High Vantage Point

When our oldest daughter left for college, the realization that Leslie and I would soon be living alone began to hit us. We were living in a 2000+ square foot four bedroom home on a third of an acre. I felt that it was more house than we would need, and way more landscaping than I was interested in caring for.

Three years before we decided to move, I refinanced our house with a variable rate mortgage that would stay level for 3 years before beginning to increase, knowing that we would sell before the interest rate began to climb. I knew that Leslie and Austin and I would be the only ones remaining at home at the end of that time period. Then we could downsize to a smaller home and a smaller property.

By the time we put our house on the market, three years later, I had decided that I was happy where I was. Leslie, on the other hand, wanted to buy land and build a house.

I put the house up at a price that I didn’t think would be acceptable in our market. That way, Leslie would feel that I was going along with her wishes, but in the end, we would stay put.

Seven days later, we were entertaining a full price offer.

We moved in with Mom and Dad while we purchased our property - a full acre - and begin to build a home that was several hundred square feet larger than the one we just sold. I’ll be mowing a lawn that is about 10,000 sq. ft. larger than the entire lot that we sold.

So much for planning to downsize!