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The Crazy (Not So Crazy?) Idea to Downsize to a One Story Home in an Effort to Pay Off Our Mortgage Quicker

When our family moved into our brand-new construction home back in January 2015, we had somewhat of an idea that we were potentially getting the last great deal in our bedroom community outside of Nashville.

But we didn’t realize that would mean the value of our home would increase more than $25,000 each year following.

In our neighborhood, houses are constantly for sale, and often are sold before a “sold” sign can even be posted in the yard.

My wife has been keeping up with the growing selling prices of our neighbors’ homes. It’s no exaggeration: We would easily make $80,000 if we sold our home today.

Contrast this to a decade ago when we bought a town home the year we got married, which happened to be right in middle of the The Great Recession. The value of that town home began dropping almost immediately. When we finally sold it in 2014, we barely made $1,000 off of it.

My wife and I are mutually obsessed with paying off our mortgage as soon as possible; as we have been debt free for 5 years now: No student loans, no car payments, no interest to be paid- other than our mortgage.

Last weekend was consumed by the quest to find out it would make more sense to actually downsize to a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, one story home in our area; compared to the 4 bedroom (plus a bonus room), 2 and a half bathroom, 2 story home we have now.

Even with the cost of other homes rising in our town, the $80,000 profit from selling our current home would greatly minimize our monthly payment; which we’re already paying several hundred dollars extra on each month.

We learned that ultimately, the amount of money we owe the bank would remain the same, but with the monthly payment being several hundred dollars lower, we could increase the amount we pay on the principle by that much more. And therefore, we could pay off our home years sooner.

However, it’s still a gamble…

Because at the rate our home is increasing in value each year, this means that two years from now by 2020, our home would be worth $100,000 more than what we bought it for in January 2015.

So while we are still open to the idea of downsizing in order to have a paid off mortgage that much sooner, it might be smarter to wait a few more years as our home continues to increase in value at the rate it is.

Therefore, it looks like our plan is to be working on simple upgrades for our home in the meanwhile, so that not only we will be able to enjoy our current home that much more while we are actually living it, but so that it will also be that much enticing for future buyers.

The problem is, I’m no Chip Gaines when it comes to my handyman skills. That will prove to be the biggest challenge for now…

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Dear Holly: Mommy’s Now in Her 3rd Trimester/We’ve Been in our New House a Year

Dear Holly: Mommy’s Now in Her 3rd Trimester/We’ve Been in our New House a Year

28 weeks.

Dear Holly,

Yesterday evening as Mommy was preparing dinner, she pointed out that you were tucked all the way over to her right side.

It was undeniable. There was no doubt her tummy was lopsided.

She explained to me when she was pregnant with your brother Jack nearly 6 years ago, he was always sitting on her ribs; way up high.

But you, you’re so low; that’s not a problem with you.

As of today, Mommy is officially in her 3rd trimester with you. She is 66% through her pregnancy with you. In less than 3 months, less than 90 days, you should be here.

It’s funny to think that a year ago this week, our family moved into our new house.

Life is at such a great pace now: We live way back in the suburbs. We have a garage. We live in a cul-de-sac near a park.

Those are things I didn’t realize how much I would appreciate. Being able to work our way of debt a few years ago and save up for the down payment on our house was totally worth the discipline and sacrifice.

We knew at the time when we moved in our new house, that at some point in the next few years, we might have another child.

But just 6 months into life in our new home with 4 bedrooms, something just finally clicked:

One of those rooms is for another child.

And so of course now, that guest room has now been converted into your nursery and bedroom.

I’ve mentioned before how supposedly age 34 is the best year of your life. That’s how old Mommy and I both are.

We are so happy to know that you are on your way. You are wanted. You will be loved.

I can’t guarantee that you will be born into the most normal of families, but I can tell you this: We’re going to have a lot of fun!

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Holly: Your Room’s Theme, “Rock-a-bye Baby in the Treetop”

23 weeks.

Dear Holly: Your Room’s Theme- Rock-a-bye Baby on the Treetop

Dear Holly,

It was all a complete coincidence.

Many months ago before we even knew we were going to have a baby, Mommy ordered a wall decal of a tree branch with birds, for what at the time was simply our guest room. Your Aunt Dana and I spent some time placing it on the wall and making it look nice.

