To sell or not to sell?..

[elitejake]

My wife and I are thinking of selling our home. The house has almost doubled in value in the last 5 years. My son is moving out after he graduates. So we don't have any one but us and I he two dogs.
Knowing we want to move out of state in 3-7 years.
Option 1:
Keep the house and keep on with small projects to get it where we want it.
Option 2:
Sell the house and buy a big enough trailer for us and the dogs. Find a piece of property and put a slab on it. Get a connex for our stuff so we don't pay storage fees.
Have a little travel trailer paradise for a few years.

If we keep the house the
If the Market tanks then we have to stay till it rebounds. Way longer then we want to be in this state. Or it holds and we make way more then I could have imagined when we do jump out of this place.
If we sell. Take the 290k after selling fees and crap. Buy a trailer. Buy a piece of property and improve it. Now we are back to zero $ in the bank for the next place we want to go. But no living expenses except utilities.
Why not rent? Bc our mortgage is less then renting and finding a place that takes two big dogs is expensive and a good place with space would be insane to find now.

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[Mikej]

I look around and dream of being out of hell-hole potland. I'll look at random cities in random states in the West for what homes are available and what they cost. My unscientific research shows that selling my home won't be a problem. But homes elsewhere are getting expensive and few.

 

[ma96782]

Aloha, Mark

PS.....But then, I could just check with my other source too?

 

[Lilhigbee]

Personally I wouldn't worry about the market too much as long as the proceeds from your house are going towards buying another house. If the value of your house is cut in half, the value of the place you buy will most likely be cut in half too. If you are essentially trading houses the dollar amount doesn't really matter.
What would worry me is the interest rate. If you bought five years ago your rate is probably at 3% or so, possibly even less. I think we are going to see early-eighties level interest rates before long and that will affect your purchasing ability far more than market value will.

 

[WAW44]

Have you lived in a trailer for an extended period. Do you know if you can actually handle it and not kill each other, or the dogs, after a few months?

Also, why the 3-5 years? Just move now, and be done. 290 don't buy much these days, and as the rates go up it will be the lower end of the market that will heat up as people downsize or move to cheaper areas.

 

[Member 34319]

If I may ask, how old are you?

I'm curious as it might be worth looking at how much life is left vs amount of work needed to live in a trailer on your own land. I for one won't be trying to do such a thing after 60, but that's just me. I'm not anywhere near 60, but I would rather look at a retirement community over a chunk of land.

Are you retired? Wife? Any other sources of income or is the house the nest egg to live the rest of the years on?

Hows you and your wife's health? My parents are in a similar point of their lives and health has really put up a fight on the next big decision.

Where is your son going? Do you and your wife want to be close? Other family you want to stay near?

Are you really unhappy with Washington? Why? Is it something that can be overcome? Is the reasons to leave hyped up do to political bias?

There are tons to consider. I know 300k is great, but it's not always worth it.

If this is something you and the wife have put a lot of time into figuring out, go for it.

 

[ATCclears]

@elitejake perhaps a few considerations:

Retirees Spend a Lot of Time and Money to Buy Their ‘Forever Home.’ Then They Sell It.

It doesn’t take long for people to discover that what’s perfect now is far from perfect before too long. And it costs them.

www.wsj.com

 

[Ruger Rich]

I look around and dream of being out of hell-hole potland. I'll look at random cities in random states in the West for what homes are available and what they cost. My unscientific research shows that selling my home won't be a problem. But homes elsewhere are getting expensive and few.

I do the same thing you're doing. I have decent equity in my home, probably enough to duplicate it plus in other places.
But, family and friends are here. And yes I'm disgusted with the way the Metro area has evolved. It takes a long time
I imagine to establish somewhere else to the point I'm at now. Do I want to do that? Do I have enough time left? And
I now find it important to be near a large full service hospital. So I'll likely hang here and occasionally carp and bubblegum.
And, this is important, I've spent years hunting the same Eastern Oregon places, I would hate to start that over.

 

[L84Cabo]

Forgive me as I'm not entirely sure how this works...but is there going to be a substantial tax hit if you sell now and don't roll the money back into another house?

And if you do sell your place, do you know where you ultimately want to be so that you could buy a place there now and rent it until you're ready to move? Is that an option?

Another scenario is that you sell your place now, and real estate prices continue to climb, and then you're priced out of the market wherever you ultimately want to be.

I think I'm in favor of holding onto your place until you know where you want to go and are ready to make the jump.

 

[Flopsweat]

Forgive me as I'm not entirely sure how this works...but is there going to be a substantial tax hit if you sell now and don't roll the money back into another house?

And if you do sell your place, do you know where you ultimately want to be so that you could buy a place there now and rent it until you're ready to move? Is that an option?

Another scenario is that you sell your place now, and real estate prices continue to climb, and then you're priced out of the market wherever you ultimately want to be.

I think I'm in favor of holding onto your place until you know where you want to go and are ready to make the jump.

Isn't that for income property? I don't think it works that way with your primary residence.

 

[elitejake]

I believe primary residence taxes are different. Although they prob tax the crap out of us any way.

The reason to sell would be for significant less expenses and be able to pay off our living expenses. So sack cash like a boss! Unless some thing goes side ways.

Health……. Ya. Mine is the worst. Working on it but the idea of healthcare is one I missed. It makes sense for staying here.

