Staying put in a smaller home might mean I can send my daughters to private school one day. (Photo: iStockphoto)
Today is Black Friday, so I thought I'd write about spending and not spending money -- on a house.
When my husband and I bought our new home about seven years ago, I always hoped that we'd move up to a slightly bigger home in a better school district once my daughters hit school age. But now that they are 6, it looks like we may be staying put like many other potential move-up buyers these days. With the economy and job market looking the way they are, it just doesn't seem smart to take on a bigger financial responsibility right now.
Average home, average school district
My home is a modest 2,000-square-foot home in a town that has an equally modest school system. We moved here because the homes are much more affordable compared to nearby school district Princeton, N.J., which boasts top-rated schools. (And a median home price that's out of our reach.) In yearly ratings, our school system falls within the average -- to sad to say, sometimes below-average range.
Our home also lacks amenities I'd like to have, like an entry hall and a dining room. My main gripe is that our front door opens onto a very small patch (of less than 9 square feet) of linoleum. It's usually quite a trick for my husband and I to remove our shoes and our daughters' shoes after coming into the house without dirtying the nearby carpet -- or falling all over each other. (I'd love to replace the carpet with hardwood floors or replace the linoleum with tile, but that's another expense.)
Home sweet home
Yet, I am thankful (at least for now) that we are staying put. My daughters enjoy their school, we have wonderful neighbors, and the fact that my daughters' school is right behind our house has become a plus. Daily at recess, I can come outside and say hello to my daughters through the fence while they play on the schoolyard. We've also made improvements to our home that we enjoy, like the brand-new paver patio that we put in this summer.
Also, if we stay put and don't invest our money in a new home (a comparable home in Princeton or another top-notch school district in our area would literally cost at least $200,000 more -- and that would be for an older and smaller home), we might be able to save up and afford to send our girls to one of the stellar private schools nearby. Peddie, The Lawrenceville School and Princeton Day School are all located nearby.
So while I always thought we'd move up one day to another home in a better school district, perhaps it's best that we're staying put. We don't have to pull up roots and move away from our daughter's friends and our neighbors, and perhaps by staying put, we can put even more money away for our girls' education. (So that means no Black Friday shopping for me! Sorry, retailers.)—Lauren Baier Kim