It's such an angst trying to find a practical way to replace a home with another. I'm not talking about upgrading, simply about moving from one to another equivalent.
So here's the setup. The home is a condo (originally an E-condo) with a 99-year lease. It is now 12 years old. Things are starting to break down here and there, although perhaps nothing major. It worked well when the kids were studying at schools nearby. But now that they have moved on to tertiary education, the location is no longer ideal.
All that's desired is to find another equivalent place to move to, which places the kids nearer in terms of travel time to their tertiary locale, and my time of travel to work is no worse off.
A 17th floor condo at 1292 sq ft bought 12 years ago was $501,000, and is roughly worth $950,000 now. That sounds like so wow. BUT, to get an equivalent place, the price tag appears to be $1,300,000 for a 5-year resale condo on a mid-floor, with only ~1000 sq ft! That's a differential of +$350,000 for a smaller space.
A completely new condo that is yet to TOP is even worse. That same price can only fetch an 800 sq ft unit! Anything in the range of 1,000 to 1,200 sq ft appears to be $1,500,000 to $1,800,000. Phew.
The alternative is to renovate the current home and fix up all that needs to be fixed. Probably $80,000 you think? But the pain is on having to pack everything to move out during the renovation period, rent a temporary place for a couple of months, and then move back in again thereafter. That's two moves.
Wifey and I are 52 years old now. Is it viable to live in the 12-year old home for the next 30-40 years? Or would a 5-year old resale home be a better option? While it is smaller, I do foresee that one or both kids would ultimately get married and move out in a matter of 5-10 years from now. So the slightly smaller space might just be a short term situation.
What would you do?
