Thinking about selling my house...

[tn94z]

Here is a little of the history. I built the house in 2002 to sell. Well, my then wife decided she liked it so we stayed. The housing market got bad and we ended up divorcing and I am still there...with my new wife.

Now on to today....the house is just too big in my opinion. It is a 2 story house and we NEVER EVER go upstairs. Being 2 stories, it obviously costs more to heat and cool it, the taxes are higher, the insurance is higher, etc.... I am sitting in a pretty good spot on the house and could potentially make 50-65k on it. My wife and I both agree that a smaller house would be ideal and there are things that we have never really liked about this one in general. So we are thinking about sticking it on the market ( I hear the market has picked up a good bit) and see if we can get it sold. If it sells, our plan is to buy a lot in a new subdivision that we really like and build a smaller house there. We would rent in the mean time and that way we wouldn't be in a HUGE hurry to get it done. I could do a lot of the work myself like I did on this house.

The cons:
-We would be out of a house until we got a new one
-We would be wasting money on rent until we got a new one
-We would be leaving a good neighborhood

The pros:
-We would be getting a smaller house that we want
-Expenses would be cheaper...much cheaper I assume
-We could build it exactly like we want
-We would be going to a good neighborhood with kids for Jacob to play with
-We should owe less on the new house than we do on the existing house
-Using some of the profit and the expense drop while renting, we should be debt free when it's done (minus the house itself)
-Resulting from a few of the earlier points, we should be able to finance it for less years and get it paid off sooner


Those are just a few things off the top of my head. What are your opinions on this subject? It seems like a great idea to me but my dad seems to think that I would be crazy to sell my current house.

[wutlisstrice]

Re: Thinking about selling my house...

So what are you waiting for?

[sofargone561]

Re: Thinking about selling my house...

I think you mind is already made up here lol. seems to me that selling and moving is the right think to do here =)

[tn94z]

Re: Thinking about selling my house...

Well, my mind isn't 100% made up really. I am just listing out pros and cons. I have come to learn that what our minds may "want" may not be what we really "need." I don't know a lot about the real estate business and have never sold a house or anything like that. That's why I posted this here....just to get some advice from people that have maybe been there and done that, or have any thoughts along those lines. This is a pretty big decision and I don't want to put this thing on the market only to find out that I missed something in my thought process when it's too late.

[sofargone561]

Re: Thinking about selling my house...

its a huge decision and I didn't mean it in a bad way im just saying everything you listed the pros way out way the cons imo.

[tn94z]

Re: Thinking about selling my house...

its a huge decision and I didn't mean it in a bad way im just saying everything you listed the pros way out way the cons imo.

Oh no, I understand what you meant. I appreciate the response my man.

[rmkicks]

Re: Thinking about selling my house...

In my opinion, you should never be too in love with a house to not sell it if the profit is right. Treat it as an investment. Sell it if the numbers say sell it. I know severl people that have bought and sold houses 5 or so times and paid cash for the home their in now.
As far as the new home, if you've built a home you know how that goes, its easy to go 20% or more over budget. I'd get a price on the lot you want and the house you want to build. Put that in a budget and see if it really saves you money.
Deep down, the wife you have now may not want to be in a house where you lived with another women.
I'm in a similar situation myself. House I'm in is too big for my wife and myself as empty nesters. But, its cheaper for me to live here for the foreseeable future. I like the house but the area I live in has gone to shit. Not sure what to do myself.

[tn94z]

Re: Thinking about selling my house...

In my opinion, you should never be too in love with a house to not sell it if the profit is right. Treat it as an investment. Sell it if the numbers say sell it. I know severl people that have bought and sold houses 5 or so times and paid cash for the home their in now.
As far as the new home, if you've built a home you know how that goes, its easy to go 20% or more over budget. I'd get a price on the lot you want and the house you want to build. Put that in a budget and see if it really saves you money.
Deep down, the wife you have now may not want to be in a house where you lived with another women.
I'm in a similar situation myself. House I'm in is too big for my wife and myself as empty nesters. But, its cheaper for me to live here for the foreseeable future. I like the house but the area I live in has gone to shit. Not sure what to do myself.

I will build a smaller house and have some ideas on making it "tighter" as well. So I am about 100% sure that the monthly expense will be lower. I know that house payment will be lower. Etc...

She doesn't really. And she doesn't like that it's so big either...more to keep up. I actually think the house is costing me too much money now just because we don't use half the house that we are paying to keep up. That's my biggest issue. My other issue is that I have never liked the lot that it sits on.

I also know that it won't be long before the roof will need replacement, the AC will need replacement, etc....so if I'm going to sell, I would like to sell before shelling out that money because that won't be cheap....haha!


I think I have now made my mind up. I think this is the way to go for us. Now the problem will be getting it sold.

[guage]

Re: Thinking about selling my house...

I recently sold a house. it was rented out and sold to the renters. the market is a lot better now than it has been , intrest rates have gone up slightly. I looked at it like this, old a/c unit old pool old roof old house.. get out before I gotta start replacing things take the profit now.

new house .. stay away far away from an HOA they are hell to deal with if they don't get there way, also incorporate solar into the new house you'll be glad you did as energy is only going to get more expensive. that's all I got good luck

[tn94z]

Re: Thinking about selling my house...

Solar is a very good idea! I was actually thinking about that the other day. Thanks

[guage]

Re: Thinking about selling my house...

Solar is a very good idea! I was actually thinking about that the other day. Thanks

I went with solar city it was the best deal I found. if you go with them PM me.

[Little BamBam]

Re: Thinking about selling my house...

Whatever decision you choose I'm sure will be the right decision its not easy so it looks like you've done your homework

[DieselXT]

Re: Thinking about selling my house...

Get the house appraised and put it up for sale and see if you get what you want. Real estate is great my father does it, buys old houses and makes them brand new. You could also buy an old house and fix it to your liking. Buying a lot and making your own house may cost more thank you think.....

[jipped genes]

Re: Thinking about selling my house...

that is a tough one. go with your gut instinct and don't second guess yourself

[tn94z]

Re: Thinking about selling my house...

I went with solar city it was the best deal I found. if you go with them PM me.

Will do man! Thanks

Get the house appraised and put it up for sale and see if you get what you want. Real estate is great my father does it, buys old houses and makes them brand new. You could also buy an old house and fix it to your liking. Buying a lot and making your own house may cost more thank you think.....

I will definitely do that. I've had it appraised a couple of times, so I know about what it's worth. Buying another house and fixing it is not out of the question at all. It just depends on what we find. I know what you mean...that's how I did this house. I bought the lot and built the house. My dad and I did quite a bit of the work but he is not able to do that anymore, so I'll lose that money paying for what he did the first go round. We actually built this house CHEAP CHEAP for what it is. Everyone said it would be 200k to build it. Hell the loan was only 170 and that included the lot...haha!

that is a tough one. go with your gut instinct and don't second guess yourself

Yeah, and my gut is telling me that selling is the route to go. Assuming I get in the neighborhood of what I'm asking, but I have a number in mind on the amount of profit I want to make. We don't HAVE to sell so I won't give it away.


Thanks guys for all of the opinions. We started cleaning it last night and I'll be fixing a few things here and there and then it will be on the market.