Ten Years

When Madhubby and I started our home search, our goal was to find a "Ten Year House." You know, a house we could comfortably live in for the next ten years. Our requirements were a nice, centrally located neighborhood with good public schools, four bedrooms, a basement (either finished or with potential), and a nice-sized yard. There were other factors, too, like no new neighborhoods. Our first home was in a new neighborhood and we hated the area for its lack of trees (all razed to build houses, of course!) and it's creepy, Stepford wife vibe.

Well, we did find the perfect house for us and we could live here for the next ten years, but I am ready to move after only two-and-a-half years into our mortgage. I got this itch at exactly the same point into our last mortgage and we did move. We kept the house as a rental for a bit before selling. This time, though, it's different. No vapid people have forced my hand. Nope. We're going to move because we've fallen in love with another area that has better public schools, more interesting architecture, and cool people that we like.

But, we are compromising. We are going to live in our house for two more years before selling it, which will give the local market some time to improve, though our area saw 8.4% appreciation last year, and it will give us time to do some remodeling so we get top dollar when selling. It's tough, though, because I am ready to move NOW. And we could. We could just sell now and worry about the details later, but I'm a tad bit greedy. Waiting will be better for us and it will give us more money for the next house, so it's in our best interests to stay put for another two years. In the meantime, there is lots to be done!