manu, you know most people on this blog think housing is going down more, and for a while. That said, many bloggers who already own homes plan to stay in them, either because they’re not 100% sure about the price decline, or because they are just too comfortable where they are to make a move.
You don’t sound comfortable, as a couple, where you are. So if I were in your shoes, I might move for family harmony, and possible financial gain. If prices rise in the future, well, you might have to set aside some of that extra income to pay for a bigger house, but it won’t kill you.
I wouldn’t trust Zillow. You’d be very lucky to get the Zillow price now.
By the way, you say you won’t get back the $500,000 you spent on improvements. That doesn’t look right to me, based on what you said:
Based on Zillow (a risky basis, as I said) you will not only get back every penny of your purchase and improvement money, you will get a tax-free gain of $170,000. If you got the Zillow price, that’s like getting your full physican paychecks starting today instead of 2 years from now. Which just goes to show that, even when the real estate money machine is spluttering it beats, for most people, returns for lucrative work. Something not right there.
