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Tuesday, January 12

We're Moving!

Big changes are ahead.  We've made the decision to move in March into one of my rental properties.  There are a few reasons for doing this, but the top reason is because our current home has high monthly costs that are outside our control.  Specifically, we have both an HOA ($200 every quarter) and a CDD (over $300 per month).  Additionally, the interest rate is a ridiculous 4.75% and I was turned down for a refinancing.  I'm still not sure how I justified this since we knew about these costs before I bought this house.  I think the excitement about building a brand new home got the best of me.

Advantages of Moving

There are several positive benefits to this move:
  • I paid cash for the rental property, so there won't be a mortgage.  
  • We will be 15 minutes from the Airbnb.  Based on 2020 trips, this will free up 135 hours of drive time and about $200 worth of gas, plus it will reduce wear and tear on the car.
  • We will be more physically active.  The rental is on a major bicycle trail that runs through the county and is an easy bike ride to the beach.  It's a more dense area which means we can run most of our errands without getting in the car. 
  • Instead of paying a mortgage, I'll be spending money on improving the home.  The area around the house has improved since I bought it and I think I can add value by updating it.  More to come...
  • Because it's a smaller house, the cost of utilities should go down.
  • Last, and maybe best:  once our current home sells, I will be completely debt-free!!!
Unless the real estate market crashes, I expect to sell the home we live in for a modest profit.  If I'm lucky, the increase in value will cover all our carrying costs for the 2+ years we've lived in this home.  

This won't be our forever home.  It's more of a house hacking opportunity - live in it while we make improvements that will raise its value.  Our "forever home" may not even be in the United States.  I still have a lot of thinking to do about that.

2 comments:

  1. The financial savings combined with the time savings make the move a smart decision. Being completely debt-free will be great for you as well, that will give you a lot of options when deciding what to do in the future.

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    1. Thanks, Andy. The time savings alone justifies it. I'm crossing my fingers my current home will sell at a profit so that I can say I've lived for free for the last couple of years.

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