I have come to a financial cross-road and I am having trouble working the numbers to ensure I make the best financial decision possible. I am requesting outside help because I need to make a financial decision without emotion. Here is my issue:
I have owned my home for 13 years (no mortgage). I have put approximately $234,540 into my home (including the sale of the home , home improvements, insurance over 13 years). I will need to make additional improvements/maintenance with a cost of $63,140 over the next 13 years. This will bring my total cost to $297,000 in another 13 years. However, in 13 years my house will only be worth worth around $250-260,000.
I have the opportunity to buy a condo at a 55+ community for $46,000 (this includes the cost it would take for me to gut the place and install everything new). Over the next 13 years, I estimate paying $55,600 to live there (which includes condo fees, insurance, and perhaps a new a/c unit). This will bring my total cost to $101,600. In 13 years, this condo will still be worth only $46-50,000. There is very little apprehension at the community regardless of the remodeling.
This is where it gets complicated:
If I sell my home right now, I will probably walk away with $190,000 after real estate commission. After I purchase my condo ($46k), I will have $144k that I will put in my Vanguard account which will collect compounding interest over the next 26 years. At a rate of around 5% this will grow to around $517,000. On the other hand, if I stay in my house for another 13 years and then sell....I will clear around $250,000 after real estate commission. If I invest that for 13 years I will earn $377,000 (13 years will be spent in the house and 13 years will be collecting compound interest=total time: 26 years). So at that same period of time (year: 2034) I will have $517,000 if I sell right now.....or $377,000 if I sell later.
Lastly, it is $166 a month cheaper to live in the condo than to stay at the house. So if I sell the house now, I would also save almost $26,000 over a 10-year period in utility billing.
The hesitation: My husband is 57 and I am 41. He isn't sure he wants to live in "God's Waiting Room." But this community is for really active people: Free golf (18 holes), two Olympic size pools, there is a chess club, travel club, foreign language club, full fitness center, free bus to all major stores like Target, the mall, Walmart, Grocery stores, etc, and when we get too old to drive, there is a "medical shuttle" that will take us to the local hospital (where our doctor's office is located). This is all included in the $300 condo fee.
Is this a no-brainer? Or is there something I am not thinking about? Is my math right? My father-in-law said it is an excellent decision. but I want advice from people who don't know me.