Our small 1532 sqft.house is 3 yrs from being paid off, should we keep it or build bigger hse. on our 3 acres?

Question

We bought our 3 acres 2 1/2 yrs ago to build a bigger home on. We have been taking our time designing our new home, however, we keep looking at the #s & we could have our existing home paid off in 3 years or we could go ahead now & pay off & just stay here but it's only 1532 sq.ft.. We have 2 kids & their rooms are small. We were looking at building at least a 2300-2400 sq.ft home. We live just outside a bigger city, 15-20 minutes from shopping & such but our 3 acres is about 15 more minutes further away from our existing one so we would be a little bit further out. The main road going out to our new land has some issues that the county needs to repair before our kids started driving. We have nice neighbors that are surrounding us that have built in the last 3 years. My husband is 43 yrs old & would like to retire Im sure before hes 70. We would like bigger but would it be better to stay & build on a little game room, pay off house, put in a pool or build a bigger home?

Answer 1

if your family is going to grow then yes suck some equity out and add on, if not you will have no monthly mortgage payment in 3 years and your husband can actually think about retirement, another big house is 30 more years of working for it, if it were me id pay it off and use my equity to make investments and use that money to build an extension to the house if desired

Answer 2

Your home is big enough for a 4 person family so if you want more space add a guest house. Maybe a garage with bonus space above. In the bonus space you could put the a bedroom or two and a bathroom. Put the eldest child or both children there with maybe a walkway to the house upper level if they are too young to be alone. If you leave one child in your home have the other bedroom made into a playroom or extra storage area for the kids stuff that doesn't fit in the bedrooms.
When you sell your 3 bedroom house it will be listed as 5 bedrooms and one more bath and another 2 car garage it should increase the value more than it cost.
The new owner might use the upstairs over the garage as a separate office space even meeting clients that don't come in the house or as the husband's retreat to keep him out from underfoot.

Answer 3

Get estimates for the work you want to have done. In the area I live in, new construction costs about $150.00 per square foot. A pool can be $40-50K or more. Figure in legal fees, permits, time, etc. and see if the cost will result in you over-improving your home for your neighborhood. If that happens, you may not get back the $ you put in when you are ready to sell. But, if you honestly think you will spend the rest of your life in your home, then go for it. It is a lot cheaper for you to add an extension than to build from scratch, and maintain a building loan and a mortgage ( assuming you have to finance everything at the same time), and time your move, etc. You won't know what the costs are until you call your township and find out how much the permits run, and call in a few good contractors to see what it would cost to extend, and if it is feasible, depending on what you want to do. Good luck!

Answer 4

That extra 15 minutes is not that far off in time. How old are your kids? If they are little ones, im sure they would have those road "issues" resolved when they are grown. Your kids are hopefully going to go off to college anyway, so I dont see how distance is that big of a factor. Build a bigger home, you would be happy you did. If you fear for another mortgage, then stay where you are....

Answer 5

You have 2 children, but you did not mention their ages. This is an important factor. Because most couples, once their children move out they decide to downsize and buy a small one story home to live in. You say you want to build a large home, but if your children are teenagers, would it be worth it? Once they move out you will have tons of extra, empty space. Will this new home suit you as you age? Will you be able to get up and down stairs easily? In my personal opinion I would add on to your current home and then later down the road build a small home for the two of you. I know if I built a house I would never want to sell it! And well, I wouldn't have the money to build myself 2 new houses!

Answer 6

In this market, you're probably going to get less for your nearly paid off home than you would if you waited a few years for the real estate market to recover.

Of course, you also have the problem of increasing construction costs if you wait. There is no way to tell what the price of materials will be in a few years down the road.

It's a toss-up. You will have to examine the financials involved with each situation and make your best decision from what you discover.

Answer 7

Very nice question! 1. Murder/Rape 2. Sexism & The Body Image Girls Look Up To 3. Government - (Immigration, President, War, Economy) 4. Out of Control Children 5. Drugs 6. Pollution/Global Warming I have no idea how to fix them. I just wish all the parents in the world would care about their children, and I wish drugs were only made possible in medicine and every medication had to have a prescription. I wish people would stop burning garbage and see the cloud-like billows of smoke they're sending in the air. I wish people would fess up to global warming, and that the parents would actually care enough about their kids to prevent them from dying from it in the future. I wish everything was perfect. Don't we all?

Answer 8

my in-laws went from 1100 sq ft with one child and 2500sq ft with full basement with no children. my point is my mother-in-law always wanted a bigger house and after it was built she wished she had a smaller one. in other words if the kids are getting ready to go then stay where you are and enjoy your life with your husband.

i would rather have a home that's paid for and be able to enjoy my family that much more. think about what you could do with a mortgage pmt that size if you stayed put.

p.s. i understand if you have little ones we have 3 small children 6,3,11months and our place is 1100 sq ft.

good luck