Why I should renovate & move back in:
- I already like the city. (I recently moved back to my hometown and currently rent about 5 minutes away.)
- It’s down the street from my mother so I can be nearby as she ages and her needs increases. (It also gives me the flexibility of building an accessible ADU in the backyard should there ever be a need for one.)
- I live in a VHCOL city. I’m solid financially, but the thought of paying $1M for a similar house is daunting—and fixing up my childhood home so that it works for me seems more affordable.
- There’s a lot of delayed maintenance that would easier to complete (I think) if I lived on the property to get contractor estimates, check on work, be present for inspections, etc.
- I could possibly save money. I’d be able to use the money that would’ve gone toward rent ($2,250/mo) and instead use it to renovate the property.
- The property likely needs costly updates with some more critical (i.e. new wiring and plumbing) and others more cosmetic. I’ve only started talking to contractors so don’t fully know the scope of the costs.
- If I didn’t co-own the property, I’m not sure I’d want to live there exactly. (It’s in a highly desirable city but the particular street is slightly less desirable. I’m fond of the house for nostalgic reasons.)
- A tenant has lived in the other unit for 15+ years. (Both units are small 1-bedrooms. My partner and I both work from home. To make the living situation doable for the long term, I think we’d need both units. I feel awful about asking/paying them to leave, but at the same time, I’m thrilled at the thought of not being a landlord anymore. I’m not cut out for it and would rather invest in index funds.)
- I may need to buy out my sister’s share of the house. [Renovating and living on the property would make things really complicated (i.e. should I have more ownership because I paid for the renos, how much rent should I pay her to offset the lost rental income, etc). My sibling has less of a sentimental attachment to the house and has shared before that they’d like to sell it. Their finances are less solid so the proceeds from selling their share would be helpful—but I worry they would burn through the funds.)
- A reno would take time and create added stress in my life. It would be easy to continue to rent especially because I like my current rental (it’s also a 1-bedroom but newly built and more spacious), and work a somewhat intense job.
1. What important things haven’t I considered?
2. What would you do if you were in my shoes?