Yes on two conditions ... 1) so long as the place that I'd be moving into wasn't considerably less than average or too much of a downgrade from what I was in, and 2) if it would be an easy move. Down the street or across town? Okay. Out of state? A day's drive? Probably not. Easily store all my stuff? Yes. Need contingencies or have to clear out a lot of stuff quickly? Probably not.

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Gnothi Seauton.

Other houses are right down the street same neighborhood, still nice above avg houses but nothing like the one we built, $300k or so less than the one we built. Our thought is if we do this we need to shoot for either no mortgage or at least a very small one on whatever we buy.

Older house, have you factored in Reno costs?

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Jim
"In dog beers, I've only had one"
http://www.shakercolonial.com/
Creating custom made furnishing to your requirements

I say older, just mean older than ours, built in 2006, still very nice house just needs porches sanded and refinished, new paint inside to freshen up and maybe new carpet in bedrooms. I would say $10-20k max to freshen it up.

I would say yes if it makes sense after transaction costs and you can get something comparable, doesn't affect daily logistics (school / work etc)

The problem on my street would be that whilst i could buy the property over the road which has not been touched since 1970

The amount it would cost to bring it up to the spec my house is plus the transaction costs are greater than the price difference

looking at potentially selling for $150k+ over what it cost to build. After realtor fees and closing, looking at $100k or better profit.

If it ticks all the boxes you want. If there is no downside i.e. they are not going do something to jeopardise the prospective property. Why wouldnt you?

I wouldn't , not if I loved my house. While I consider the home I live in an investment it's still my home. Different from pure investment properties. Isn't your house a custom build ? If you were the one who posted pics of your house

The only way I'd do it is to get out of a heavy mortgage. But I do like a project ! But I hate moving.

Bottom line Mrs Leddy would never let me do it anyway.

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"I think I've cracked the code. double letters are cheaters except for perfect squares (a, d, i, p and y). So Leddy isn't a cheater... "

I think this is a big reason I am even considering it. I have to have some sort of project in the works at all times. It was a pretty big project to build from design to finish, now it's over we've settled in and I am spinning my wheels thinking about my next project.

I use to think of my personal homes as investments but think my thought on this has changed. Houses are a lot of work and cost a ton of cash to maintain.

I haven't, mainly because I find moving a huge hassle (possibly as a hangover from growing up as a military brat where we moved all the time) plus we really like the house we've been in for the past 20 yrs. (done a lot of upgrades).

Its sounds like a trade off. You'll be giving up your dream home for something smaller and even possibly putting yourself out of the same market in the future if the prices continue rising, but at the same time putting some good cash into your pocket if you sell. There is no right or wrong on this. Decide what is best for you.

even in a sellers market there are some good deals, the house we are eyeballing seems to be one of them.

If he plans on staying in the new place and can be happy there in the long term, why not?

As it stands now, we could clear close to 200k over what we paid two years ago for our little crack shack if we sold this summer. But we couldn't buy back in anywhere in town for a deal, so we are staying put. If the opportunity came to downgrade to another fixer upper and pocket some cash, I'd do it. Lots of people have made lots of money doing just that over the years.

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Long Chile was a silly place.

Whilst i am attached to my house if i could realise what i want from it i would sell it in a heartbeat

In the end its just a house

How long would it take you to save the capital gain from earnings?

What can you do with it? 5% yield? Plus have a place to live

I'd not think twice about it all things being equal

I would say that if you have determined that the house you will be buying is below market for whatever reason(like fixer upper) then go for it. You stay in the same area so nothing changes there, and a 100+k in the bank earning you some income is nothing to sneeze at these days. It is a nice cushion against any downturns, and if there is a setback in Realestate you will not lose as much on the lesser home(for 2 reasons, lower price and you got in under market)

I would do it, but unfortunately for me around here there are no lesser houses under market..

This.

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_____________________________________
DISH is how we do it.

it would be nice to drastically cut mortgage or eliminate it all together.

Seems that if the replacement house is in your neighborhood and you neighborhood is that hot, the replacement house should also reflect that level of demand, yielding a lateral move. Except of course if the owner of the replacement house is an idiot and doesn't know what their house is worth. That's kind of rare. If it is that hot, it is doubtful the discount for deferred maintenance on the replacement would yield an acceptable margin to make moving an option. I'm assuming you are not one of the OCD people that needs to move every three years just because.

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_________________________________
I'll be what I am
A solitary man

the owners of the house bought in 2006 for $716,000 at the peak of the market. They lived there for several years then decided to purchase another house in the same neighborhood on another street, keeping it as a rental for 2-3 years. For some reason they have decided to sell after the last renter moved out last week. I am trying to find out their motivation. They have it listed at $550,000. I am sure part of their motivation is carrying two mortgages in a pricey neighborhood with high hoa fees for two properties. Fees are $6800 annually for each homeowner, maybe just sick of renting and want out fast. Realtor is doing some more digging for me.

It depends.

If my house were a standard house in a standard development, sure. You can replicate that pretty easily. I don't get sentimental about stuff like that very much. My brother retired at 51, mainly by buying 3 different distressed houses, fixing them, and selling them. But he earned that money with a ton of sweat.

But where I am now was chosen because it is a specific piece of land, we chose every inch of how the house was built, and I have a decade's worth of gardens put in. I have a job and can pay my mortgage and I can't easily get back what I have.

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I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

Yes, with a caveat -

I'm in this position. I could sell tomorrow and get double of what I paid, but....there is a very small geographic area here I will live in and I'd have to probably pay 3x of what I originally bought for and I'd have to give up square footage. So I'll stay where I'm at.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

That is literally what I am doing after I finish posting. My realtor papers were signed this morning. My house (not home) has appreciated over 20% in a year. I'm cashing out and I am outta here. Where to next, I don't know, except that I will stay in Vegas for the immediate future. Instead of buy high, sell higher, I will buy a fixer-upper and make it pretty. When the economy changes (again) I will do something else. Now to get back to demolition ( I loves me some good demolition ;-)

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DFL > DNF > DNS

I see it as a no brained. I'd ask top dollar for your current house, and if you get it, then you can make the move and do as your want (if you'd an get the other house at a good deal and SEE that you don't need to drop too much money into it). This is a fiscal decision, and if you can make the numbers work: you do it. Especially if they REALLY work in your favor.

If you love your house though, and emotions are involved...that's totally different...and a woman thing to do. Lol

Is it just the house up the road that is smaller or the plot size? Any other location factors that would be better or worse e.g. on a corner plot, south-facing, etc?

Personally I wouldn't do it if on balance the other house is inferior in ways that I couldn't change. I.e. if the plots are basically the same, the house itself is smaller but with some work you can bring it up to the same size/quality as your current house (or better if there are lessons you've learnt and things you'd do differently from doing up current house) and still have money in the bank, then go for it. But if there's a risk that you're going to be driving past your old house every day and having any regrets over that extra bedroom, extra parking space, bigger yard, whatever, then don't do it.

I think the money may be somewhat of a red herring. If your current house is more valuable because of unchangeable factors like plot size or location, then that price differential is going to remain. So you still have that extra money, it's just tied up in bricks and mortar and not in the bank.