<p>Ever since my DH and I bought this house, our longest-term vision of us living here was when the last kid graduated from HS. Our thoughs varied from relocating to new jobs closer to extended familly to early retirement to downsizing in the same area .
Now that our youngest is a college sophomore, we discover that we seem to be stuck here. Not that that's bad, while it's a 45 minute commute to DH's job it's 7 minutes from mine. Taxes are horrible but that's Texas. Selling wouldn't be the huge loss that other areas would take but still wouldn't be a good profit for 15 years... 401k losses mean retirement will be at about age 87 instead of 57. Having a large house may be an asset if kids need shelter (knock wood and cross fingers!) or even our parents or other family members. In fact, I have actually entrtained thoughts about how one could carve multiple units out of our house if need be.... Meanwhile we are paying to heat and cool more room than we need..
How about the rest of you?</p>
<p>I anticipate staying in this house until our youngest finishes college. I'm anticipating buying a different house in the same area (my wife has grown to love it, is very social and has made lots of friends here, is a professional painter and has spent the last 10 years painting abstract versions of the local landscape to a following of collectors so moving would be bad for her). My ambition has been to buy a smaller, more energy efficient house here and also buy one in a place that is sunnier and maybe even warm in the winter. I'm going to be looking to identify the place we would spend winters in. I never intended to retire so the drop in 401K(k)'s is troubling but won't change plans -- plus, my other investments seem to have gone down substantially less than the retirement plans. </p>
<p>My parents retained their huge 5 bedroom, 5 bathroom, 3 story house on an acre. My father died and my mother lives in it. It is a financial burden but it is too much work for her to sell (and there are some other complications). We're going to have to help her clean it out. It has been great, because for holidays, all 4 kids and their children can go back to visit her. Nonetheless, I'd prefer to live in a smaller house sooner.</p>
<p>Our house is 1900 sq. feet - which probably sounds small to some of you and large to others. It feels like much too much house for me when it's just DH and I and the dog rattling around. We have 3 bathrooms for 2 of us, and two little unused bedrooms - but the bathrooms are useful when the whole college club sport team comes and camps on our floors during tournaments! We helped build this house, so we're staying here for the longterm.</p>
<p>We too hoped to move out of our house, our city, once son graduates high school next year. Now we feel like we're stuck. As long as husband has a job here, we're put, miserably so.</p>
<p>We have more house than we need or care to maintain now that both kids are in college, but we've lived here for 25 years, the mortgage is paid off and we've got decent neighbors and deep roots in the area. Father-in-law is still very active at 81 and lives five minutes away. We're not planning on going anywhere just yet. The kids know their old rooms will be there should they ever need them, but we are hoping that they will be able to strike out on their own when the time comes.</p>
<p>We have long planned to move when daughter graduates from college. She is just a freshman, but the equity in our house has gone down some. We are in the process of refinancing to a lower rate and also do some repairs and replacements that need to be done before we sell in 4-5 years. I do hope the market improves. I have mixed feelings I have a lot of friends and a good social life here, but really Husband and I have no parents left and I only have 1 sister in the area, So there isn't anything keeping us here except our jobs. We are even contemplating renting an apartment, before we actually leave the state. We would like to go to either Vermont, NH or Massachusetts. It all depends on the job situation and our D. We have wanted to move from this area for years, but there was always something keeping us here, like aging parents, illnes, etc.</p>
<p>I am very blessed that we made the downsize 'by accident' with one kid still home and another unexpectedly arriving home for a year between UG/grad. It was cozy. Tight ever, since we cut the size in half. Now that the market is stalled I am relieved to be in a much smaller place and now that it is just us, it is fine</p>
<p>Planning to stay in our home for at least the next 15 years. Only child is a college freshman. We are currently undertaking a major renovation on the house so that it is more livable since my mother has moved in with us. So- I guess we aren't really empty nesters in the true sense. There are still three of us living here- now it's my mom instead of my daughter.</p>
<p>For those who want to downsize but find themselves having lost much equity, why not trade down in the same market?</p>
<p>DH and I are going through with long held plans to move to a warm, quieter lifestyle after 30 years in NYC. We are buying a home about the same size as the one we're leaving hoping to fill it often with future grandchildren!</p>
<p>I had thought that we would move (from our large two story 5 bed/5 bath house) when the youngest (of three) graduated college and was on his own. He is currently a high school freshman so we have time. However, both my husband and all three kids have asked if we could not downsize so everyone could visit with thier families someday. This is a lot of house for two people so we will have to wait and see on that one. I do remember quite fondly visiting my parents with my young children and how comforting it felt to sleep in my old house. It's just that I had this little dream of the small house or condo on the beach....</p>
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For those who want to downsize but find themselves having lost much equity, why not trade down in the same market?
