Carmel Valley questions

[cvmom]

Am a long-time Pigg lurker, now in need of some advice from all of you experts on this board. We (2-career parents of 2 school-age kids) are considering downsizing from our ~$1M house in the Heights area of CV to a 1300 sq ft 3BR 2BA house just a couple of blocks away(~600K). This would allow us to be mortgage-free. I know this is not the American way (buy, buy, buy, borrow, borrow, borrow), but it really sounds good in these uncertain times, when we don’t know how much longer our well-paying jobs will be there. Here are my questions:

1. The house we are considering moving to is owned by friends. We would buy without a realtor (but of course with home inspection, lawyer, etc.). Anything to look out for?
2. Is it reasonable to think we can sell our house in 30 days or so without taking a bath?
3. What are the standard realtor selling fees these days (is it back up to 6% on average, or will some do for less)? We have several realtor suggestions from friends, how to best choose between them?
4. Is going mortgage-free a reasonable thing to do, or are we letting our fears get the best of us?
5. Is it possible for 2 kids and 2 adults to live happily in 1300 sq ft?

[nocommonsense]

I have a feeling you’ll regret moving to the much smaller house SOON. How about a bit further from the coast to get more house for $600K, which sounds like an extremely steep price to pay for a $1300 sq ft house.

[nocommonsense]

I have a feeling you’ll regret moving to the much smaller house SOON. How about a bit further from the coast to get more house for $600K, which sounds like an extremely steep price to pay for a $1300 sq ft house.

[nocommonsense]

I have a feeling you’ll regret moving to the much smaller house SOON. How about a bit further from the coast to get more house for $600K, which sounds like an extremely steep price to pay for a $1300 sq ft house.

[nocommonsense]

I have a feeling you’ll regret moving to the much smaller house SOON. How about a bit further from the coast to get more house for $600K, which sounds like an extremely steep price to pay for a $1300 sq ft house.

[nocommonsense]

I have a feeling you’ll regret moving to the much smaller house SOON. How about a bit further from the coast to get more house for $600K, which sounds like an extremely steep price to pay for a $1300 sq ft house.

[cvmom]

Thanks for the thoughts! You may be right on the coming regret…As a working mom, I have to keep my commute time to an absolute minimum, and we love our neighborhood and schools in CV. So definitely we are staying in this area (The Heights, I think it’s called), one way or the other.

[cvmom]

Thanks for the thoughts! You may be right on the coming regret…As a working mom, I have to keep my commute time to an absolute minimum, and we love our neighborhood and schools in CV. So definitely we are staying in this area (The Heights, I think it’s called), one way or the other.

[cvmom]

Thanks for the thoughts! You may be right on the coming regret…As a working mom, I have to keep my commute time to an absolute minimum, and we love our neighborhood and schools in CV. So definitely we are staying in this area (The Heights, I think it’s called), one way or the other.

[cvmom]

Thanks for the thoughts! You may be right on the coming regret…As a working mom, I have to keep my commute time to an absolute minimum, and we love our neighborhood and schools in CV. So definitely we are staying in this area (The Heights, I think it’s called), one way or the other.

[cvmom]

Thanks for the thoughts! You may be right on the coming regret…As a working mom, I have to keep my commute time to an absolute minimum, and we love our neighborhood and schools in CV. So definitely we are staying in this area (The Heights, I think it’s called), one way or the other.

[Scarlett]

How large is your current house? I know CV is extremely overpriced, but I would think for 1M you have at least 2500 sf and at least 4 decent size bedrooms? I think you and your kids will be pretty unhappy switching to a 1300 sf house, and regret it. Perhaps you can find something a little bigger than that, say, a 4 bdr of at least 1700 sf, even though you’d still have a little mortgage to pay…I am not sure though if in this case it’s worth the move and upheaval. I think 1300 sf is a bit extreme. I completely understand why you don’t want to leave CV. I am not saying in general a family of 4 can’t stay in a 3 bdr 1300 sf, but in your case it could be very rough.

Edit – one more thing – I think it’s a bad idea to post your exact address on a public website. Street should have been enough. Perhaps Rich or you can edit it.

[Scarlett]

How large is your current house? I know CV is extremely overpriced, but I would think for 1M you have at least 2500 sf and at least 4 decent size bedrooms? I think you and your kids will be pretty unhappy switching to a 1300 sf house, and regret it. Perhaps you can find something a little bigger than that, say, a 4 bdr of at least 1700 sf, even though you’d still have a little mortgage to pay…I am not sure though if in this case it’s worth the move and upheaval. I think 1300 sf is a bit extreme. I completely understand why you don’t want to leave CV. I am not saying in general a family of 4 can’t stay in a 3 bdr 1300 sf, but in your case it could be very rough.

Edit – one more thing – I think it’s a bad idea to post your exact address on a public website. Street should have been enough. Perhaps Rich or you can edit it.

[Scarlett]

How large is your current house? I know CV is extremely overpriced, but I would think for 1M you have at least 2500 sf and at least 4 decent size bedrooms? I think you and your kids will be pretty unhappy switching to a 1300 sf house, and regret it. Perhaps you can find something a little bigger than that, say, a 4 bdr of at least 1700 sf, even though you’d still have a little mortgage to pay…I am not sure though if in this case it’s worth the move and upheaval. I think 1300 sf is a bit extreme. I completely understand why you don’t want to leave CV. I am not saying in general a family of 4 can’t stay in a 3 bdr 1300 sf, but in your case it could be very rough.

Edit – one more thing – I think it’s a bad idea to post your exact address on a public website. Street should have been enough. Perhaps Rich or you can edit it.

[Scarlett]

How large is your current house? I know CV is extremely overpriced, but I would think for 1M you have at least 2500 sf and at least 4 decent size bedrooms? I think you and your kids will be pretty unhappy switching to a 1300 sf house, and regret it. Perhaps you can find something a little bigger than that, say, a 4 bdr of at least 1700 sf, even though you’d still have a little mortgage to pay…I am not sure though if in this case it’s worth the move and upheaval. I think 1300 sf is a bit extreme. I completely understand why you don’t want to leave CV. I am not saying in general a family of 4 can’t stay in a 3 bdr 1300 sf, but in your case it could be very rough.

Edit – one more thing – I think it’s a bad idea to post your exact address on a public website. Street should have been enough. Perhaps Rich or you can edit it.

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