Selling our house and moving to apartment/condo - just because it sounds fun?

Question

We have a strong desire to sell our very nice house with a huge yard and move to a condo (purchase or rent) to downsize. We have 3 young kids (2 in pre-school, 1 in 4th grade) My wife and I both grew up with mobile families and now we have lived in this house longer than either of us have ever lived in a house and we are feeling stuck. We would like to know that if an option came to move across the country for work we can without the burden of selling a house and doing all the prep work on it. And we want our children to have different experiences other than the same neighborhood forever.

Is it a bad plan to sell now when we don't have to just so we can minimize and move into an apartment or condo and have the flexibility to relocate if we want? It sounds fun to us.

I hate the thought of growing old in the same house.

Answer 1

You don't sound mature enough to be raising children.  Children need stability more than you need variety.  Yes, you could probably get away with it, since they are young, but check out the place you would like to move to and try to figure out where the children would play, and whether you could have pets - which are also useful in raising children.  Moving across the country would be a traumatic even for the children, as well.  I presume you ARE old enough to realize the tax benefits of owning - whether a house or a condo.  If one of you got a really great job offer somewhere far away, and the other person could possibly make a job change to go along with the great opportunity, wouldn't you still have the challenge of selling?

Answer 2

That depends on what you CAN do.  In many locations across the country now is not the best time to try and sell.  In my market, one in three houses will sell this year.  Odds are, many of the homes that don't sell are listed by people who do not need to sell but just think they might if they can get the right price.  So, it really depends on your market and then on your motivation.  If you are not ready to sell today, and the market is over saturated with homes for sale, you will just be disappointed and have a bad experience trying to maybe sell if it sounds good.

We recently moved with two young children and while they are now finally settled, they were not happy to leave their friends, neighborhood, etc.  My children really liked that security and certainty.  The world is big enough to them even when it is just your little "same-old" neighborhood.  

Didn't mean to throw in parenting advice in a real estate forum, but if i had to do it over again, I'm not sure I would :)

That is just my $.02

Best of luck.

Joe...

Answer 3

Not a very good reason to sell your home.  Have you every experienced apartment living.  Much different then a private home. The burden of selling is the same with a home or condo.   Apartment rentals are at the whim of a landlord.  This is something you and your wife need to give some serious consideration about what is best for your children.