time commitment and is also expensive. Since we’re already settled in this house, we see no point in moving again.

The Downsides of Living in This Home

Of course, even though we have many reasons to stay in this house, there are downsides to keeping a house that is too big for us.

Yard Maintenance Is Time-Consuming

Our property is .67 acres, so mowing takes approximately 1.5 to 2 hours each week in the summer. We currently use a self-propelled mower, but as we age, we could buy a riding lawn mower to make the job easier and less time-consuming.

In addition, our yard has five pine trees and four maple trees. For most of the spring and summer, the pine trees drop pine cones that we need to rake up before we mow. In the fall, the leaves can take 10 to 20 hours or more to clear from our property. We plan to cut down some of these trees in the next few years, which should also help reduce yard maintenance.

No First Floor Bedroom

Some of the two-story houses we looked at had one first-floor bedroom, which would be helpful as we age. However, our house has all the bedrooms upstairs. The downstairs does have two living rooms, so we could convert one into a bedroom. However, the bathroom downstairs is a half-bath, so we would also need to remodel the bathroom. That will be an expensive endeavor.

Final Thoughts

What should you do when you have a house that is too big for you? You’ll have to consider all variables, as we have, to decide if it’s worthwhile to stay in place or if moving makes more sense.

Read More

Should You Buy a House in a Bad School District?

How to Reduce Your Household’s Water Consumption

Is It Child-Approved? The Best Home Buying Checklist When You’re House Hunting with Kids

Melissa Batai
Melissa Batai

Melissa is a writer and virtual assistant. She earned her Master’s from Southern Illinois University, and her Bachelor’s in English from the University of Michigan. When she’s not working, you can find her homeschooling her kids, reading a good book, or cooking. She resides in Arizona where she dislikes the summer heat but loves the natural beauty of the area.

Filed Under: Real Estate Tagged With: big house, empty nest, home ownership, real estate

Should You Buy a House in a Bad School District?

February 2, 2023 | Leave a Comment

Should You Buy a House in a Bad School District?

My husband and I have lived in three different states. When we lived in Chicago, we chose a working-class neighborhood with bad schools. That was the only area where we could afford rent. (Buying a house was out of the question because of the high property taxes and our relatively low income.) When we lived in Arizona, we chose a good neighborhood with a meh school district. Finally, now that we live in New York, we live in a lovely community with a good school district. Sometimes when you’re house shopping, you find a nice house in a lousy school district within a good neighborhood. Should the quality of the school district be a deal breaker? The answer is, it depends.

Should You Buy a House in a Bad School District?

Of course, if the house is in a bad school district and neighborhood, you likely should pass. (Remember, location is everything when buying a home.) However, if the neighborhood is safe and sound, you have options.

Can Your Kids Go to School Out-of-District?

Some areas of the country allow a certain number of children to go to school out-of-district. If this is the case where you are, and there are good schools nearby, consider this option. You will avoid your neighborhood school that is less than desirable. You get a nice house, and your kids attend a good school. The only drawback is that you will likely need to drive them, and their commute to school will be longer than if they went to school locally.

Is Private School an Option?

When we lived in the Chicago suburbs, we had an academically solid private school within walking distance. However, we couldn’t afford the full tuition. Luckily, we applied for financial aid and received a significant tuition cut. Our child attended that school for three years.

Even if you think you can’t afford private school, you may find that with financial aid, it becomes an option.

Could You Homeschool?

Should You Buy a Home in a Bad School District

Another option is to homeschool. If you choose this route, it doesn’t matter what neighborhood you live in. When we moved to Arizona, we had been homeschooling our three children for one year. Because we didn’t have to consider the schools, we could find a fixer-upper in a nice neighborhood with a not-so-great school district. When we moved eight years later, our house sold for over asking to a couple in their 50s who also didn’t care about the school district.

If, instead, we had considered the school district, we would have had to buy a house in a neighborhood that was outside our price range. We would have struggled financially to make a house payment in that neighborhood. Homeschooling offers you incredible freedom.

Final Thoughts

When house hunting, remember location is everything. If you find a good house in a nice neighborhood with a bad school district, don’t automatically rule that house out. You have options for your children’s education that don’t require you to live in the best school district in the area.

