What to do? Want a one story

[teamzissou00]

We live in a two story and want a one story.  We put down 5% on this house and owe 174k on a 193k initial loan (could sell for 230k)

I am questioning a couple things
1) if we sell, how much house should I buy?  I'd like to spend 275k.  If we net 30k on the house sale I could scrounge up 15k more for a 45k down payment.  Is that enough?
2) if its not enough, should we stay in the current house and save or sell and move to an apartment and save even more?

[Dynasty]

Other than not having a set of stairs to climb up and down, what else are you specifically looking for in a different house than your current one?

Obviously I don't know your circumstances, or the area you wish to buy in. But for me, I'd prefer to sell my house and net 30K, and come out with a new mortgage for 15K less than what I currently owe. 

[ScubaAZ]

Why do you want to spend $275k?  I went into buying my house with a set number in mind ($250k) and really wish I had bought a lot less house.  I think it is a decent investment, but I would have bough cheaper and saved the rest in my stash if I had found this site before the house purchase.

I often think that the bank, even just this year, qualified me to spend more than $100k more than I did.  That is crazy talk.  You may have already done this, but think about your savings rate, and how much of your income you want to dedicate to a house.  You could sell this one at a tidy profit, buy something cheaper, and add to your stash.

[cerberusss]

I'd like to spend 275k

Why?

Biggest mistake I made is to buy a house with three bedrooms. One is now basically a $50,000 clothes drying room.

[SnackDog]

How many years are you willing to defer retirement in order to avoid stairs?  Or are you planning ahead for when you will not be able to safely climb/descend stairs and consider this house your retirement house?  Is that realistic?

 How much longer will your new mortgage be and how much additional interest will you pay over the full term?

[aj_yooper]

We live in a two story and want a one story.  We put down 5% on this house and owe 174k on a 193k initial loan (could sell for 230k)

I am questioning a couple things
1) if we sell, how much house should I buy?  I'd like to spend 275k.  If we net 30k on the house sale I could scrounge up 15k more for a 45k down payment.  Is that enough?
2) if its not enough, should we stay in the current house and save or sell and move to an apartment and save even more?

I hear what you want, but don't know what you need.  Does your current or future house fit in with your own mobility needs or mustachian goals (commuting issue) or is it just a want?   If it is primarily a want, I would relax and think it through to see if it really gets you closer to your ER goal. 

[grantmeaname]

How many years are you willing to defer retirement in order to avoid stairs?  Or are you planning ahead for when you will not be able to safely climb/descend stairs and consider this house your retirement house?  Is that realistic?

Some people not yet in their sixties have degenerative joint diseases, injuries from sports or vehicle crashes, frail relatives that live with them, or other legitimate reasons to want to avoid stairs at their current age. I take it you are not one of those people, but they do exist and their need for a house they can function in shouldn't be confused with complainypants consumerism.

To your larger point, though, I agree: the OP should think long and hard about whether he legitimately fits into one of those groups or is just looking to avoid an inconvenience, and whether it's worth the cost.

[Frugal_in_DC]

Assuming that the issue is that you need, rather than want, a one-story due to health or other legit issues, either buy it for cash or buy the least expensive house you'd feel comfortable in.  Consider the transaction costs associated with selling and buying two properties, and think about how long you're willing to live there.  As we all learned several years ago, there is no guarantee that housing appreciates in price over time.

[teamzissou00]

More info-

The 275K # isn't a hard number- it's what I'm seeing that the market is asking for what we want.  Right now our 1 year old isn't using his room for anything but sleep- on 1 level he can use it.  I have almost fell down the stairs several times-  we don't want to have the day where our boy falls down, or we are constantly in fear of it. 

I can find a good house for $225k, but it will need new counters, and renovations totaling up to or greater than 50k. 

Does no one else hate the idea of tumbling down 15 stairs and heating/cooling a home ineffeciently? 

[teamzissou00]

I'd like to spend 275k

Why?

Biggest mistake I made is to buy a house with three bedrooms. One is now basically a $50,000 clothes drying room.

We are headed toward a two child family- so we need three bedrooms.  Resale is also much better, right?

[teamzissou00]

How many years are you willing to defer retirement in order to avoid stairs?  Or are you planning ahead for when you will not be able to safely climb/descend stairs and consider this house your retirement house?  Is that realistic?

