[USER]

35 Years Old (M) $835,000 Net Worth, $220K a year income. About to Marry 35 Year (F) with $600K Net Worth, for $440K combined household income.

We live in a paid off $300k small 2 bdr house on the smaller side as its in a HCOL area. We are starting a family in next one year. Plan to have two children god willing. Think we can accommodate one small infant in house but eventually will need to get more space for two growing kids.

I would prefer to keep maxing out retirement for next 4-5 years and delay getting a larger house (transaction costs, time, focus, running costs) however family planning wise i think we could get away with that for 2 maybe 3 years max.

Options:

• Stay in current home next 2 years and move then
• Proactively get a $600k house now and rent it out for two years to help down mortgage
• Acquire a $600k house now and rent out current home
• Selling the $320k home not an option

WWYD?

[Jule]

Slow down.

Get married first and when you are ready, start trying for a baby. You have no idea how long it could take to get pregnant. Some people can get pregnant on the first try and others take years.

Even after one child, you don’t know how things could be after the first one.

Stay in the townhome and save. Take one step at a time.

[Mary]

I know we all want the bigger homes for kids but seriously, those early years – lower income, higher expenses, taking care of another human, the changes you as a couple go through, keep things as simple as possible.

[Emily]

New baby here- no need for a bigger house yet. Delay it, the baby will be in your room for a while anyway.

[Tristan]

Realistically, if your bedroom can accommodate a bassinet/mini crib or pack and play, you could probably get away with the 4-5 year plan. 9 months of carrying baby 1, then unless you are reallly ambitious, around another year before baby 2 comes at minimum.

A year of baby 2 sleeping in your room and you are getting close to 4 years

[Valerie]

I just watched a tiny home show where a couple with a toddler and baby on the way purposely bought a 650 sq ft house. My grandparents raised 6 kids in a 1200 sq ft house. You have more room than you think.

[Ilyssa]

Stay where you are! You don’t need that much space with a baby and you will fill whatever space you have if you have more. Plus, even if first kiddo is easy to conceive, second may not be. You or your wife may take pay cuts or work changes to be home more, cost of childcare, etc.

Having a paid off home is gold!

[Michaela]

IMO of the options your presented go with option 1 – stay in current home 2 years.

There’s no point in getting your home now if you don’t plan to live in it for another 2 years. Anything could happen with your family growth plans. I’m a firm believer in you make the right decision at the time based on the information you have at that time, don’t try to predict the future. Best of luck and congrats on your financial success!

[Megan]

If you don’t need the 2nd bedroom for something else (eg home office, guests) you can stay in a 2BR until the second is 6mo-1y. Longer if the 2nd bedroom is large enough for kids to share, then you’ve got another couple years, but may need more space for toys etc.

Unless you have extra living space/ basement etc.

Suggested: Balancing Home Upgrades with Financial Stability: A Family’s Dilemma

[Sheila]

You won’t see any major effect of children taking up space until they’re a year old or more, so you have at least 2-3 years before any space constraints are felt.

[Preston]

I’m going to give you the unpopular opinion, because I’ve done it, and it was the best decision we could have made.

2015 we bought a rental that *could* some day be our home- it was still a solid rental. Rented it to a great family. Fast forward 7 years, we moved into the house and have bedrooms for each of our own kids, and a house that we never could have afforded at today’s prices and rates, in a great location. It allowed job changes we couldn’t have made otherwise.

I think the key is if you buy something else, you should be OK with never living there, but maybe knowing you could, and it still needs to be a rental you are OK with owning for long enough to find out.

Keep in mind, medically you are old to start having kids- so it might take time, years even.

On a personal note, I’d never choose to live in a small 2BR home with a baby. Baby stuff is big, and the space gets tight quick.

Just giving you a different perspective than what others have posted!

Preferred: HELOC for tiny home on getaway property? Pros & cons vs. other options?

[Chris]

I am in a similar situation. Get the new house and rent out the old. Age 35 was roughly my transition point between high savings rate and higher quality of life due to the rule of 72. You have 3-4 doublings left before retirement, whereas in your younger years you had between 4-7. You are still building wealth with the rental income and new home equity.

I am 36 and wife is 35.

We have a similar annual income and have around 2M networth with one kid and a baby on the way, moving from a “cheaper” 3bd/2ba to a 600k+ 4bd/3.5ba with the intent to rent our current home.

Our retirement savings will grow into the nice 7figs, our taxable NW will continue to grow very nicely and could pay for the new home if ever needed, and our income (as is yours) still blows past the standard home ownership rules.

If it helps, think about the house equity as replacing a bond section of your portfolio.

Just make sure the newer home is fixed up with no major foreseeable repairs (roof, well, septic, foundation, etc).

[Amanda]

I have 5 kids. You can get by with your current house for 5 more years (or longer). On average it takes 6 months to get pregnant and then pregnancy is roughly 40 weeks or “9 months”, so we are already at 15 months. It’s easier to have baby sleep in the room with mom when waking up at night (lack of sleep is so hard), my 1 year old still wakes up sometimes.

Depending on so many variables (breastfeeding, when ovulating comes back from postpartum) you could be looking at a year before you can begin trying again or she could be one of the people who show up to their 6 week visit pregnant again.

So, we will say you wait the recommended 18 months from the ACOG. Then add on another 6 months for the average time it takes, another 9 months of pregnancy. We are already at the 4 year mark. I am typing this as my 1 year old sleeps in her crib next to my bed. She will move into a shared room with 2 siblings when she is around 18 months old.

Two young kids can definitely share a room. They don’t need much and their clothes are small.

Also, as a working mom, I wish I had the option to be a stay-at-home mom when my older kids were babies. Your wife may feel called to stay home and not having a house payment definitely gives you all the wiggle room to make it happen.

[Author]

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