I have a family of 4, hubby and I and two boys 10 and 7. We've lived in the same house for the past 10 years and it's always been more than we need. Since discovering MMM 2 years ago we have been on the search for the right house that would appeal to our mustachian ways but also afford us some luxuries (since we're a little weak) . We do enjoy our current house... high ceilings, finished basement perfect for entertaining (which we actually do), we remodeled the kitchen ourselves, huge everything. It's about 3500 square feet.
We have been targeting a very specific area as potential to move to. Not many houses come on the market and the ones that do are raised ranches and we are dead set on a traditional ranch. Well, the perfect house finally came on the market. It's in the middle of everything we need. Walking distance to school for the boys, walking to some shopping, easy bike ride to grocery AND it's almost on a half acre of land. I love to garden and grow fruits and vegetables so this is a total bonus. The high school is literally in the back of the house so it will be awesome when the kids are in high school and even now we'll have access to all the amenities (track, football field, etc.). The house itself is 1500 sq feet, 3 bedrooms and two baths. The previous owners were the people that took care of everything about the house so it's in great condition. It has a gigantic deck on the back so entertaining will still be easy for us. We will be redoing the original 1960's kitchen and knocking down some walls to update it to an open floor plan and accommodate my desire for luxury in the kitchen.
The cost is about 100K less than the value of our current house. Then also, the yearly expenses are easily half of our current (property taxes, insurance, utilities) We are looking to be debt free within 2 years after making this move. I'm excited, hopeful, scared and a little sad about making this move. My 10 year old doesn't want to move and that makes me sad. He says, "Why do we have to move, I like our house..." I explain that we want to live on less for the environment, not have debt, and have more freedom and time to pursue other things outside of full time corporate careers. I think he only sort of understands this. He is not changing schools due to the move, thankfully! But his middle school will be different than a few of his close friends.
We close after the new year and will be putting our house on the market in early spring. We told our relatives and I think they think we are nuts, but they were not outwardly critical yet. ANYWAY, this is going to be a bit of an emotional roller coaster for me even though I have been mentally preparing for it for some time. This move accelerates our path to FIRE significantly, but it's scary to change.
If you made it this far, thanks for reading!