Builder beige is easily and cheaply cured with paint. There are other inexpensive upgrades: crown molding, tile backsplash, better lighting.

Don't spend so much you're in the hole if a better house falls in your lap.

Maybe keep your in-city townhouse and look for a weekend place with space for your boys to run around.

First off, it does not need to be a forever home , especially if your get a second home. Paint, updated kitchen, light bright simple colors, new trim around floors and windows, new light fixtures, all these things can update your builder grade place. I have a 1997 builder grade town house and we did those sorts of things. I hated it at first, but love it now. Re: second home - good idea! could Be great for the kids and your sanity.

Do both of you work? How important is it to have daycare across the street? If you can afford more space, then you should get it. The current layout looks pretty cramped to me, but you did not say how much larger the other place would be.

I’ve had 3 “forever” homes so take that for what it is...you never know what opportunities may come up. Do you like your neighbors? Update what you can do, and the take it year by year.

Hi yes I do consider it now our never- we want to be mortgage free before we retire( 2044) and the longer we stay the closer we are to retirement. We do like our neighbors, and there’s a lot of young kids in the area as well. We will stay for sure for a few more years until the kids are at least out of daycare and both in school. To get a sense of the market. We got our house for 300k, this will easily go for 425k and more modern townhouses would go for close to $500k. Our budget would be 550k-$600k, so my biggest worry is you would get. Dated bigger place that would need $100k to get up to snuff.... or stay and jazz this up with a nice kitchen and en-suite.

My friends live in a townhome. They looked several years ago for a SFH but never found anything that they liked enough. So, they stayed. They ARE cramped but prefer a smaller mortgage and the freedom to take trips, etc. They updated their kitchen and they love their neighborhood and it's crazy-close to work. Lots of trade-offs, nothing is perfect.

You make the decision that's right for you. You want a smaller mortgage or to be mortgage free by a certain time, then that requires a certain lifestyle. Let me tell you, I would have LOVED to have a daycare across the street. That, to me, would probably seal the deal for quite some time. Plus, bigger houses aren't always better. For many people it simply results in getting more stuff.

If room to roam is important then I'd look for ways to either expand my weekend outdoor activities or find a location that has local parks. I grew up in the Bronx and we had at least 4 parks within an 8-10 minute walk of our apartment building.

For me, I live in an awesome neighborhood. The house is adequate in size though I wish I had another bedroom for guests and a sunroom for plants. We have 3/4 acre but I would love 2-3 acres and a truly inspiring house (such as an old farmhouse or cottage, and yes, I know what that involves). Knowing we were going to stay here until my son graduated from HS (and possibly until he graduated college), we have done MANY renovations. Could have bought another house for the cost, but the neighborhood beats all. Since buying the house we have torn out and redone the following: both bathrooms, the deck, the basement, the kitchen, built a garage and resided the house and the roof, and added a front portico.

So, this is not really a "poll" question. You really need to hash out your priorities. Everyone makes decisions that are right for them and their family AT THIS TIME. This will CHANGE. It sounds to me as if you are happy where you are, your family is happy. You would like a little more space but is that worth giving up the features and conveniences that MAKE you HAPPY?

I would stay and get a weekend/summer home instead. Or just use that money to travel and stay different places a weekend a month or something like it and rent a place for a few weeks in the summer in different places.

If you live in a neighborhood that has lots of matching townhouses it does you no good to make major improvements to your home. The market will drive the price and so you will not see any value added to the townhouse with your improvements.

Seeing that we are in a recession and 10%+ of the population is out of work, the real estate market is about to tank. For the foreseeable future, you are likely to remain where you are. Just don't over-improve. Make small cosmetic changes.

I really don’t understand the question. Paint is cheap so paint for now then every year redo one space I would start with the kitchen . If you do right the home will increase in value and when ready to retire it is paid for , sells for great price and you move on.IMO you have a perfect sopt and you like the basic home . I actually do not agree about areas with townhomes , when it comes time to sell a well maintained and upgraded home will sell first.

Thank you all you’ve given me a lot to think about!

After the first time I moved from one house to another, I swore the next time I moved I would only take my favorite tennis shoes, shorts, t-shirt, and fly rod. It didn't work. Moving is a pain in the butt.

Daycare across the street...No way would I leave that location! Being able to walk the kids to daycare and to run back home if you forgot something would be a major plus for me.

We had a second house before we had kids as it was in a small town where I worked about 2 hours drive from the metro area. We kept it and continued to go out there and spend some time when first child was a baby. Found that we didn't use the house over winter and second child was born in the spring. Sold the house when she was 7 days old. Good small town...previous owner's grandchild got our number from the neighbors and made us an offer so we walked away with the same amount we had put into the house. Having a second home isn't as much fun as we thought it would be once we were bringing youngsters with us.

How much more space, and what kind of space, would be in a new townhome? Bigger rooms? More rooms?

I would sit tight until we find out what is going to happen to the housing market after covid. I just read an article saying they expected housing prices to drop...a LOT.

We almost passed on our dream home because it seriously lacked storage and closet space. Once we realized we could get a (cheap) climate-controlled storage space, the decision was easy!

We have 1800 sq foot ( including a finished basement) right now And to get it looking how I want, it would be about $80k in renos.

Dream home- I would like 2300-2600 max. In a perfect world I would like 4 bdrm (need a guest room for both grandparents who live out of town), a finished basement, office and double garage. I would like to move into a house with no renos required, possibly build. however pre covid, that would go for 650-720k ( more than double our mortgage now as the area is booming). Im modest financially, clearly a planner and I would say we could only afford 550-600( 3bdrm, no finished basement and a single driveway)

how people approach decisions to stay in their homes or leave when considering wants, needs, and retirement?

