Sorry about the duplicate

Lizabeth I know we couldn't buy what we want for less than the reno.

Exterior is lovely, guessing you would sell for more if you did some cosmetics in kitchen and baths / master bath connections and you can usually bump those things for only 15k and improve your value by around 40k. Most people can't see why they think something is great. Do you want to post some photos of these areas / master bedroom / bath and floor plan and ask again so we can help you move with more in your pocket? Do you have some white fence and some split rail that needs painting to look the same? that's the only exterior item i can see from this 10,000 foot level.

Also, consider if you will get back your investment in your property. We are spending a lot more to move than it would have cost to renovate our current home. Doing this for many reasons, but a significant one was we were towards the top of our pricepoint for our neighborhood, so even if we put just a $100K into our home we wouldn't have seen much of that back if we were to sell. Whereas we are moving to a neighborhood with a much higher pricepoint, so we can put a lot more money to making the house what we like and we are much more likely to get that money back if we ever have to sell.

heehee on the 10k foot level libradesigneye ;) So you think I could make the split level look great? idk

yes to KB,

How much do you have to spend to get what you want in an area that will hold it's value? Do you want to do the reno and stay long enough that you don't mind taking a loss when you sell?
Are you upside down now?

Exactly KB, my concern is that we might need to sell someday, even if we "planned" on staying!

Lizabeth, I think that's what we'll have to decide :/ I've been bummed looking at houses, seems even the high end of my price point needs some work, everything is outdated!

I see alot of issues with the house. Split level which I think is outdated and never to come back again. Split levels were a way to frame a house cheaply and get alot of sq footage for least amount of framing lumber. I feel a low point in design for the most part. And you have a detached garage so you don't even have the advantage of attached garage. My gut is it is not worth sinking money into it..

That good ole cliche, Life is what happens when you're making other plans. Or something like that. It took me 5 years to find a place that was attractive enough to get me to leave a small mortgage, wonderful neighbors, nice neighborhood, etc. But we are going to build our dream house (within reason), in a wonderful lot nearby. Can't bring my neighbors with me, but feel good knowing they're just around the corner if I want to say hi. It's hard to move when you wake up everyday and are basically happy, but at some point you got to take a chance. Hopefully you won't have to wait 5 years for that opportunity to arise.

Ohh we may have to wait 5 years alright! Darn it ;0 How exciting! Congrats on being able to build your dream house.

Lizabeth, very interesting about split level being a way to max out sq footage, I hadn't realized that. The design low, yes. I hate the detached garage!

Yup one could get the most sq footage for the least lumber. 70's were an exteme low point in homebuilding in American. Ask any home inspector. 2 x 4 framing, little insulation, sheetrock and plywood floors with carpet.

However in parts of the country the lots they sit on say in Seattle with water views make them worthwhile candidates for rehab because the dirt they sit upon has value.

in the Midwest with cheap land values I would not rehab one, but would pick something earlier from 1900 to 1950 or in the 90's or newer.

My sister plowed her 60s house down and built a new one. She'd planned to save money by re-using the foundation, but it turned out to be, like much of the rest of the house, poorly built. Before you sink money into your house, get an inspection and find out what all the flaws are. Plus, in some areas, if you make a serious upgrade, you have to bring everything into code, which might mean rewiring the whole house if you want to improve the master bath.

Sigrid...I think the house probably does need to be completely rewired.
Thanks so much for the insight everyone!