Rent?

When you do get the land, is there any time limit in which you have to build?

could it be more than five years before the owner is ready to sell? Could it be ten?

if you buy another slightly larger house and the sale of the land goes through soon after, can you afford both?

are you obligated to buy the land when the owner decides he is ready?

@greg, renting would be out of the question as the timeframe would be an unknown. I would hate to give up growing equity in lieu of money being thrown out the window if for a long period of time.

@ILoveRed,

There is no time limit once I acquire the land. It definitely could be more than 5 years. Most likely we will purchase it when the current owner passes as that's what they've made clear is their preference (hence the right of first refusal).

I would be able to afford both the house and the land, yes. My concern would be that I THINK my current house will sell quickly as I would price it in the sweet spot of our market here, it's a great location, newly remodeled almost everywhere, two story board and batten gambrel barn with power concrete floors, fruit trees, hardscaping everywhere, etc.

There are NO houses on the market in the area that would be large enough for us that really scream resale. They all, for lack of a better description, seem to be a dime a dozen.

He is not obligated, he simply has the first right of refusal.

People buy homes all the time knowing they won't be there more than a few years. Just purchase wisely and make sure any changes you do to the home are not 'for you' but will help sell it.

Me personally? I would make sure I exerted all avenues to make your current house more comfortable. Minimalism is the new trend and it's pretty inspiring. Having an old farmhouse myself that we purchased ONLY because it was on my husband's family farm, we have become amateur professionals at creatively living. We anticipated only staying in our current house 2 years or so. We've been here nearly 8. I once cringed at the thought of having a baby while living here, now we have 2 and honestly probably will stay here another 3+ years or so before diving into our build.

I love DLMs advice. And I agree with her. In the meantime you can stockpile cash for your future build by living conservatively and in a home that is beneath your means. Your property sounds really nice.

DLM has given you excellent advice.

Like she says, nothing wrong with cozy for a while. And you might find your needs change in 2-5 years depending.

I had both kids in a two bedroom house the first couple of years of my younger child's life. (There is a 4 year difference and a difference in gender between the two kids) The whole house was about 1200 square feet downstairs and the upstairs was just an unfinished attic. We all managed just fine. Little kids don't need tons of room.

See if instead you can create better storage solutions or even rearrange some rooms. Maybe if it's not in your design skills, consider asking a designer to come in for a quick session to offer some solutions.

The purchase of the land won't happen until the owner dies?!?

Well that changes my opinion. It could be 20 years that you'll be waiting. I thought it was within the next couple of years.

Stay put until you get the land. We sold our 3000 sqf home, moved In to a travel trailer for 7 months, now live in renovated 900 sqf portable on our property while my husband builds our home himself. We had a 1 and 3 year old boy and girl when this started, now 4 and 6. Like others have said, it's cozy but a mindset makes it doable. I also feel living in a "cozy" space has made us realize we don't need a huge house to live well. We've made great memories living in a close quarters . Good luck!

I'll be the contrarian, go ahead and buy another house, most important buy right, then when you want to sell you will have equity if you sell sooner rather than later. All this said... if you can afford it another house do it now.

I should add, I've bought houses short term for various reasons and liked owning my own house.

Cash/purchasing power are your best friends. If you find a sweet deal on a "gap filler", great, but it as an investment. You can always leverage it later if it indeed appreciates. FWIW my wife and I had our first two kids in a small house. It worked out fine.

In regards to your "ROFR" did you buy the option with a set sales price, or just the right to buy at the price of a future offer?

I'd stay put. Since you already live there and have renovated yourself, you'll be much more willing to accept the shortcomings than you will with a larger, needing to be updated home. I speak from experience. We moved into this "slightly larger than starter" house 10 years ago, added a basement bedroom with an egress window... and never got around to the (2nd) bathroom. My kids are now 16, 14 and 12. It is super cozy, and we're moving on into our new build (within a month!!!). That's right, 5 people, including a teenage girl, are sharing a bathroom in this day and age. That said, it was not really much of an issue when they were little. I have six bathrooms in the new build (overcompensate much?), but we've survived and will tell the tales of this "horror" for years to come. :) Don't get me wrong, it gets incredibly frustrating at times, but I think a different house that will be harder to sell, that isn't updated, will be even more frustrating, regardless of the square footage. If you have more than one bathroom, I'd say stick around.

That said, I generally try not to be so opinionated on here, because it's hard to know exact circumstances. If the right place (without a crazy price tag) comes up, it wouldn't be terrible to sell/buy.

@JONNYGUN, yes we set a price and actually made a small deposit.

Thanks, everyone. We will weigh our options as we go along in the coming year. One thing my wife is really at her wits end with is lack of closet space. I've built a storage system in our master closet but it's small. It's the only closet in the room. The other closet is in the nursery for the baby things, and we share another small closet in the office/bedroom. I've purchased three white floor cabinets from Lowe's over the past year as well, to supplement, but we're running out of room for those as well :)

I bought an "interim house." For the last 8 years of my husband's military career we were geographically separated for 7 of them. Initially I bought a 2000+ soft townhouse, thinking that by the time he retired/joined "us," it would just be he and I as the girls would be at college and then moving on. By the 2nd Christmas it was obvious it was much too early to downsize and I began looking for the "perfect" house. After losing 3 houses to bidding wars, I decided to purchase an "interim" house while the girls were in college (and there were tuition bills to pay!) and re-engage on the quest for a permanent housing solution after they graduated. It turned out to be a great approach b/c I found the right house in the right location and I knew going into it that it wasn't my "forever" house which helped memake smart, commercially appropriate improvements instead of emotional ones to increase my ROI. Price point still made it a long sale, but once sold we are now building our "forever" house on a beautiful piece of property that we own outright and are able to build the house that suits our needs, wants and desires! If your current house isn't working, sell it, get a new one and move on with your life. If your goal is to build at an undefined future date, be mindful of that and make sure the choice(s) you make in your next purchase are aligned w/that goal. Don't stop living or put your life on hold b/c of your dreams -- work towards your dreams and make them reality! Good luck to you and your family. I wish many joyful years ahead for you all.

You can create lots of options if you put your mind to it. I would guess you have at least 3 bed 2 bath. One room can be nursery, one room for child, and one your room. Scrap current guest bedroom for a pull out couch or blow up mattress, how often does it actually get used?

You would need to be in your interm house at least 5 years to break even with closing costs and the tax for selling your current house.

Plus, think of all you have done. You have made your house a home. You would have to do it again if you moved.

Also, you have the opportunity to save money now instead of losing it to a more expensive mortgage and live in your current house while a build is happening. You might put yourself in a financial problem if you buy a bigger house then try to build.

How hot is the housing market? We considered doing what you're suggesting since we're trying to sell our house and we aren't ready to build. My husband hated the idea of throwing money at rent. My investment adviser though counseled against it in our case because the housing market is really hot right now so we risk buying at the top of the market a house that there's a good chance won't be worth what we paid for it when it comes time to sell it. He felt like we wouldn't be there long enough to make such a poor financial decision worth it.

How would you feel if you lost money when it came time to sell your stopgap house? There's your answer to your question.