Read More

Learning Through Games: 5 Best Educational Gift Ideas for Kids

Is It Child Approved? The Best Home Buying Checklist When You’re House Hunting with Kids

Yaaa, We Sold Our House. . .We Hope

Melissa Batai
Melissa Batai

Melissa is a writer and virtual assistant. She earned her Master’s from Southern Illinois University, and her Bachelor’s in English from the University of Michigan. When she’s not working, you can find her homeschooling her kids, reading a good book, or cooking. She resides in Arizona where she dislikes the summer heat but loves the natural beauty of the area.

Filed Under: Home and Living Tagged With: education, home ownership

Four Home Ownership Costs to Consider Before Buying

August 19, 2015 | Leave a Comment

Thinking of buying a house? Here are four home ownership costs you need to consider before signing on the dotted line.For some, homeownership is a huge goal. At one point, it was one of my goals too. I fantasized about owning a home of my own every day until it happened. Though we did, what we thought was a lot of homework before buying, there was still so much we didn’t know, or think about, until the time came.

Here are four home ownership costs to consider before buying.

How much money do you need, after closing?

We knew we’d need the downpayment, but we weren’t exactly sure about how much everything else (deed transfer etc.) was going to cost. Thankfully we overestimated and ended up having a little extra saved, never a bad idea. There are small annoying costs to consider too like, you may want to pay to have new locks installed or carpets cleaned before you move your stuff in.

What is included/What needs upgrading?

Find out exactly what is included and see if anything needs to be bought or changed. For us, though all window coverings were included they were pretty awful. This was a cost we did not consider at the time and slowly had to change them out. We actually went without bedroom curtains for almost a year! We had all appliances included as well, and most were ok but something we didn’t really pay attention to when we bought, was how old the washer and dryer were. We only had to use them once to realize they weren’t in the best working order and needed to be replaced, another cost.

How much will it cost to actually move?

At the time we bought our home, we were moving from a small apartment to a house. We didn’t have a lot of stuff and were able to move by ourselves no problem. For the cost of renting a truck and paying our friends in beer, we were moved over in an afternoon. Moving from our current home to our next house will be much more difficult and we will likely need to hire movers. Between our friends having many more commitments now (careers and young families) we have too much stuff and will likely need help from professionals if we want it done in a timely manner. This isn’t going to be cheap and a cost we will need to investigate before we move so we’re not surprised when the bill comes in!

What don’t you have?

When we move to our next home in a few years there are things we will need that we don’t have in our current home. We’ll likely have another child at this point and they will need their own bed. We will also need a new couch since the plan is to get rid of our current couch when we move, one less thing to move but one more cost we need to consider. (Here are some tips on buying secondhand.)

Getting into homeownership is exciting but also a lot of work and money spent! Though most people consider the downpayment costs, it’s easy to overlook the other costs involved in buying a home. Though some of these costs snuck up on us the first time, we’ll be much more prepared next time!

Did you overlook any costs when buying your home?

Catherine
Catherine

Catherine is a first time momma to a rambunctious toddler. When she isn’t soaking up all that motherhood has to offer, you can find her blogging over at Plunged in Debt where she chronicles her and her husbands journey out of debt. You can also follow her on Twitter.

plungedindebt.com

Filed Under: Money and Finances Tagged With: home ownership, home ownership costs

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Basic Principles Of Good Parenting

Here some basic principles for good parenting:

  1. What You Do Matters: Your kids are watching you. So, be purposeful about what you want to accomplish.
  2. You Can’t be Too Loving: Don’t replace love with material possessions, lowered expectations or leniency.
  3. Be Involved Your Kids Life: Arrange your priorities to focus on what your kid’s needs. Be there mentally and physically.
  4. Adapt Your Parenting: Children grow quickly, so keep pace with your child’s development.
  5. Establish and Set Rules: The rules you set for children will establish the rules they set for themselves later.  Avoid harsh discipline and be consistent.
  6. Explain Your Decisions: What is obvious to you may not be evident to your child. They don’t have the experience you do.
  7. Be Respectful To Your Child: How you treat your child is how they will treat others.  Be polite, respectful and make an effort to pay attention.
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