[quote=UCGal]The idea of being mortgage free is very attractive. I’m aggressively paying on my mortgage in hopes of achieving that goal.
As far as downsizing… I guess it depends on your family and the house you’re moving to. If you’re moving from a two story with large entry halls, curving staircases, etc… to a one story, open plan… You get some benefit of eliminated wasted space. (You can’t live on a staircase – and most folks don’t use their entry foyers as living spaces.)
If the yard/outdoor space in the new/smaller place is comparable – that will help with the transition.
Look hard at your furniture – is it the oversized stuff that is so common now? That will make the rooms seem smaller. I’ve noticed that furniture styles like you find at Ashleys tend to be HUGE – designed for the tract-mcMansions. Smaller scale used to be easier to find. If your furniture is large – it will be harder to transition to a smaller house.
Only YOU know if you’ll adjust to a smaller house. With 1300 sf you probably have one just one living space – not a separate living room/family room setup… do you need separate space for the kids? Is your formal living room used much now?
To answer your specific questions:
1) We bought from my father – no lawyer or realtor – but we used a title company. It was fine. A lawyer reviewing the sales contract is a good idea.
2) If priced right – it will sell. If priced too high, it won’t. I notice there aren’t too many houses on your street – so no good comps… If you want to be under contract in 30 days – you’ll need to price at or slightly below market price. Don’t just count on Zillow for pricing. It’s notoriously inaccurate at times.
3)I don’t know.
4) I think it’s a great idea to be mortgage free. It gives you options and you are no longer a slave to the house payments. It makes the stress of possible job reductions easier. I’m a fan.
5)It’s possible. It’s possible to even be happy doing it. My husband is one of 6 kids (so 8 in the family) – they grew up in a 1200 sf row house… He didn’t know they were being abused and were supposed to feel deprived. We lived in a 1500 sf house before we bought my dad’s house… and had my in-laws in with us for part of the time. We were happy. It’s what you make of it.[/quote]
UCGal makes some very good points. FWIW, we used to live in a sub-1,300 sf house (single-story) with two young kids. It is ALL about the layout. The builder was a genius (IMHO) and by using space wisely, we had 3/2, plus more storage space than in our current 2,000+ sf house. We also had a living room and separate family room that rival the sizes seen in the newer 3,000+ McMansions because the *space was used wisely.* The downside was that the bedrooms were the standard 10X10 or 9X10, and the master was tiny (around 11X12), but we could fit a king-sized bed, dresser, and two nightstands in it quite comfortably.
Like UCGal suggested, you need small-scale furniture, and the space needs to be kept clean and clutter-free. BTW, cleaning a smaller space is so much easier than keeping a larger home clean.
Still, FLU also made some good points. It seems like you really need to decide whether or not your jobs are at risk, as that seems to be your biggest concern.
