Has Anyone Downsized To A Smaller House? Any Advice?

[bayerische]

Originally Posted by Jason71

My 6000sf house on 162acres was just auctioned due to a nasty divorce. I lost my a$$ on that house and land. Not just to the ex, but it auctioned for pennies on the dollar. It sold for more than $250,000 BELOW market value. Luckily, it was nearly paid off, so I am still in the black. I now live in a 1100sf rental. I hate the rental house I'm in now, but I don't miss much at all about that behemoth of a house. I had it custom built about 7 years ago and it it was all the best. All hardwood and tile, crown molding, solid surface, etc. Selling the place was liberating........in spite of the financial loss.

I will never live in another house bigger than 2500sf

BTW......do you know why divorce is so expensive?? Because it is worth EVERY PENNY

Sorry to hear that Jason.

[anilzat]

my house is so large both cats have bells on their necks to locate them

[bayerische]

Joey, that house looks wonderful!

Good luck on the deal!

[singe89]

Congrats!!! Looks beautiful

You sure dont get views like that in southern california

[Hooper]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

We made an offer on the downsized house this morning. Thus begins the negotiation process. It's a pretty time of year, and here are some exterior photos.


The driveway:






The woods on the north side of the house:





The house from the lakeside:

Beautiful joey!! Congrats and good luck

[Jason71]

Originally Posted by bayerische

Sorry to hear that Jason.

Thank you

C'est la vie.

I am in a much better place now. I am in a functional LOVING relationship with a beautiful woman that is prettier on the inside than the outside........And she is LOVELY on the outside. My kids love her and she is AWESOME with them. I can recoup my comfortable living in a couple years of hard work. Money comes and money goes.......

Joey, that is a FANTASTIC looking piece of real estate. I think you are making a good move. (I do hope you have a good leaf-blower) Sorry to hijack your thread.

[gmh1013]

We went from a 2630 sq ft to 1980 sq ft and my wife has every room and closet, the outside storage which is 12 by14 and most of the garage full of crap...thanks to my wife who refuses to throw or give away anything. Im dying to sell this house in TX since it gone up in price 30 percent and go home...my mother is the only thing stopping me. Down sizing did not work well for us.

[bayerische]

Originally Posted by Jason71

Thank you

C'est la vie.

I am in a much better place now. I am in a functional LOVING relationship with a beautiful woman that is prettier on the inside than the outside........And she is LOVELY on the outside. My kids love her and she is AWESOME with them. I can recoup my comfortable living in a couple years of hard work. Money comes and money goes.......

Joey, that is a FANTASTIC looking piece of real estate. I think you are making a good move. (I do hope you have a good leaf-blower) Sorry to hijack your thread.

I'm happy to hear that buddy. Well being is worth more than a billion bucks.
Take care my friend.

[psv]

Wow, what a place. Which general area is that?

[HL65]

Looks very nice Joey!

[joeychitwood]

Originally Posted by psv

Wow, what a place. Which general area is that?

It is on a wooded lake four miles from town in northwestern Minnesota.

[DiamondJack]

Looks great Joey...... A place to chill, relax and enjoy life........

[subtona]

Originally Posted by Jason71

Thank you

C'est la vie.

I am in a much better place now. I am in a functional LOVING relationship with a beautiful woman that is prettier on the inside than the outside........And she is LOVELY on the outside. My kids love her and she is AWESOME with them. I can recoup my comfortable living in a couple years of hard work. Money comes and money goes.......

Joey, that is a FANTASTIC looking piece of real estate. I think you are making a good move. (I do hope you have a good leaf-blower) Sorry to hijack your thread.

This is really great to hear
Living well is the best revenge.

[joeychitwood]

The owner of the house countered our initial offer, and we made a second offer, which was slightly over the amount I had previously determined as my absolute maximum. She countered at 10K over my max, so for now, we are moving on. If she changes her mind and drops the price again, we will buy the house. I won't get emotional about house hunting. As Bruce Williams used to say, "Never love something that can't love you back."

[threemonkeys]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

The owner of the house countered our initial offer, and we made a second offer, which was slightly over the amount I had previously determined as my absolute maximum. She countered at 10K over my max, so for now, we are moving on. If she changes her mind and drops the price again, we will buy the house. I won't get emotional about house hunting. As Bruce Williams used to say, "Never love something that can't love you back."

Good perspective. I never allowed myself to get emotionally committed to a house when looking to buy.

[psv]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

It is on a wooded lake four miles from town in northwestern Minnesota.

Mind kind of place as someone born/raised in the north! :-)

[superdog]

Oh no! Only a 4 car garage. Lol.

Really?

I think all will work out just fine. Don't sweat it.

Enjoy the fruits of your labor. You deserve it.

[joeychitwood]

Originally Posted by superdog

Oh no! Only a 4 car garage. Lol.

Not only four stalls, but a "clubhouse" with carpet, AC, heat, TV, internet and two heated, insulated stalls in the unattached unit. My friends and I would never need to go into the house again. I could start my own 1%'er motorcycle gang.