 How much longer will your new mortgage be and how much additional interest will you pay over the full term?

I don't want to defer retirement at all, actually.  We were imagining buying a house that has just enough room for our current needs and small enough for retirement. 

My wife is dead set on 1 story for safety reasons.  So, we can stay here for a couple more years if it makes sense.  I was worried home values would rise too much.

[grantmeaname]

Does no one else hate the idea of tumbling down 15 stairs and heating/cooling a home ineffeciently?

This community is a lot more about considering things rationally and weighing pros and cons of different options than hating ideas of things - that's a tell that you're being irrational and that you could be using your money less than optimally.

Isn't cooling or heating a multi-story house a better proposition than an equivalently sized one story house, because the surface area to volume ratio is better?

Resale is also much better, right?

Isn't that just code for "costs more"?

[Frugal_in_DC]

Right now our 1 year old isn't using his room for anything but sleep- on 1 level he can use it.

Just a note on this.  My kids did nothing but sleep in their rooms until they were around 7 or 8.  When they got to be that age they would have friends over and sometimes went to their rooms to play, but they seemed to prefer to be in the family room even with their friends came over.  They didn't really spend major amounts of time in their rooms until they were preteens and definitely when they were teenagers.

[Dynasty]

More info-

The 275K # isn't a hard number- it's what I'm seeing that the market is asking for what we want.  Right now our 1 year old isn't using his room for anything but sleep- on 1 level he can use it.  I have almost fell down the stairs several times-  we don't want to have the day where our boy falls down, or we are constantly in fear of it. 

I can find a good house for $225k, but it will need new counters, and renovations totaling up to or greater than 50k. 

Does no one else hate the idea of tumbling down 15 stairs and heating/cooling a home ineffeciently?

Heat rises. Its more efficient to heat to a taller structure with a smaller footprint than a shorter structure with a larger footprint. The majority of heat loss is through the roof. All else being equal, a one story house is going to have a larger roof area than an equivalent square footage two story house.

I'm confused a little. You say your kid has a room that he doesn't use except to sleep in. And he can do that on the main floor. So that room cost 50K to dry clothes in. But you want a third bedroom. Is your current house two or three bedrooms?

1 year olds get bigger and can eventually walk up and down stairs. And they make little baby gates to keep kids from climbing stairs.

Is there something unique about your stairs in particular that make them different than other stairs, and easier to fall down? Narrow? Abnormally steep? Slippery? Uneven? Crooked? Rickety? Missing planks?

[teamzissou00]

No- the stairs are normal.  The new to us house is definitely a want, not a need.  Bottom line, we will eventually move.  We aren't going to retire in this house just because that is the cheapest option of the two. 

So- we stay in this house and save I guess.  I thought the current prices and rates might provide the cheapest option to do the inevitable. 

[Dee18]

Can put a child safety gate at the top of the stairs. 

[Frugal_in_DC]

It would also be a good idea to mention your difficulty with stairs to your doctor and look up balance exercises online. Although it can be tricky to handle stairs sometimes, I also view them as a type of free exercise. Even if you end up buying a one-story, stairs are unavoidable outside the home. Little kids can't really handle stairs on their own until they're out of diapers, at the earliest.

[nktokyo]

I'm not following the stairs are dangerous thing... do you or your wife have a physical condition that make you particularly prone to falling down stairs?

If you do, then sure it's probably a good idea to get into a single level house.

If not, then pop a safety gate at top and bottom and your kid will be fine. I grew up in a house with stairs and in 20 years of living there with 3 kids and hundreds of visitors people fell down the stairs and hurt themselves approximately zero times - despite the fact that we ran up and down them like mad things.

I did however fall out of lots of trees and I crashed my bike multiple times. From these experiences I learned to be careful when climbing a tree or riding a bike.

As for whether it's a smart financial decision... we need more information about your current and future financial picture.

Lastly - you say $50K of renovations are needed. That's quite a lot. Have you validated that quote with more than one builder?

[happy]

If you are worried about your baby/toddler and the stairs...yes, put a gate at the top and the bottom.  But the safest thing is to teach your youngster to lie on his/her stomach and go down the stairs backwards.  They learn this quite fast at a very young age.

Then you can take your toddler elsewhere with increased safety: if you go to a house with unguarded stairs, there's nothing  like seeing the toddler drop and navigate stairs backwards, just as you were about to have a heart attack.