Would I kill my wife in a small trailer? Hell.. I might kill he in the house. Not a concern so far. We actually like each other. But not having runners bodies prob makes it a bit tougher.
I just turned 42. So I have the time to make the improvements and do the work. I make great money but that's not all that I worry about. Family and friends. I only have my sister around and she is moving next year any way to Utah for her dreams. Well that's the plan.

Where is my son going……… ya. He can't figure out how to do the dishes properly and his mother thinks he can go to college and be OK…. Zero drive and zero forethought on actions. I love my son. But I can't live the rest of my life for him now that he is going to graduate. My ex has been a weekend play toy For the last 18 years. No favors done. I have pushed and pushed for the military to help guide him. But his ultra liberal mother and wife have done a great job. I love my son. Don't get me wrong. I just hope he can walk on his own when he has to.

As for the pets. I'm still recovering from a knee injury bc the bigger one (90#,85#) thought it was a good idea to walk under my feet when I'm walking. Great fun.

Thank you for the reply's. My wife loves to read them.

 

[ATCclears]

@elitejake we also ponder what is next. Some ramblings from my file of notes...

Medical. Max 90min from a city of 250K+ population. One might need to see specialists ongoing. I've got a buddy over by Kingston and he has to go to Mill Creek regularly since he cannot find the needed specialist (or one he trusts)) on that side of Puget Sound. Can you maintain your lifestyle at new place if one of you wasn't able to help?

Not the right place. That article I mentioned above from the WSJ. OK if you don't want it after say 3-5 years in the new place. Are you stuck or limited? What is the transition cost of moving again?

Water. If the drought continues, impact on your place and land?

Family. Would you need or want to move back or elsewhere? Take care of a family member. Be closer to a grandchild. Whatever. I know this is predicting the future, just don't discount it.



I keep an electronic file of notes when ideating on a next place. I know I cannot satisfy all considerations, but I keep the notes anyway to help me ask objective questions. A snippet:


Area Study

• Terrain
  • MyTopo. https://search.mytopo.com/searchplaces
• Weather. Average days of precipitation. Average inches of rain, snow. Average sunny days. Average Summer high temperature and Average Winter low temperature. Average UV Index.
  • More extreme heat in next few decades?
• Drought. https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/
• Economy and Finance. Industries, major Employers, County and State unemployment metrics, Social-assistance metrics, Income levels, Poverty levels.
• Critical Infrastructure. Energy and Utilities. Hospitals and Trauma Centers. Schools.
• Human Terrain. Demographics. Socioeconomic. Political Affiliations. Attitudes and Beliefs. Opinions and Actions of Influencers.
• Threat Overview. Conventional. Irregular such as crime, gangs, organized crime. Disruptive (short-term) such as hurricanes, storms, tornados. Catastrophic such as earthquake, forest fire, flooding, economic.
• Security and Law Enforcement. Active and Reserve units from Military branches, National Guard, Civil Air Patrol, Coast Guard.
• https://survivalblog.com/2021/01/30/knowledge-power-value-area-study-part-1-viking4/
• https://survivalblog.com/2021/01/31/knowledge-power-value-area-study-part-2-viking4/

 

[arakboss]

‘The housing market is in the early stages of a substantial downshift': Home sales may drop 25% by the end of summer, according to this analyst

The expected drop in home sales could bring relief to renters over time.

www.marketwatch.com

 

[elitejake]

That was my worry if we missed the bubble or not.

 

[made in china]

My wife and I like to consider the same options as op, plus we also looked at renting as another option.

Make sure that if you do something that puts huge amounts of money into a bank or some other easily cashed out account, get umbrella insurance.

We already have too much in savings, I warn my wife frequently that an unfortunate accident, car or property, could see our money be taken.

Hate to say it, but having money that isn't tied-up is a risk in itself.

 

[elitejake]

The thought of too much in savings would be nice. I've had some health issues in the last couple years and COVID didn't help. We are just starting to go back in the right direction. Low savings vs none is a bit different. But too much… I'd have to think about asset management in different ways. I've kind of set us up so if the 1s,0s in the world never work again we can have most of what is needed. But still plan for the rocking chair on the porch for sunrise or sunset. The health issues brought up is on my mind as I just had 4 new stints put in Thursday.
After being a long distance witness to the officer in Everett getting killed. (Hospital is 7 blocks from where it happened) we were on our walk. The point is. Stupid and evil is everywhere. Bad bubblegum happens and we can only do our best to be ahead of it. I have worked on that with my wife for many years also.
I know we will be out of here at some point. But all of the thoughts brought up are serous things to think of. Thank you all.

 

[BBQ Guy]

If i were to do as your thinking i would look at property where you can get an exemption on taxes because it is a farm.
Different areas have some different zoning requirements to meet the minimum specs for a farm. Do your own research.

Get yourself the trailer and build a big bubblegum shop with living quarters(agricultural building). They can't take up more than a certain percentage in order for it to still be considered a shop(agricultural building).
Then you arent tying up your mobile living quarters when it is time to hit the road.

Look up "barndominiums" lots of fancy stuff being done with metal buildings.

 

[elitejake]

I just showed your reply BBQ- to my wife. She said " I WANT PIGS AND GOATS AND CHICKENS AND ZEBRAS!" Yes in the excited voice the text shows.
I had never thought about the idea of a farm For tax reasons. That makes good sense. Ty

 

[johnny bob]

I had never thought about the idea of a farm For tax reasons

You don't have to shovel poop with a tree farm and trees don't have to be fed them daily.

 

[oremike]

Plus if you are growing trees as a timber lot I think the write off is 50 years or more. Makes the net gain taxes your kid(s) problem.