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<p>Assuming that houses appreciate (prices recover) at the same percentage over the next few years, having more skin in the game increases the rewards. However, it all depends on the alternatives for the $$$'s. Better off the extra $$$'s in CD's? Who knows.</p>
<p>However, if you are trading up, now is a great time (for the exact same reasons, but in reverse). For trading up, you have the additional benefit of being able to enjoy the extra space, closer commute, etc.</p>
<p>We just completed a major renovation of our 20 year old house which we undertook when our last kid was in the spring of her senior year of HS--finished just before the market cratered.</p>
<p>Our original plan was to stay here at least 10 more years, and after that to see where our kids are living to determine if we would leave this city or this house. Our DD was mad enough that we remodeled the house--"you're wiping out my childhood!"--and won't even listen to a conversation about our selling the house. I understand how she feels; I also have fond memories of taking DH and kids back to our hometown and staying with my parents in my old room, etc.</p>
<p>For now, the house feels brand new and comfortable, and we're just enjoying it. No need to think about this for a while.</p>
<p>we have 1 son, a sr in college. Our plan is to stay in this house as long as it suits our needs. Our decision is not based on what our (soon-to-be) adult son might find convenient. Similarly, when he graduates, he chooses his job and area to live. Yes, we'd like it close by, but we have raised a baby bird that will soon fly off to his own life.</p>
<p>Our original plan was to sell our current house as soon as the kids are out of high school and build a wonderful but smaller dreamhouse--sized for the everyday life of two people, but with either a little guesthouse or an apartment above the garage for college kids home on breaks. We'd like a separate guest space with more independence for them & its own heating zone so we aren't paying utilities to heat/cool it when it's not in use (and which could also be an aged parent's apartment someday, if that proves necessary).</p>
<p>Now, though, it all depends on what happens with the housing market in the next couple of years. Our house has lost so much value that it might be smarter to wait this out. So hard to know what's going to happen. :(</p>
<p>I'm young but I just bought my house and I plan on staying here as long as humanly possible, haha! It's about 1600 sq ft, with 3, possibly 4 bedrooms. I'm probably going to finish off my basement at some point in the (near) future, so that will make more use of my house as well.</p>
<p>Our youngest is a freshman in college. Our house is small, so we definitely don't feel like we have too much house. On the contrary, we feel like we have breathing room at last. Our "plan" is for my husband to stay employed for the next 3 years until he turns 65 and our S graduates from college. We hope that he won't be laid off, because he wouldn't be able to get a new job with anything like the salary and benefits he has now.</p>
<p>When we retire and what we will do afterwards is just a fuzzy picture. I don't want to set my heart on anything that might not happen. So much depends on how long our S takes to graduate, what his plans for grad school are and how the economy goes. Our D, who is on her own, still requires help from us. She hasn't finished college yet, but is working on it. We want to give her our support in any way we can. </p>
<p>We just keep on truckin'.</p>
<p>In the same boat as the OP...our house is going to be large for us when our youngest goes to college in the fall. She will be 5 hours away so not visiting too often. Our son is across the country and living in an apartment off campus so he doesn't visit for lengthy periods at all.
Equity in our current house is great although it has gone down some. Our original plan was to sell when our kids finished college which is the same time the mortgage will be paid off.<br>
Situation is a bit more complicated as we own a small house which we now use as office space but could easily be converted back to a residence. It is about five minutes from our home. We always talked of selling our home and moving there but now we are having second thoughts.
We are going to stick to our goal of paying the home off in the next five years and then see how we feel and what the market is doing.</p>
<p>Youngest son is a sophomore in college here in town, and will live here when he does his spring coop term. There is definitely more house than we need, but it is (and has been for some time) paid for. Older son, his wife and baby are just a few minutes from here, so we are not going anywhere. Sometimes, though, I do dream of something smaller, where everything is fixed just the way I'd like it.....</p>
<p>"Meanwhile we are paying to heat and cool more room than we need..
How about the rest of you?"</p>
<p>We still have one in high school, but living in Texas in a big house with outrageous property taxes, we are already thinking about downsizing. We wouldn't want to sell in today's market unless we absolutely had to, so even if our youngest was in college, we'd probably hold on to it and just wait out the market. We also can totally turn off air/heat/etc. in the upstairs, which has 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, and a large living area. So we could save quite a bit on utilities if we had to hold onto the big house for a while longer.</p>
<p>Husband will retire from present job when son graduates next year. Plans will be to sell house and move OOS when that happens- could be months or years in our market. Work again? - first H needs some months of NOT working. Biggest issue is health insurance, we aren't big spenders so despite losses still have funds. Move to ? Depends on only child- if he's on either coast for grad school we may choose that one. House big, not an area we want to stay in, paid for, updated as much as I'm willing to spend on it. I have my "next owner" list. Carpeting- our dog is only getting older... Paint- I like the colors, won't neutralize if I may have live with the changes an indefinite time. Replaced worn out things with the thought that if I'll need to do it when we put the house on the market why not do it now and get to enjoy the new stuff for a couple of years. Have ideas that aren't worth my time or money, but would be worthwhile to a family with long term plans- let them customize. Current version of the house we built 16 years ago suits us so although it may sometimes seem like we're in a holding pattern we are content with it and will miss it. Kids get to move on, why not parents?</p>
<p>I wouldn't be surprised if our property taxes are higher than most, plus state income taxes... We won't move and have to pay for a house we aren't using and we're too close to leaving town to downsize here. It was nice to keep the house when son was first away at college, but by now his life is elsewhere and he no longer has the connections here as a reason for us to stay. It would be different if either of us had been here for generations- I notice each generation moves in our family.</p>