[cornerstore]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

The owner of the house countered our initial offer, and we made a second offer, which was slightly over the amount I had previously determined as my absolute maximum. She countered at 10K over my max, so for now, we are moving on. If she changes her mind and drops the price again, we will buy the house. I won't get emotional about house hunting. As Bruce Williams used to say, "Never love something that can't love you back."

Really ,you walked over a $10k difference,tough negotiator,you are. I use the plus or minus 5% figure when haggling.I've found you can't always get what you want for exactly the price you want to pay, better to pay a little more for something special than pay less for something not so special.

[joeychitwood]

Originally Posted by cornerstore

Really ,you walked over a $10k difference,tough negotiator,you are. I use the plus or minus 5% figure when haggling.I've found you can't always get what you want for exactly the price you want to pay, better to pay a little more for something special than pay less for something not so special.

I've thought of waiting another few weeks and offering to split the difference with her. We can be flexible if she doesn't want to move in the winter. I do know that we have made the most serious offer to date on the house.

[gulfstream69xr7]

My wife and I took a slightly different tract. The home we moved into four years ago has one main section that is 2500 sqft. One floor, 10 foot ceilings. Master suite, great room, library and kitchen.

The second section of the house is three bedrooms two full bathrooms at 1300sqft. The sections are separated by a pocket door and have separate utilities. When we moved in our daughter was in college and our son was about to start college; so we figured they would be home for a while.

When they are home, or when we have guests, we open up the secondary section of the house and turn on the heat/AC. when there is nobody home, we just close it off.

It's kind of like having two homes, or an attached apartment.

[cornerstore]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

I've thought of waiting another few weeks and offering to split the difference with her. We can be flexible if she doesn't want to move in the winter. I do know that we have made the most serious offer to date on the house.

Perhaps if the property has something of value currently not included in the sale price such as boats, tractors, pickup truck, appliances, built-ins ,furniture or the like you could do a little bargaining .You get a little value added for the extra dollars (something needed or saleable), she gets her price point. I don't know the circumstances but I knew a widow who wouldn't budge on her price as she promised her husband before he passed not to sell it below x$. Sometimes value added can bridge the price and psychological gaps and generally are a win -win .

[sea-dweller]

We did, from a 1700 sq foot home to a 1300 sq foot townhome, in a nicer area. Sold off a lot of unnecessary junk and after that was done, it was easy!

[azguy]

While it's not for everyone I sold my house 2 years ago, 3,000 sqft, pool, hot tub, putting green, yada, yada, yada and move into a 1,100 sqft condo in a nice building with pool, spa, health club and concierge service.

I love it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My yard work is gone, my pool work is gone, no PIA HOA to deal with and 100% lock and go. I feel like have all my weekends back and my electric bill is half, my cleaning lady is half and my junk collection is half...

[Widows Son]

Had a real nice 2700 sq ft center hall colonial, 2.5 baths, 4 br, your typical floor plan in a real nice area. No kids, just a pooch. Got divorced and decided I didn't want to streach my paycheck to buy her out. So, bought myself a nice 1600 sq ft 3 br, 2 bath ranch with a full basement. You guessed it, got remarried and had our son. Now that bigger house would be nice, but not nice enough to give up my increased disposable income.

[c.rod]

Originally Posted by Widows Son

Had a real nice 2700 sq ft center hall colonial, 2.5 baths, 4 br, your typical floor plan in a real nice area. No kids, just a pooch. Got divorced and decided I didn't want to streach my paycheck to buy her out. So, bought myself a nice 1600 sq ft 3 br, 2 bath ranch with a full basement. You guessed it, got remarried and had our son. Now that bigger house would be nice, but not nice enough to give up my increased disposable income.

you hit the nail on the head. you should live in it. not for it....

[joeychitwood]

Well, we relented and put in what should be an acceptable cash offer for the house and land. The offer is contingent on the sale of our current house, but the fact that it is a cash offer should mitigate that somewhat. Fingers crossed.

Thanks to Patrick for a little kick in the rear to get it done.

[Kevin.S]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

The house is a little smaller than our current house, but the lot is nearly all woods, thus much less mowing and gardening. The lake is smaller but very clean with few weeds and a natural shoreline, so very little beach maintenance. Our current house is 40 years old, so we are always replacing or re-doing something, and it is on a lake with very expensive lakeshore, so the smaller house is quite a bit less expensive.

In my neck of the woods lake side property has an avg. of 15k a year in prop. taxes!!

[joeychitwood]

Originally Posted by Kevin.S

In my neck of the woods lake side property has an avg. of 15k a year in prop. taxes!!

The value in my current property is in the land. Lake shore values on my side of the lake run $4,000 to over $6,000 per linear foot. The state lifted an 11% cap on the percentage increase in one's property taxes that could be levied in a year, and when that happened, mine jumped dramatically. I could buy a new house every few years with what I pay in property taxes.

[gulfstream69xr7]

Originally Posted by Kevin.S

In my neck of the woods lake side property has an avg. of 15k a year in prop. taxes!!

Yeah, our property taxes average around 20K for lake front. Ours is an anomaly, so our taxes are quite a bit lower.