Getting our retirement home ahead of schedule?

[caracarn]

So looking to hear what people will say, for or against.

Our expense target for retirement is $40K and been thinking about targeting $48K just for a solid cushion with the 4% SWR.  So that means between $1-1.2M saved.

With home equity we now sit just short of $1.6M, so we are basically able to FIRE now but with several children who have not reached 26 yet my wife feels kicking them to the curb and saying "figure out your healthcare, we want to retire" is not the way to go so the plan would be to "try" to hold out until last one hits 26, which will be 2030. 

We would like to retire to TN, particularly East TN near the Smokies if possible.   Since the pandemic housing in SE TN had risen insanely.  In fact I've seen data saying it was the largest rise in the country and we've watched it for sure.  Homes that we could have purchased in 2019 for $200K are not around $500K and selling.  NE TN like the Tri-Cities seems to have been a bit more reasonable so we have been researching the communities up there and think it would be a great option as we still get to be near the mountains without being right there and avoiding the cost of competing for housing in a tourist mecca where investors are buying up properties to rent.

We have been planning to actually visit the area once or twice before committing and have out first trip (we've been to SE TN many times, but NE not so much) to starting this weekend for the next two weeks.   We had it planned since summer and our main goal asides from having time with our parents who are meeting us there (and some are also house hunting in the area to get out of FL) was to check out the area.   A month ago I realized we actually have enough in taxable accounts (index funds, savings, checking) that we could flat out afford to get homes we were interested in in cash.   Suddenly I spoke with my wife to toss the idea out if we perhaps try to find something and stay ahead of any further rises in housing costs to not get priced out of a market again.  (I know this is a red flag for me as possibly driving more impulsivity than it should).

We've spent the last several weeks looking at what is on the market and also connecting with a realtor in the area the specializes in relocations that we had watched some of their area videos on YouTube 2-3 years back after we realized it likely our dream of SE TN was now beyond our reach.   We have found about 5 properties that are generally within the range we could just buy in cash thereby avoiding the higher mortgage rates entirely and lowering the risk of poor financial outcomes suddenly meaning we cannot afford the house.   It's a house sized for 2 so just something with 2 bathrooms and between 1,500-2,000 sq feet generally.   Even if everyone was interested (they are not) in just moving to TN the houses we are looking at would not work as we still have two kids at home working through college so we would have both homes.

If we went for the high end of our limit it would mean we also spent out emergency fund so would be in a risky situation that way in a time we appear to be entering a possible plummeting economy if the proposed tariffs and other poor economic plans of the incoming administration come to fruition.   That poses risk to my job, which carries our health insurance etc.   My wife is self employed in a sector less prone to economic whims (education) but we could not carry all our expenses currently with just her income which is variable as well, making any job loss for me at a bad time of year even worse. 

Right now we have a bit over $200K in equity in our primary home where we would still stay as noted above until we were ready to FIRE in 2030ish.  We are looking in the $200-$350K range on TN homes so we would only recover all the cash we locked in the retirement home if we bought at the low end, which means the investments we could tap before we can get at retirement funds would also be cut by up to about $150K as well with this move.

We've talked about options like we could get a small mortgage ($100K or less) to leave some cash alone or that we could get a HELOC to allow access to funds in an emergency.   I could go on, but I think this gives you the picture so you can weigh in.  If I did not cover something you feel you need to respond rationally, please ask.

Would you do this or would you just leave things as they are and just deal with whatever is happening 5-6 years from now and not go ahead with purchasing that home if you found one you liked?

[Paper Chaser]

How will you care for two homes in different states until you can move to the new place? What will the carrying costs be in maintenance, property taxes, insurance and utilities? 5 years of guaranteed carrying costs is a lot compared to a chance of paying more when you're closer to retirement.

With relatively high mortgage rates, skyrocketing insurance, and increasing property taxes I don't see how the housing market doesn't cool overall. Affordability sucks right now, and it seems unsustainable. Add that to some level of economic uncertainty that you have some concern over, and I'm not sure I'd feel much pressure to buy now.

This seems like stretching things a little too much for my liking. Especially if you don't feel tons of job security and you might be raiding your emergency fund.

[bacchi]

No way. I'd wait.

1) Maintaining 2 homes that aren't close to one another is a pita.

