I'm a 28 year old guy and the owner of a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house. I'm considering moving to a 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom condo.
Is this a wise idea? I have a solid amount of equity in the house (about half) which I feel would be better used towards a smaller, cheaper place which I could pay off within a few years.
I don't use most of the space in the house and it feels like a waste to pay such a high monthly payment for a bunch of empty rooms, plus I'm not into all the maintenance. In a few years a couple major things are going to go as well -- boiler, surrounding retaining wall, etc. I'm not sure if I could currently break even on a sale, especially after realtor's fees. There are a bunch of things around the house that need fixing before selling, which should cost about $10K or less.
The appeal of the condo is that it's brand new, unlike my house which is 60 years old and full of half-complete projects, and smaller, which means I'll be unable to accummulate crap. I'd also be willing to furnish it properly since it'd be a smaller space, and think it would in general just increase my home satisfaction. The house as it is now is a constant source of stress for me.
Does moving sound smart in the long run? It's possible I'll need to buy another house in, say, 5 years if I were to get married and have a kid, but it's unlikely I'd want to stay in this house anyway. But at least the next time around I'd have more savings to buy with, and could always rent out the condo as a source of income.