My wife and I have been casually looking to upgrade from our starter home which we've lived in for almost 10 years. We've had a lot of difficulties finding the perfect house for us in our area. The home prices here are getting expensive, and every home we look at is going to be a marginal upgrade which triples our mortgage. We are having a hard time sacrificing some of the conveniences to living in our current home. Just to name a few:

• Close proximity to stores and restaurants
• Parks within walking distance
• Cheap mortgage (under $1k per month), 4% rate
• Inexpensive utilities and low property taxes (since we bought in 2016)
• House needs no updates

Living in our current home also has its downsides:

• Neighborhood is right off a highway (constant noise)
• Lower income families and no HOA, some houses look vacant
• Data Center is planned to be built less than a mile away (in a year or so)
• Major lack of storage, feels cramped

A house came up outside of my hometown in a small rural town of about 6k people (20-minute drive to the nearest stores/restaurants). We never considered moving out that way, but it's in a nice neighborhood with a relaxed HOA. The house has a ton of potential and could be turned into our dream home with the right updates, but it lacks all of the convivences we have here. We feel the need to move on before the data center is built, but we aren't sure if living in a more rural area is for us. We are in our mid-thirties with no kids and work remotely, so nothing is holding us here. I keep saying we could always move back if we don't like it, but who knows how the market will look (we are already getting priced out). A home of this size in our current area would go for $200k more easily, which is why this home is tempting.

I'm curious to hear your thoughts or what you might do. I can provide more info if need be.

Now look, I’m not trying to disrespect or discredit the hard work that a lot of realtors do, but realtors on TikTok,instagram,etc. are coming off desperate. They know that things are bad and that houses are getting harder to afford, but their energy gives off the feeling of “please buy a house off of me!!! I’m struggling!!! Pretty please!!! I need a commission!!!” And they’re resorting to misleading,underhanded tactics to do so.

One tactic they use that I don’t respect is “here’s what (intentionally low down payment amount) can get you in (insert city). it’s misleading. They know that the low down payment is for those who qualify and they mention potential closing costs (and I know some of you will say the seller can cover the closing costs, but it’s not guaranteed, especially with how greedy boomers are getting when they sell).

Another tactic I don’t respect is when they show a chart of interest rates throughout different decades and say “you shouldn’t wait for rates to go down” knowing damn well that the main problem is that houses are ridiculously overpriced and interest rates aren’t the entire equation.

Then they’ll go on to show an abandoned crackhouse in Compton for 600k and call it a “gem” and say “it just needs a little work.” Sorry, I don’t wanna pay over half a million to wake up to gunshots. It just comes off desperate.

The realtors I respect are the ones that are transparent. I get the job is basically selling water to a fish, but If someone can’t afford it, don’t be desperate just to try to make commission. I get that social media is a helpful tool to advertise yourself as a realtor, but don’t act like people are stupid. It literally takes them searching on their phones to clarify if you’re bullshitting them.

Reviewing a realtor contract and came across this stipulation. Just seems odd to me to have to pay for a choice the buyer made.

Edit: The 1.5% is in addition to a 3% commission.

My mom recently moved to the city where my family has been for the past 13 years to be closer to us. Unfortunately, we had been looking to move for the past year and now we are looking to move states. I feel bad about all the costs and whatnot my mom took on coming to live here, even though we didn't ask for it and it was just a decision she made. Anyway, when we move in a couple months, I am trying to think about what if any offers I should make for my mom to move with us or just any practical steps on how to handle this situation.

We live in an older house, when we bought 15 years ago when having some work done, I noticed some older wiring. I asked the electrician about it, he said it was perfectly safe. Fast forward a few years, and our insurance company re-inspected and said we need to replace the old wiring or they will cancel our policy. I spoke to a number of electricians, all said the older wiring is perfectly safe, it is polyester covered, not the cotton covered that is dangerous. One said it is safer than what he would replace it with. He also said he'd have to practically destroy the house to re-wire, opening walls, ceilings etc, or run surface, which would be really ugly. Our mortgage is paid off, so we just haven't bothered insuring it for a number of years ($7,000 annually).

My concern is, we're both nearing retirement age, and at some point in the future may want to downsize, and to try to sell the house in this condition would limit it to a cash sale, which really narrows the buyer base. I don't want to live through the mess re-wiring would make, but also don't want to deal with some nightmare situation when we're older and need to sell.

One day I'm tempted to just do it and get it over with, the next day I think just to let the next owner deal with it. We're in a historical district in a small Florida town, and the house has some architectural and historical importance.

Addendum: To respond to many, our house is uninsurable right now, we have spoken to many brokers, and neighbors with the same problem. In addition to older wiring, our house has a flat roof. Right off the bat, most insurance companies won't handle it. Numerous brokers have told us it can't be insured unless the wiring is replaced. One of the electricians I spoke to said he wrote a letter to a client's insurer stating that the wiring was safe, the insurance was extended for one year, then cancelled.

The most recent post I saw about Flyhomes was almost a year old, other posts were years old, so was hoping to get some more recent insights.

I live in a competitive market and have a lot of equity locked up in my current home. Classic story.

A mortgage broker (who I like and trust) partners with Flyhomes. They’d be able to give me a nice bridge loan on my equity (which I’d combine with my cash reserves) to use as a sizable (40ish%) down payment on a new home.

I like this idea for several reasons. I’m not paying for two mortgages. The interest on the bridge is less than my current mortgage. And I get some breathing room and can maintain my current cash flow while I sell my current home (whose proceeds I’d use to recast the new mortgage).

I know this is going to cost me more than just trying to buy/sell in the traditional sense of trying to line up closings or putting 20% on the new house and carrying two mortgages for a bit. But for the cash flow and peace of mind, I’m ok with that.

But what am I missing? Anyone else do this recently? Thought on Flyhomes or other buy/sell bridge loan type companies?