2) Prices are starting to slide. We've noticed this where we're looking and if it's not happening in SE TN, it will be happening.

3) You should really spend more time in an area before you buy. Rent for a year.

We haven't moved yet but SO's parents did and they rejected 2 recommended towns before finding one they like. The first town was ass-backwards, unbeknownst to them until they lived there, and the second town was active and fun but had shortened daylight because of the mountains.

[jrhampt]

My parents live in that area.  Low COL and lots of outdoor activities available, access to hospitals so not a bad place for retirement from that POV.  Waiting to retire until 2030 and having the carrying costs of another house is a lot, though.  What if you just waited until your kids were done with college instead of until all of them were older than 26?  How many years would that be?  I think it's unreasonable to delay your retirement that long when you have limited years to live...but then again I never had health insurance under my parents and did have to figure it out on my own.  Unless one of your kids has serious health issues, I don't think it should be that difficult for them to either get a job with health insurance or qualify for medicaid, worst case scenario.  Are the rules for medicaid different if you're under 26 post-ACA?

[Laura33]

Buy a home now only if the home you would want to live in is also something you would happily buy as an investment property. 

It makes zero sense to buy a house now, in an area you haven't even spent any time in, if it is just going to sit there doing nothing.  The only way that makes sense is if you rent it out in the interim.  And that only makes sense if it is a good investment property -- which may or may not be the same kind of house you'd buy for yourself.

It sounds like buying now is acting from fear, and that fear often drives you to decisions that seem rational at the time but are not actually well-founded.  The reality is that you do not know what the market will be like in 5-6 more years; maybe it's higher, or maybe it will have dropped significantly and you can afford something in your actual dream area.  You also don't know what you will need in 5-6 years; maybe you'll be happy to have the kids gone, but maybe you'll want to have a place where they can bring their own families to; maybe one of you will be in an accident and accessibility becomes a problem; maybe there will be another hurricane or other natural disaster that wipes out the area you've targeted.

FWIW:  we bought our "retirement home" back in 2011.  I did all the stuff I advised -- we had spent years visiting there, we had watched prices basically double over c.15 years, until they suddenly crashed a few years after the 2008-9 market crash and we grabbed a great deal in foreclosure, we bought in a great rental area that was walkable to where we eanted, we put down enough that the rental income would cover expenses until we were ready to move there ourselves. 

Here's what happened after that:

First the condo fees more than doubled, because the developer had significantly underfunded the assocition to attract buyers, and we ended up spending several years in litigation with him.  I handled the litigation strategy pro bono (with local counsel running the case), we got a full recovery AND our attorneys' fees, but all that money went to the maintenance that had been deferred while we were diverting money to pay our local counsel -- and the condo fees remained 2x the original ones, because that what was actually necessary to cover ongoing maintenance.  So DH and I went from "breaking even/small profit" to running a small deficit.  Then we had unexpected major repairs, like a new boiler; I understood about general repairs, but hadn't thought about periodic "lumpy" expenses. 

After maybe 5 years, the rental market went crazy, and we got a great tenant, so we've been pulling in a slight profit.  But when we had the mortgage paid and were ready to use it ourselves and do short-term rentals the rest of the time, the city instituted a ban on more short-term rentals.  We also realized that fully-grown opposite-gender kids cannot easily share a single small bedroom as easily as small kids can -- and DH needed a workshop of some variety, and I needed an office because I can work remotely whenever I want to bring some cash in.  What we thought we wanted in 2011 was nowhere near what we actually wanted in 2024 (at least not looking at the long-term, when we hope there will be some grandkids coming along with their parents).  So 13 years down the road, having never spent even a single night in our "retirement home," it is now back on the market. 

We have already bought another home outside city limits -- this one is 3Br, with a garage, really functional kitchen, and an office area for remote work.  I also love it more than I thought humanly possible, and more than I ever really loved the condo.  We've done ok on the condo; it's still rented, so we're still making a small profit every month, and it has increased quite significantly in value (although of course as soon as we put it on the market, the market stalled out, so it's not worth quite as much as we had hoped last spring).  Really, on the surface, it looks massively impressive:  a unit we bought for under $200K is now worth somewhere over $500K.  But DH did the math, and when you calculate in all of the expenses and carrying costs and all, it works out to something like 3-5% annual return.  Looking back, we'd have been much better off just keeping the $$ in Vanguard. 

