Happy Monday loves! Who here forgot to move their clocks up Saturday night and then woke up late for a 9:00 coffee date on Sunday morning because they thought it was 7:45 when in reality it was 8:45? Just me, huh!? Gotta love it... Today I thought I'd share with you guys a bit more about our downsizing plans.
While the driving force behind our downsizing decision is based on our desire for a lifestyle change, a large part is also rooted in our goals for long term financial security. For us this means we want to not only pay much less for our next home than we did our current one, but we will also be going into this with the goal of paying off our next mortgage early. In a perfect world we'd like to be mortgage free by our early 40s.
We purchased our current house at the bottom of the market and are fortunate to be in a good position with it now which will be a huge help in making this plan work. With that in mind we are centering our next home search around older homes in need of TLC.
Because we plan to be in the house for at least the next 11 years we sat down and made a list of features it absolutely must have in order for it to work for us over time. We have no expectations of grandeur here, guys, but we also don't want to have to take something down to the studs and start from the bottom. I've mentioned a few of these things randomly in posts already, but here it is all together
New House Must Haves
-Within 6-7 miles of the kids schools (we used a radius tool to determine which zip codes fall into this area and have already limited our search to only these specific areas). This is key for our simple living goals. I'm currently commuting about 45 minutes each morning and evening to drop off and pickup the kids who happen to be in different school districts right now.
-3 beds, at least 1.5 baths
-At least 1100 sqft but no more than 1600-we are downsizing after all!
-Large backyard- for us that's not really saying much when compared to the rest of the nation. Big to us is often small to everywhere else. We are hoping for a lot size of around 8000 sq ft.
-Older construction (nothing newer than 1970's, Id prefer something from the 50's or 60's)
-Wood burning fireplace
-Gas stove, or at least a gas line
-Central HVAC
-Dishwasher
-No formal living area
-Non open concept ( the waters are a bit murky on this one. Naomi wants an open concept, but since I do 90% of the cooking she understands why I'm against it.) We'll see what happens with this one.
-Character & potential
That's about it! Should be easy enough right? Doubt it! I'm sure there will be plenty of shag carpets, wood paneled walls, funky (and not so legal) additions, and time capsuled kitchens to sort through. Good times.
Until next time loves....
Xo-Shavonda
Wow, 45 minutes for a school runs. That's crazy!!!
ReplyDeletegood luck in getting everything on your list! :)
ReplyDeleteThat's crazy! Commuting for children?!?! Can't wait to see what you find!
ReplyDeleteSo hard to find everything you want but I also think having a list and clear ideas helps. And most often your gut will tell you when it's right :)
ReplyDeleteI hope you'll run some potentials by us -- just to tell us what you are looking at and why you liked/disliked the houses. That would be fun!
ReplyDeleteCamille
Sounds like a good list- especially the fireplace!
ReplyDeletehaving lived in a mid century house you will not find an open floor plan,air conditioning,decent closets or a private bath so be prepared to renovate...excited to follow your adventure-you have great style and i look forward to your posts!!
ReplyDeleteAbove all else I think paying your mortgage off early is the most important, as well as empowering. I am in a single income household and I made that my first goal, paying a 30 year mortgage off in 13 years. Each and every month I sent in 2 checks, one for the mortgage payment and the other specifically marked as a principal payment only. You do have to monitor the bank to make sure they apply the payments correctly, some of them do it right and others don't. I love you must have list.
ReplyDeleteGreat list. Especially the gas line. I want that in my next home.
ReplyDelete