I would not leave where you are for a slight improvement and/or similar size but better interior. It's hard to beat a perfect location, and that's not something you can fix (unlike beige walls).

If your current house would go from $425k and your budget is $550-600k, it sounds like you have a healthy budget available to make updates to your current home, if you choose. Why not finish your basement in your current location? You could put a flexible space that could be a guest room when needed and a playroom/rec room the rest of the time. And there are some fairly low-cost ways to de-builder beige your house.

Also keep in mind that this isn't a decision you need to make today. Today you just need to decide if you're moving now, which you know you are not. Set up a Redfin search for your dream parameters and have it email you when things that fit the bill are listed. It is a low-effort way to get a sense of what options are out there over time. After a year of watching it you an make a more informed choice.

When we bought our first home almost 25 years ago we lived with finishes we didn’t really like for almost 6 years. Then we were able to DIY change a lot of things in a short amount of the time and then BAM- 2 months later we ended up having to move cross country for hubby’s job. The nice thing was our improvements looked great and the house sold really fast for asking price... but we didn’t get to enjoy the things we changed and we vowed to never wait to improve things again if we could help it. Now every home we buy our goal is to leave it in better condition than we bought it, and it has made living there enjoyable, and so far we’ve always made a profit when it IS time to sell.

In your situation i think you should look for exactly what you want...which in my mind would be a much bigger space or at least with much bigger rooms..lots of people live with a less ideal location .....and times could be better or worse...but if you are looking for space in the long term and are willing to invest to make the home perfect...over time ...ggetting the space

Get the space you need whenever,you find it...keeping in mind that what you want now will change also...upsizing will work til the kids are gone and then it may be too much ...but hopefully you will be sitting pretty to sell your big home to pay for the new perfect retirement home that is all new with no maintenance or challenges...

Or mortgage..of course...

To me location is everything. Long before the "need" for larger homes became the thing families with more children than 2 lived in your size home

Stay and save and rethink the question when your children are pre-teens and/or to a more distant school.

In the meantime, only upscale the living and dining area.

Do "finish" the basement, but be frugal and focus on comfort rather than style.

Do add the full bath to the basement but turn it so that you decrease the hallway width rather than the larger room bonus room at the back. Try to end up with four straight wall in that room, using any low (headroom) place for storage.

Do create a utility / laundry room -- preferably with a half/half door to control access to protect your small children.

In the basement, consider adding a Murphy bed or even two for visiting grandparents -- but mostly expect to use it as a playroom/den so that what you do spend on the main living floor -- house and furnishings -- will be protected from damage active children can cause by having just fun.

Wainscoting and paint can do a lot toward an upgrade of a room as can changing out light fixture and adding the right art and window treatment.

For your kitchen, consider adding a rolling cart island and eat in the dining room -- that, too, could help protect your living room and if you invest in one you really like, you could take it with you.

Heat rises and stairs can be fall hazards ... so you might also consider adding French doors to the stair area on all three levels enabling you to control where your children are and to enable you to heat/cool each level separately.

Post some before and after pics. Good luck on your project.

Actually our basement is already finished- which is a big plus. I more I look at what’s available in our budget- hubby declares a HARD NO for what your spending and the money.

So if we start with the kitchen- I have questions: I’ll keep the cabinets, and paint them I want them white. But there is tile in the kitchen entry and foyer into the powder room. This tile is more beige. I’d have to change all of it right? We live in ontario Canada so wet, snowy winters. How much would you budget if we kept a the cabinets?

Here are photos of my house:

Here is what I would like

Painting kitchen cabinets properly is expensive, and honestly, yours look great. What you might consider changing is the backsplash and maybe the countertops. Light countertops and a light or colorful backsplash would make your kitchen look entirely different.

I would put the money in education for your kids and maybe a second home if you can swing it. I place a HUGE premium on convenience and it sounds like maybe the kids will be able to walk to school in the future. That's worth a lot. I'd just make a list of improvements you both agree upon and chip away. As they get older, they can take over the basement for hang out space. This approach does help with not accumulating tons of stuff you just don't need. Your place looks nice.

Using grout colorant which is a close match for your floor tiles would update the look of the floor. It is tedious work but not difficult or expensive and the result is a nice update.

My money would be spent on additional recessed lighting in the kitchen, light colored countertops which coordinate with the floor and a plain light colored tile backsplash. A glossy tile in a light color to pull together the cabinets and new countertops would be much less disruptive than changing floor tile. Bring in colors you like to work with the bland and boring builder basic aspects of the house. It isn't going to look cohesive if you try to change the kitchen into a trendy white with gray tones while the background of the space is various tones of beige. If you were to replace the floor tile, then the stair carpet wouldn't be in the same range and it would suddenly look out of place to you...$$$ and the work continues from there

My "starter home" is just over 1500 sf and was supposed to be 5 year deal. 15 years later and I'm still living in it with a husband, one 13 year old and one 11 year old. We have added a lot to the house over the years and it's finally getting to the point of what I love. A few years ago we bought our second home on the lake that we've built ourselves. We've talked about moving to get more space and then I look at the market and even an "upgrade" would need renovations and work if I wasn't building new. I've finally come to the realization that bigger isn't always better, our smaller sized house is perfectly comfortable, it has all the finishes and design I want and I still get a house on the lake too. I also don't get the point of being house poor, I'd rather use that money on great vacations and experiences and a place on the ocean when I retire in 25 years!