Along those lines:  do keep in mind that the kind of booming economy that inflates housing markets in vacation areas also inflates stock market returns.  If you'd asked me 13 years ago whether I could afford a $500K+ condo, I'd have laughed in your face.  But 2011 me also had zero idea exactly how much our stock market investments would grow over that next 13 years.  Worry less about listed home prices in a vacuum; the only thing that matters is how home prices compare to what you can afford at the time you decide to buy.

[caracarn]

Thanks for replies so far.  They made me realize I left off some important info.

Our most likely option is one of our college aged kids said they'd be open to moving down into the house and attending one of the colleges there to finish their degree.  So house would be handled in that way.

Not sure if that changes the thoughts any.

I had explored property management and to Vrbo it.  Would mean furnishing for 10 to 15K we figured but not had any comfortable conversations with any of the firms I talked to.  So we explored other options and found the one above.

Room and board would be at least $10K to 12K that would be offset and utilities are far less than $1000 mo likely closer to $400 for that size in TVA free electricity land (I lived in Nashville for 5 years so know the dirt cheap electricity in the entire TVA area).  Property taxes are $1200 to $2000 for the year.  In addition having looked at listing for a couple months there the 2 to 3 houses we found are leaps and bounds ahead of the abandoned or run down trash that is everything else.   So it seems there are likely few and far between homes in that area you'd not have to gut and remodel. 

I am not fearful we will get priced out of the area we are looking at now.  Also I think others have missed we would be looking at things that we could buy with cash so no mortgage in the carrying costs.  At homeowners insurance for likely less than $1000 a year given we pay that now on a house 25 to 40 percent larger and worth another $50k above our top amount now. 

[caracarn]

My parents live in that area.  Low COL and lots of outdoor activities available, access to hospitals so not a bad place for retirement from that POV.  Waiting to retire until 2030 and having the carrying costs of another house is a lot, though.  What if you just waited until your kids were done with college instead of until all of them were older than 26?  How many years would that be?  I think it's unreasonable to delay your retirement that long when you have limited years to live...but then again I never had health insurance under my parents and did have to figure it out on my own.  Unless one of your kids has serious health issues, I don't think it should be that difficult for them to either get a job with health insurance or qualify for medicaid, worst case scenario.  Are the rules for medicaid different if you're under 26 post-ACA?

The youngest that takes us to 2030 is type 1 diabetes so yes a serious health issue but can work etc but obviously after graduation which is still 2 to 3 years away at best.  Medicaid is cut off for kids at 18.  Otherwise it is income based or need to be disabled which neither apply.  That has not changed post ACA.  Those we always the Medicaid rules.

[Dicey]

I did it, because I found something I loved, and figured I'd be single forever. I thought it wouldn't be affordable when I was ready to retire.

The home I bought has barely doubled in value in 20 years. It is only now exceeding 1%.

Had I taken the money and invested it, I'd have even more flexibility now.

In hindsight, I highly suggest you wait. A LOT can happen in six years...

As for me, I have enjoyed owning it, and we may yet live there one day, but it certainly wasn't the best financial move.

[cowman]

What I see,please correct me if I am wrong.

You have 1.4 mil invested and$200 000 in home equity.

So you have exceeded your fi number already.

You have kids at home,and your better half feels they will(have to be)living with you for 5+ years,and it is more or less working ok now.

My rough numbers say real estate has gone up 2.5x where you want live,s&p has gone up 2.3x since 2019

I am guessing you are about50+?

I would say chill where you are,spend a lot of time in Tn in the next 5 years(you are fi!!enjoy)and see where you want to land,then rent for a while to be sure you want to stay in that exact place for 10+years.

You have been on this site for a while so I assume you recognize the in's  and out's of rent vs buy.

ymmv

[GilesMM]

Either retire now and let the kids stand on their own two legs (to their great benefit) or stay put and don’t buy. I would cut the kids lose and start living!

[jrhampt]

Either retire now and let the kids stand on their own two legs (to their great benefit) or stay put and don’t buy. I would cut the kids lose and start living!

