I love this forum for the fact that people are not afraid to speak of everything that matters when considering buying a home as opposed to looking at it as a pure monetary investment. That really goes a long way with me and I really love the anecdotes!
My wife and I certainly would not take on a debt burden we could not handle. Our current home has gone up in price slightly; we put 20% down and would never do less. We are benefited by the fact that my wife’s mother has her broker’s license as well.
We are pretty young still and don’t have as permanent a view as prior generations. However, we’re certainly not New Yorkers and I personally have a hard time moving before I live out the value my father always conveyed to me, “always leave a house in better condition than when you moved in.”
There are very few one-story houses in our neighborhood and that fact actually puts them in great demand, the 2 or 3 that have gone on the market did not last a week. I don’t think we want the cost/pain of adding a second story, but building back is certainly a possibility. We are of the mindset that we either need to do that or move into a bigger place before a second child.
We’re still a little ways away from the first though and are capable of delayed gratification. The feedback we’ve gotten here is exactly what I was looking for :-). Thanks all.
