Sunday, February 4, 2007

New House Shopping

Dennis and I looked at new houses today.  We found one that we really love and, of course, the wheels started turning and we began to look at all the 'what-ifs'.  The house is a single story, 2500 sq. feet, 4 bedroom 2-1/2 baths with a great room and no formal living room.  I really like the informal feel of it and how everything is set up.  There is a perfect place for an office for Dennis.  The large master suite is on one side of the house and the other bedrooms are on the other so when company comes, there is privacy.  Because we are the age we are, we could transfer our tax base which is good but there is a $3250 yearly tax and a $180 a month home owners association fee that has to be paid even when the house is paid off. 

We came home and over lunch made a list of all the reasons to make the move.  The top reasons are:  The new house will increase in value faster and more than this one.  It's single story which will be nice as we get older.  It's new and everything is updated and beautiful.  The drawbacks are:  The tax and homeowner's fees that have to be paid even after the house is paid off are a lot more than what we would pay if we stay here.  We would have to pack up 18 years of stuff and move it.  We would be between two 2-Story houses and have less back yard privacy.

In an hour, we convinced ourselves to do it and then decided not to do it at least three times each.  LOL  Our final decision was to stay right here and move forward with our plan to have this house paid off in 8 years.  It's not as exciting but it's the smartest choice. 

 

 

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is a BIG decision to make, and my guess is you may change your mind a couple more times before you really settle on a plan!  Good luck, either way!  Jae

Anonymous said...

If I were you I would vote not to move, all that hassel things getting lost or broken the arguments from being over tired yuk been there done that got the t-shirt, lol. Good luck whatever you finally decide.
Love
Debbie
http://journals.aol.co.uk/drb1064/whatever

Anonymous said...

It's always fun to play "what if" but sounds like you made the right decision..it's something hubby and i do a lot..the "what if "not the smart decisions  lol
Lyn

Anonymous said...

I agree put everything into the next eight years ...then go for it ,it will soon go ,and you can be gradually down sizing as you go .....love Janxxx

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you're being sensible and weighing up the pros and cons! It's all too easy to go for something then ending paying for it for ever. Jeannette xx  http://journals.aol.co.uk/jlocorriere05/Welcometomytravels/