I kind of lean this way, too.  In my family, it's the kids who have gotten more help who continue to need more help indefinitely, and those of us who were on our own are doing just fine.  Much better in comparison.

[Metalcat]

I feel like I'm missing something...

You say you are not worried about being priced out then what is the motivator to buy now?? I can't make sense of this.

I say this as someone who owns 3 properties primarily to avoid being priced out of those areas.

I have a condo downtown in a major city. I bought it because the price was exceptionally good and it's accessible and close to amenities and some of the best medical care in the city. I'm disabled with an unpredictable future of function, so having a safe, affordable home in a disability-friendly location that I could afford long term was valuable.

I knew I didn't want to live there for the rest of my life though, so I made sure it was also a great rental property if I leave.

I have a duplex in a smaller, less accessible city that I love, but due to career and medical logistics, can't really live there full time. But the area is growing so aggressively, I wanted to buy in and lock-in the low prices that were there in 2021. I wouldn't want to live in the duplex, but it's an amazing income property and its value rises with the generally values in the area, so down the line if I can live there, I can either use the rental income or the equity, whichever is better, to fund the home I want.

I bought a 3rd property in a rural location, primarily as an investment property, because again, I found an AMAZING spot that I wanted ongoing access to, where property values are rising rapidly. This is a summer tourism area, so the idea was an AirBnB that we could use as much as we wanted. Houses were cheap here, but vacation rentals expensive and I wanted to be able to spend at least a month at a time out here. The cost for a rental for a month was about the same as a mortgage for a year.

I had a pile of cash I didn't want to dump into the markets around that time, so more real estate made sense.

Well, after spending a summer fixing this place up, we fell in love with it and really didn't want to rent it out to strangers. So for now, it's a second home. We live half time in the accessible city condo and half time in the rural detached home, and will continue to do so for as long as the logistical issues around healthcare require it.

What's fun is that the duplex cash-flows so well that it pays for the summer home and then some. At any point, all 3 properties can be for personal use or for profit. It just depends on what benefits us most.

But a HUGE factor in us loving this little detached home and not being willing to rent it out is how unique it turned out to be.

I've moved many, many times in my life and lived in many places, and I've always been struck by how extremely small features of a house or neighbourhood can make or break your experience.

I bought this house sight unseen from over 31 hours away in a location neither of us had ever been to. And yet, we stumbled ass-backwards into a property that is uniquely suited to our needs and preferences.

I picked it because it appeared to be an excellent option for an investment property. And it is, but as months went by, I couldn't believe how much more valuable it was as a personal property.

You have to live somewhere to learn the ins and outs of the location. Why one house is a much better option than another.

Incidentally, our neighbours also bought site unseen, it's extremely common here. But their best friends live around here and they had visited many times. But they picked the wrong house. It took living here for a year to figure out they made a huge mistake. Unfortunately, selling around here is hard, so now they've moved and their place is a suboptimal rental that they would never have purchased as an investment.

Our house would sell easily and be an amazing vacation rental property. Why? Because of the nitpicky little quirks of the area that we didn't really know about until we got here. Had we bought just about any other house around here, we wouldn't be as happy and would probably use it as a rental property as we intended.

In every area I've lived, location is incredibly sensitive. One block this way is great, but one block that way sucks. In one city snow removal is done a certain way, so certain types of houses are great, but in another, they're awful.

It takes knowing an area to really know what property will serve you best. It's phenomenally hard to buy a "forever home" in an area whose quirks you don't know.

So yeah, if you are worried about being priced out, then buying a solid rental property that you *might* enjoy living in is a great option. But if you aren't worried about being priced out and you don't know the areas ins and outs yet, then what is the benefit of buying now???

[Laura33]

Also I think others have missed we would be looking at things that we could buy with cash so no mortgage in the carrying costs. 

I'm not at all worried about the carrying costs.  I'm worried about the opportunity cost of having that much money tied up in an asset that is generating no return for you.  Put that money in the market and it could be worth a half-million or more by the time you're ready to move. 

If it works out as a college dorm substitute, that could possibly work.  But is that where your kid really wants to go, do you know they can get in there, etc.? 

