I’ve always wanted to live on the water. I have a very specific dream of a particular river and location with a flat yard, sandy beach, dock, pool, etc. We’ve toyed with buying a second place in Florida, but have nixed it for many reasons.
We found a house that fits the bill, in our same town. The particular land situation is not easy to find. This house would not be a downsize, if anything it’s a little bigger than our current home. It does address the first floor master suite, the kids rooms are upstairs so we could just live on the first floor but have plenty of space for them when they’re not at school or if they ever moved back in. Im not in love with the house, I don’t hate it either, but it certainly needs some things done to it to make it to my liking.
I don’t dislike my current house. We’ve lived here for 10 years. It couldn’t sell for what we paid even though we’ve put a lot of work into it. We don’t need to sell it though to afford the next one as it’s just about paid off. Our kids are both in college, and their funding is already covered.
We’re pretty fiscally conservative in terms of our living expenses. We can afford the house. Hubby thinks my catholic upbringing has done me in guilt wise. Is it okay to just do something you can afford because you want to? I know it will irritate some people in my family and life that I can “just” do this, as apparently I’m a 15 year in the making over night success. Hubby and I grew up in typical middle class suburbs. We are not flashy or wasteful. Just yesterday he sat at the table clipping coupons for our shopping trip. It won’t be a secret that we’re beyond comfortable if we buy this house. Does that matter?
Is it dumb to not downsize? We still host large events and lots of sleepover guests. We’re 48 and 50.
Would you move at this point if you didn’t need to, but wanted to?
I’d buy it in a minute! And, if I could afford to do so, I would fix up the house so that I loved it just as much as I loved the location. I don’t even understand the question. Why wouldn’t you do so?
Imo, it’s “it okay to just do something you can afford because you want to,” if you are already “paying it back” and “paying it forward” with regard to good deeds and kindnesses. (Is that a way around the Catholic guilt?)
I always dreamed of a nice fixer-upper, one that some person who had lived there forever sold for a sweet low price. Got it. One project leads to another and when you get to the end of the list, there’s a long list of things that need re-doing. Now I dream of a place that doesn’t need fixing. New. With a loyal handyman. But our home is so conveniently located, that I hesitate to move. The LR is large enough that, in some ultimate situation, the back end could become a bedroom.
We solved the waterfront thing by finding and renting, for a few weeks in summer. Because we took the same house for a few years each, it felt like ours. No fuss, no muss.
I would! When want and can meet, the result is “go for it”!
“Is it dumb to not downsize? We still host large events and lots of sleepover guests. We’re 48 and 50.”
48 and 50? My goodness, you will not be even full official retirement age according to the SSA by the time you pay off the 15 yr mortgage on your dream house! The rates are still great, BTW.
go for it!! ESPECIALLY if it can be the place you can live in for the rest of your lives. The downstairs MB can save you from deadly falls when you both are older. It is a wise choice. Your kids can live in your other home if they choose, or you can rent it out and have rental income.
Are you hesitant because your extended family might think of you as wasteful? It is not their money, period. BTW, I really dislike when people begin to “count” other folks’ money.
As someone who just downsized, I say, go for it! You’ve always wanted to live on the water - so if not now, when? Downsize downshmize. You enjoy space for entertaining. Living on the water, you’ll have plenty of visitors – you need that space! And you’re decades from that second story becoming an “issue.”
Remember, people tend to regret the road not taken. Don’t be one of them, especially since you’ve got nothing to lose. (And making that new home “to your liking” is fun. I’m doing that to my new house, and thoroughly enjoy it.)
Absolutely, go for it! The first floor master bedroom and waterfront location seals the deal for me. Kitchens, bathrooms, decor, etc. can all be changed to your liking at your leisure. As others have said, life is too short. Don’t let any perceived “disapproval” from family or “Catholic guilt” hold you back. You and your H worked hard and deserve this.
My mother loved buying houses and making them over the way she liked. Sometimes she sold them, sometimes they were so perfect she and my father would move in for four or five years, until the next one caught her eye. The top of a mountain, a condo in the city, a house on 14 acres in the country, a house in a small town. She never hesitated when the spirit moved her.
Another GO for it! I would hate to have two houses, so I would probably sell off the old one after I had worked on remodeling the new one. (Easier to remodel if you don’t live in the new one yet!) Life is short. Live where you want to live.
