I have a house that I will have paid off in a year. It is 20 years old and very outdated on the inside.
If you were me would you update the tile, paint, kitchen, etc. in the home for $50,000 or would you rent out the home (or sell it) and buy a new home with a 30 year loan?
A newer house in my part of the US would cost on average about $550,000-$650,000!
What would you do and why?
2006-07-05 08:57:05 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Family & Relationships ➔ Family
It depends on if you want to stay in that house... if you do i would get the cash out of the equity and fix all the upgrades that you would enjoy. You could even get more money out and but a different property to rent out for extra income. Congrats on having a home almost paid off!!! Not many people can say that.
2006-07-05 09:01:34 · answer #1 · answered by sunlovin76 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How long do you want to be working or would like to be able to retire? I would keep the old house and do upgrades as the money came in. When you own a home you have NO rent or loan to pay off. You are no longer a slave to the lender! I have done several renovations on homes and if you choose to move than wait until after you have done the upgrades so the value goes up. You can spend $5,000 on a bathroom and get great upgrades and add $15,000 to the value and so on with other rooms in the home. I personally would get the house paid off and then add that to any other debt I may have until I am completely debt free...then you can invest that money. If you can invest 500 per month at a small interst rate of 4.9% you will have made roughly $55000 to $60000 just letting it sit there for about 15 years( and you can do better than that, that is just a low interest example)...and it just goes up from there if you can afford more put in more...My husband and I are living in a home built in the early 80's and it has been lovely...our home has more and better features than many new homes and as we have the money available we do small upgrades. It is a lot cheaper
2006-07-05 09:42:27 · answer #2 · answered by EmmaGee 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My house is way older than yours. It was built in the 1920's and when we bought it, it was also quite outdated. I think the last time anyone did anything with it was in the 1970's! OMG! That nasty avocado green and puke yellow/gold was all over the place!
As far as selling it and buying something new... NO WAY! I love this old house! It has so much personality and we've been able to go through it and redecorate the interior to match our style and tastes. Some of the projects have been major undertakings (especially the kitchen) but it's been worth it in the long run.
I have friends that have brand new houses and they feel so cold and have no personality. Besides, I like not having the payments they have!
2006-07-05 09:23:45 · answer #3 · answered by cgspitfire 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would keep the house that is paid off and update it, It is much, much cheaper to update than to buy a new one. Then you would have a new loan to deal with, probably with higher payments, for another 30 years. If I didn't have to rent my home, I would update it. It was built in 1944 and needs some updating (its had some, but needs more). New houses are nice, BUT even they tend to fall apart because they are built so fast and so cheap now a days.
2006-07-05 09:53:16 · answer #4 · answered by honey 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You don't like the home because it is old? Many people actually prefer an older home to a new one. I do because the materials that they used in older homes was more substantial than in newer homes. My home is 50 years old and has oak flooring throughout. Try to price that for a new home! New homes are often built with flakeboard and other materials that will not last more then a few years. My advice is to definitely keep your home and use the money to renovate the interior.
2006-07-05 09:07:36 · answer #5 · answered by Brad J 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Take a mortgage out on teh 20 year old home and remodel. It will be less expensive than buying a new home. The only reason not to remodel your current house is if its ina bad area of town, or where the houses would be worh much less than your after the remodel, you don't want you house to be "better" than the area you live in, because you will recoup the money you put into your remodel.
2006-07-05 09:01:55 · answer #6 · answered by Liz 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Keep the one that's paid off and live in it. And a loan for $50,000 will cost you a lot less in interest charges. Think of all the money you will save in interest charges on a 30 year loan for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
2006-07-12 05:57:12 · answer #7 · answered by Garfield 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
keep the 20 year home.. it's almost paid off
update for increased value.. then if you still want to go back into debt.. then buy another one
Me? I'd rather have a paid off home and spend the $ elsewhere, or put towards early retirement
2006-07-05 09:02:36 · answer #8 · answered by Mopar Muscle Gal 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
id go with the new one because in 20 years the new home will be 20 and the old one will be 40
2006-07-05 09:02:06 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'd rather have the 20 year old house that's paid off. I wouldn't mind the so-called "dated" things in it.
2006-07-05 09:11:22 · answer #10 · answered by heaven25star 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