I'm going to go back to my original advice:  buy something only if you'd buy it as an investment property.  If you're looking for a place to live in, take your time and learn the neighborhoods and the market, and buy when you're ready to move -- or at least when you know enough to recognize that a particular home is a fantastic deal that you can't pass up.  (This is how we ended up with our current retirement home; after years of following the market and visiting, I just knew when I saw this house that that was IT.  I have never felt so immediately comfortable and at home in a house)

[caracarn]

All excellent points as always and why I posted for input here.  Everyone is 100% wait which certainly carries weight with it and I cannot disagree.  Let me address some of the recent points.

I clearly see the flexibility piece.  It has been the concern I have talked with my wife about the most in the last few weeks, that if we do find something and decide to press forward we take options off the table.   

Our needs are very, very basic to be entertained.  They are things we just do at home and therefore feel we can be happy pretty much anywhere because what we need to be happy is us and our hobbies and other than a good internet connection we feel we can do well anywhere so the fear of not liking the area is honestly very low for us anywhere.   I struggle with tossing rent away for a year to "test" someplace when we have such low requirements.   Neither of us are very keen on that but I totally get the conventional wisdom on it but having relocated several times I size up an area pretty fast.   As far as the people around, you can move into somewhere with great neighbors (which I'd argue you could never assess outside of renting a place that you eventually buy.  You are not going to stalk the people around your prospective neighborhood and try to befriend them in a community while you rent half a mile away) and they can all die or move away in a few years and you get whoever moves in, so picking a home based on anything like that we are not buying in to.  You can figure out if the stores, the services and such as accessible with a short stay in the area, hence heading out there for two weeks starting this weekend will give us an excellent taste.   Hearing other stories is helpful so please keep sharing, but it seems we just have very few things that we cannot happily adapt to I guess.  Not sure how else to state it.  Pretty easy going and we just don't associate with folks that we do not enjoy so we'd just stay out of certain establishments or groups if that happened.   Done it before, can do it again.

No kids are with us who are not still working on their bachelor's degrees.  That was the "agreement" we made with them early on.   They'd have a place to live and not have to pay for upkeep etc. through that time.   We are not there yet with the two at home so cutting them loose is not something that my wife is ready to do yet based on that.   They are both working and saving to they can afford their own place or pay college costs we can't cover so those lessons to "stand on their own two legs" I think are already covered there, in that I assume that this comes from perhaps thinking that they might not understand how to function financially on their own, hence the parenthetical.   We have certainly taught them solid personal finance skills and have no doubt once they are out of school that they will proceed well.  Cowman has the numbers right on finance and ages.  I'll be 55 this year, my wife is about 3 years younger. 

My wife and I have also talked about the likelihood of an economic sh*show happening over the next 4 years with the administration that is already showing their incompetence to govern before they even are in office this week and that that may later open up further options and so waiting might be beneficial but I also think it likely any drop in areas we are examining will also mean cooresponding drops in investments and our current homes value as the issue we think likely would be broad economic failures not regional impacts so it seems more and more moot to this decision.   

If I had to respond to MetalCat as honestly as I can searching my soul, it's really a FOMO driver.   The housing market in the rural south is dominated by run down fixer uppers and so solid livable homes are rare.  Of the 200+ homes on the market in the areas we are interested in we have found 2 that we would consider.   So a 1% fit is driving this "what is when we are ready we've just got a lot of garbage?" thinking of would it be foolish to pass by homes we really like when the norm seems by far to be ones we do not.   That's the bigger motivator of buy now than concerns about rising prices.

As it sits now I think it far, far more likely we follow the advice given.   We are not impulse shoppers on much of anything.   I usually talk myself out of $10 items as unnecessary currently so not too worried about getting swept up in the moment but if we see a house where in our mind's eye we can see ourselves there in every room that would be the only thing that might tip things to a go.   Inventory will be up in the spring.   As I said when we started this, we only started looking at listings in earnest for about 4-6 weeks and have not seen a cycle in that market and obviously perhaps the dearth of anything that does not need gutting right now is because undesperate sellers are not listing their home over the holidays and will in the spring.   That weighs heavily on my prudent analysis button.  The trip was designed to be a "scope out the area" trip to begin with.   Having it just be that would not be a disappointment.   This option just presented itself as perhaps a possible bonus.