It was simply a guest room; not even a “hopefully in the near future a baby’s room”.

If anything, it was a “maybe one day, a baby’s room.”

But then we found out about you this past summer.

Instead of painting your bedroom a predictable girly color, we decided to embrace and translate the tree decal into a baby girl’s room.

This past weekend your Nonna and Papa (my parents) came up and helped us prepare our house for your arrival… which is still 4 months away.

After Papa and I put together your crib, we instantly realized it was the same length as the tree decal.

Therefore, your bedroom has the theme of the nursery rhyme, Rock-a-Bye Baby:

Rock-a-bye baby, in the treetop

When the wind blows, the cradle will rock

When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall and down will come baby

Cradle and all

Instead of painting your room, Mommy had us paint our office, which will now double as the guest room.

Dear Holly: Your Room’s Theme- Rock-a-bye Baby on the Treetop

We also painted the bathroom and Mommy hung up a fun frame that celebrates you and Jack, with it being your shared bathroom.

Again, you’re still 4 months away of actually being born and needed your room.

But hey, we had already bought our Christmas gifts by September and had them wrapped by October; and put our tree up in early November.

So in our household, you can only imagine that having your room ready now isn’t too early at all.

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Jack: The New Dresser for Our Guest Room

4 years, 11 months.

Dear Jack,

Dear Jack: The New Dresser for Our Guest Room

Now that we’ve lived in our new house nearly 8 months, there’s not much new material to say about it other than we really enjoy our new lifestyle in the cul-de-sac.

But this weekend, our family checked out the store At Home as we were killing time, waiting for my car window to be repaired on my Honda Element.

We discovered a beautiful, sea foam colored, New England style dresser.

It seemed to be the perfect addition to our guest room, so we brought it home in the back of my Element. (Needless to say, we did pay for it first!)

Now that it’s in our guest room, it looks even better than I could have imagined.

We are purposely trying to keep the theme of our guest room neutral. We don’t want it looking too feminine or too masculine. But we want it to be fun and inviting.

Dear Jack: The New Dresser for Our Guest Room

The color blue of the dresser is muted enough to where I feel it’s not explicitly masculine.

Right above the dresser is a bird cage decoration that matches our gender neutral theme very well. And we may end up painting that part of the wall later on as an accent.

Then, across the room on one side of the bed is a small matching nightstand and clock. On the other side of the bed is the tree branch decal that Aunt Dana and I put up.

Our guest room has only been used a few times. It’s the one room of the house that we virtually never have a reason to walk in to. I actually tend to forget it exists.

So it’s been a lower priority to finish furnishing.

But now with our cool new dresser, the room is starting to feel complete for any new guests who may be stopping by in the future.

Love,

Daddy

Dear Jack: The New Dresser for Our Guest Room

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Dear Jack: 6 Months of Living in Our New House

4 years, 8 months.

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Dear Jack,

As they say… time flies when you’re having fun.

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That must be why it definitely doesn’t feel like we’ve been living in our new house for 6 months.

A week ago made 6 months that we began moving in our stuff and began sleeping there; but it took a solid week after that before it felt like we truly living there and not simply still moving in.

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As of today, I wanted to document what our house looked like at this point in history; so I walked around room to room, taking pictures.

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One of my proudest decisions in staging our house is that we purposely don’t have a TV downstairs in the living room. It’s important to me that conversation is not stolen in our house.

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If I could come up with a theme for our house, it would be this: Quality time.

That’s so important. We have to make the most of our time together despite our busy schedules as individuals.

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As you read this years from now, I want you to hear me say this once again:

We worked very hard to get into this house.

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It required paying off all our debts (including cars and student loans), then living by an extremely strict budget (including no smart phones), in order to start saving for the down payment on our house.

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Something that was very important to Mommy and me was to make sure we raise you (as well as any future siblings) in a good school system. To do that, we had to move to the “right” county: Williamson.

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We pour our lives into you. We want the best for you. Being able to live in this house makes me feel like our family is exactly where we need to be.

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Living in this house has truly made us happy, content, and at peace. Our quality of life has never been better.

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But again, this wasn’t handed to us.

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And it’s not simply about how much money you make, as much as it is how you manage the money you do make. We worked very hard to get here… and still do.

Love,

Daddy

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