I second the idea of looking at school options- living downtown may be great for a 20 something couple, but if it puts you in a lousy school district, is it worth the trade off? You’re current home may not be your “dream home”, but is it functional? Is it in a great school district? Also look at the neighborhood of each house, especially if you’re planning children. The best childhood times don’t come at pre arranged play date schedules. Ideally, you want to be in a neighborhood with children of similiar ages, with decent schools, and community activities within a reasonable drive. Our house is far from our dream home ( realtors would call it “cozy”- there are closets bigger than our bathrooms, and the kitchen is a one person in it at a time proposition)- but- it’s in a good school district, has a back and side yard, is across the street from the school bus stop, and above all, has been affordable through a couple of job changes and lay off. So we’ve made it work through 3 kids (even if the ‘nursery” was sharing space with the sewing room, and the “laundry room”” is an unfinished corner of the basement), and limited renovations to cosmetic upgrades paid for in cash.

However, once your babies start walking – and wandering away (near by, of course) as soon as you glance at something besides them – having a family home on a downtown street may be horrible. No awesomeness of a house can make up for worrying about traffic, noise, lack of a yard, no privacy, or other whatevers you might encounter.

Also, you two sound like very creative people, who would love to put your own stamp on things. By buying a house that is “finished”, you have bought yourself out of putting a personal touch to it. I didn’t realize how much that meant to me until we bought our current house, brand new – I sort of long for an older house that I can slowly renovate & make my own, rather than what the builder/interior decorator decided might sell. Yes, I can still renovate here, but like your situation, we doubled the cost of our house when we moved, so there isn’t much money to work with.

I vote “Keep the Old House” – Since financial freedom is your main goal, it makes more sense to work with the known house and renovate slowly, over time, the way you want it, and in cash, than to spend a lot of money that you don’t really have for a sexy house that you can’t really afford.

I wish you success & luck as you make this decision – whatever you choose, I hope you love it!

Agreed, stay with smaller house, probably find you can make due with one or two kids there. Or get a not as big house as dream home​ in desired area

Just wanted to add for others that’s it’s possible to convert a traditional IRA to a roth. For some it’s tax-adventageous to contribute pre-tax to a trad ira while working, then convert to roth (an pay taxes) at a later date.

We will! I have them scheduled for once every month :). So glad to hear you’re enjoying them!

As an architect, the minute I hear anyone with an architecture background say they’ve found their dream house, my gut says BUY IT! Make it Work! Ha, not the most responsible advice, especially with this crowd. However, a house is not just a house when it comes to our kind, so we don’t necessarily approach the subject with the same objectivity. I think you probably have to really decide whether retiring early or the house is more worth it! (The house would always more worth it for me… 😛 )