[caracarn]

or at least when you know enough to recognize that a particular home is a fantastic deal that you can't pass up.  (This is how we ended up with our current retirement home; after years of following the market and visiting, I just knew when I saw this house that that was IT.  I have never felt so immediately comfortable and at home in a house)

This aligns very much with what I just posted (started working on that post 6 hours ago and finally had time to get it done).  It is likely where I expect we'll end up.  I do not think the Tri-Cities are really a hot rental area.   That's more our original spot and the homes there are inflated accordingly.   It's precisely the fact that the area is not investment property material that makes the area affordable just as the area we live in right now up in Ohio would not be considered that and the costs have stayed reasonable. 

[Metalcat]

Oof, this update sounds to me like it's even more critical to know the area well enough to be able to identify a good value property.

My duplex is in a working class city with tons of run down properties. I lived there for awhile while fixing up the upper unit and what that taught me about that area was that I would either rent for a year or live in one of my rentals for a year before committing to buying a personal use property there.

As I said we just dumb lucked out with our detached home in terms of the location, but that was a blessing and a curse because when we decided we wanted to live here half time, we actually wanted a second property and to use this house for profit because it's so perfect for a vacation rental and not every property around here is suitable for that.

Well, it was by looking at every single house for sale in the region for 2 summers that I realized that we had accidentally stumbled upon the ideal location. So instead we had to build an extension to make it usable for 2 people to work from home here.

That was less financially optimal than buying another property, but that's how big the location factor is a lot of the time.

In a place where housing is a bit sketchy, you need way more area wisdom to make smart choices.

[uniwelder]

I live about 2 hours up I-81 from where you're looking to move.  Given how isolated the area is, we'd be practically neighbors! 

I've only been in that area once, besides driving through to Knoxville, so I don't have any direct experience.  However, from reputation and Google Maps, I don't see the allure.  Even with the name Johnson City, it's just a regular size town with a fairly run down industry, and the others are even smaller.  Are the Smoky Mountains that much of a draw, even though you'd still be 2 hours away?  The general Appalachia region is huge.  There are tons of other places in the mountains you could choose. 

I don't know what area of Ohio you live in currently, and whether it's considered blue or red politically.  You've said you don't care much about your neighbor's leanings, but from what you posted, it sounds like you dislike the Trump administration.  Be aware you'd be moving someplace where 80% of votes went to Trump, where Trump flags and banners are 1:1 with American flags, where confederate flags are still seen, where Biden Sucks bumper stickers are everywhere.  It's difficult to avoid politics because Trump fans love to bring it up. 

Where I live, you can buy a nice house for 300k, pay less than $1,000/year for insurance, pay less than $2,000/year for property tax, electrical rates are cheap ($0.15/kwh), and have all the mountains and outdoors you're looking for.  Plus there are two big universities here.  Another great option is Roanoke, VA.  It also has a college and good hospital/healthcare system.  Many people have been going there for retirement.

Considering you're not picky about exact location, I think you should definitely wait several years before buying a house.  Since this is the start of exploration, you're welcome to come by my area and I'll show you around for a day.  Just send me a message.

[caracarn]

I live about 2 hours up I-81 from where you're looking to move.  Given how isolated the area is, we'd be practically neighbors! 

I've only been in that area once, besides driving through to Knoxville, so I don't have any direct experience.  However, from reputation and Google Maps, I don't see the allure.  Even with the name Johnson City, it's just a regular size town with a fairly run down industry, and the others are even smaller.  Are the Smoky Mountains that much of a draw, even though you'd still be 2 hours away?  The general Appalachia region is huge.  There are tons of other places in the mountains you could choose. 

I don't know what area of Ohio you live in currently, and whether it's considered blue or red politically.  You've said you don't care much about your neighbor's leanings, but from what you posted, it sounds like you dislike the Trump administration.  Be aware you'd be moving someplace where 80% of votes went to Trump, where Trump flags and banners are 1:1 with American flags, where confederate flags are still seen, where Biden Sucks bumper stickers are everywhere.  It's difficult to avoid politics because Trump fans love to bring it up. 

Where I live, you can buy a nice house for 300k, pay less than $1,000/year for insurance, pay less than $2,000/year for property tax, electrical rates are cheap ($0.15/kwh), and have all the mountains and outdoors you're looking for.  Plus there are two big universities here.  Another great option is Roanoke, VA.  It also has a college and good hospital/healthcare system.  Many people have been going there for retirement.

