Hmmm I paid $74,000 for my first house and it has a kitchen in it.
My parents bought a house in Vienna VA for $65k that was worth $500k years later when the Metro moved in. Years ago it was demolished to make room for a mcMansion.
We paid $256k for our house and have refinanced too many times. We had a single income for 13 years, and bought pre-paid 529 plan college educations for our two children. We refinanced 3 years ago at 2.25% 5/1 ARM but will have the mortgage paid off in 2 years. Until this last update all of our work was DIY, covering every room of the house, and the deck.
I'm guessing you can afford it. Not like a couple CWs of mine in their late 50s-early 60s who complain about not seeing retirement in their near future.
Yes, we can, though I would have preferred to spend less money. We had the money saved already, when the company I worked for got bought out and we had a moderate windfall. The tax man promptly took 40% or so. I almost want to pay off our 2.25% mortgage because I cannot convince my spouse to move the remainder of those funds out of a 0.75% credit union savings account. My wife retires in 2 years, and I have 3 - 6 years left. It won't be FIRE since we are almost 60.