Considering you're not picky about exact location, I think you should definitely wait several years before buying a house.  Since this is the start of exploration, you're welcome to come by my area and I'll show you around for a day.  Just send me a message.

Smokies are a big draw.  We love the park, hiking etc.  That's why preference was nearer.  Sent you a DM as well.

[JupiterGreen]

I appreciate how you are working this through in your mind before pulling the trigger. I do agree that you should wait to buy as well. We went through a similar agony for years before we moved, but ended up waiting to buy a home. Nobody can predict the future with regards to housing and the economy, but if as you said the economic s-show comes to pass I honestly don't see TN keeping those high prices outside of the cities and touristy places like Gatlinburg which will always have a draw for the market. TN as a whole is not situated well for climate change and politically it is a s-show. I'm familiar with TN and surrounding states. Personally, I'd rather live in OH (not sure where you are but I am partial to NE OH near Cuyahoga, ‘tis beautiful). Someone asked you about your politics, and to piggy-back on that (I'm not really interested in your politics per se), but I’d seriously look at this piece. Even though you say you don’t care about your neighbors, if s/he is pouring mercury in your drinking water and the town and state also don't care it will become your problem (look at farms especially pig farms around there, they are the worst polluters. Mountain top removal is more of a WV thing but look at that too in case it impacts where you are looking). I am so glad you mentioned the condition of TN properties, looking at price tags alone does not tell the whole story. Assume everything needs to be done. Also assume no services/low services (bridges, roads, fire, police etc.) These states (I lived in one around there for almost 2 decades) seem to have no regulations and some of these items are dangerous. When we bought our last house the inspector made no notes about a gas light (outside) that didn't work, we figured it was defunct and we planned to just take it out at some point. Well we set that project aside for a few years since it wasn't anything the inspector pointed out as being a problem. Turns out the sucker was live, we disbanded and removed it properly and brought it up to code. Same thing happened with our attic AC, turns out it was installed illegally (probably by the last homeowner and not a technician so it was not at all up to code) and we found out when it flooded, ruining the ceiling in one of the bedrooms, I have so many more examples (and we bought one of the more expensive homes) but I'll stop there. Anyway, I roll my eyes when people talk about house deals in these states. Okay back on topic. TN culturally is SO different than OH (unless you are near Cincy) be sure to go in with open eyes. If you are just looking for mountains, as you know the Appalachians go from Maine to Georgia maybe you could expand the search. But once the time is right for you guys, if after all your evaluation you still want the Smokies, go for the higher priced home in the exact place you want. Go for the Nat park, not anything private, state or city owned. Don't assume the state won't sell it off (happened where I lived). Okay so I may seem like I am being hostile to TN, I do understand what you love about it, I LOVE the Smokies, I've spent a considerable amount of time on the TN side and I have a friend who lives on the NC side- it is lovely. I also love eastern and western TN I visited there more times than I can count (though I wouldn't want to live there myself). I'm just trying to give you some hard love my friend and perspectives about your long term investment.

[caracarn]

OK, so I am going to lead with the headline.   We did find a home and did make an offer and are working through things.   As everyone shakes their head and face palms, let me explain as we have ended up closer to what folks talked about in that this is now no longer a 5-6 year thing but a 5-6 month thing.   I think the details will be best covered in a journal as we work through this and share how our journey goes.   We ended up finding a home that appears in great shape and sold well under the market rate of $200+/sq foot and we ended right around $150/sq foot.   Inspector will be going though in a couple days and we close on it at the end of February.   Our plan then is to move after the school year ends but the adult children who live with us have no desire to move to TN so we will be working through that.   Again, so many items but the key here is this has moved to become our main home and that changes the perspective.

Feel free to be as direct and blunt as you want.  I will get into a LOT more detail in the journal but wanted to at least end the suspense.   I short, we did go forward against everyone's advice, however we are looking at it very differently now than I framed it.

[Metalcat]

You didn't really go against everyone's advice, you radically changed your plan. If that works for you, then that's great.

I think you only went against my advice of buying a place before living in the area long enough to know it's quirks, but that's not investment advice, that's just my personal opinion because I'm picky about specific locations.

Otherwise, congrats on figuring out what you want to do.