My husband and I made a huge decision last October…we sold our house and moved into an apartment.
One last look at the house we loved and lived in for six years.
If you live in the Midwest, you might think we’re crazy. Where we live in the suburbs outside Kansas City, having a large home and yard is what many families are working toward. We lived in a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath house in a desirable neighborhood and school district. But when a young couple down the street started to upgrade their house, we reconsidered our priorities.
Around the time we gave birth to Little Cupcake, we woke up one day and realized how much student loan debt we had. Two master’s degrees and one doctorate degree kind of student debt. I wrote about it a little bit here when discussing our goals for 2018. We did chuck away at some debt that year, but around last summer we realized it just wasn’t enough to get us where we wanted to be. With trying to update our house and take care of the seemingly endless issues, we weren’t getting the debt snowball going like we wanted to.
After much contemplation and praying, we decided we needed to do it. With the housing market being what it is, we actually sold our house as-is almost immediately!
I’m sure some people thought we were crazy to downsize because we have a two-year-old, but we’ve actually found living in our apartment very rewarding. We’ve downsized not just our home, but the stuff we had that we don’t need. We spend less time dealing with the house (I know some people enjoy this, but it’s just not our thing!) and more time together as a family. We’ve greatly lessened our debt, de-stressed, and found ways to be content with what we have. Oh, and we’ve taken advantage of the workout and pool facilities in our new apartment a lot too.
Sometimes it’s tough to do things that go against the grain. But at the end of the day, we parents know what’s best for our family and the little ones we’re raising.
Have you ever had to do something that seems unusual to others, but deep down you know it works for your family?
guest
Wow! What a change for sure! So are you still working and plugging away at debt and life?
nectarine / 2018 posts
I think what you did is great! Who cares what people think – your family has a roof over their head and you made a choice to better your family financially. That’s awesome.
We bought our first house last year and are really not sure it’s for us. We lived in an amazing apartment building for five years – it had a gym, a pool, grills, fire pits, a full time office staff, a full time maintenance staff, and was right next to a large field. We miss apartment living every day. We spend so much time and money maintaining our house, that we used to spend just living life in our apartment. Unfortunately the area we live now has a a horrible rental situation, so owning is what it is. We dream of apartment living again one day (though we would be pretty picky about the apartment)!
I hope you enjoy your time renting! And that you hit the financial goals you are hoping!
apricot / 364 posts
Awesome! As someone who owns rentals, a family like yours is a dream tenant. I love seeing people make unconventional choices that help with long term goals. 3 years ago my husband quit his job in finance and I went back full time to IT and people always think we’re crazy. But he manages our rentals and kids and I have a ton of vacation time so it was just better for our family.
pear / 1622 posts
This is great! I definitely think we are a little different compared to coworkers and many families at daycare with our neighborhood and car choices but we’re happy and wouldn’t change it. Having the big new house and big SUV is not important to us.
cantaloupe / 6730 posts
A house can suck money for sure! How many years will moving to the apartment shave off your debt repayment plan?
pomelo / 5621 posts
@catgirl: I could live in an apartment with all those amenities. DH wouldn’t be able to handle apartment living. The only thing I would miss is our yard & garden.
I’m curious too how many years sooner are you going to get your debt paid off?
pear / 1565 posts
You did the right thing! I grew up in a super urban populated city so aka in apartments; while I later on loved living in the suburbs, house, etc, I never felt like I was missing anything. I actually prefer living in smaller spaces b/c I am a big believer that the bigger space you have, the more stuff you’ll need to fill it up, and it just snowballs.
I don’t know how weird it is but my family has not gone on vacation via plane and my oldest is 4.5. I love discovering stuff we can do locally, and there are lots to do within like a 3 hour drive. While eventually I’d like to travel with them to give them that experience and life lessons, I don’t think we’re missing much now when they’re young and we have more important things to use our money towards like daycare.
guest
I think this is fantastic! We actually did something similar when my daughter was about 6 months old – downsizing from a 4 bd/3 ba home that was 3600 square feet and on an acre yard to a 1500 3bd/2ba condo. A lot of people thought we were crazy to downsize just as we were adding to our family but honestly we’ve never been happier. My husband no longer spends his full weekends doing yardwork – he can spend time with us! And I’m not spending hours and hours and hours a week trying to clean 3600 square feet when we don’t use that full space! I think it’s great that you were able to prioritize what’s best for your family!
blogger / olive / 52 posts
@catgirl: Thank you! Yes, we were pretty particular about the kind of apartment we were willing to live in with a kid, too. But he loves it here! We don’t maintain anything and we have a sprawling park right across the street. I love how you are dreaming of apartment life again someday!
blogger / olive / 52 posts
@hilary: Nice! You’ve gotta not let what other people say dictate your family choices!
blogger / olive / 52 posts
@Grace: Good question! And I’ll be honest-I hadn’t calculated the specific time frame different for being debt free. I had also taken a lower paying (but my dream job and more flexible) so we needed to pay off a chunk fast. We are trying to hit the rest of our debt hard and setting short term goals all the time. All I know is, my family is happy and has more time together too!
blogger / olive / 52 posts
@graceandjoy: I agree! We’ve taken Fitz on a couple of road trips (which Mr. Cupcake and I love to do) in his short life, but because we’ve been on the debt free journey, we haven’t had farther vacations in our budget. But we enjoy everything our city has to offer, and he doesn’t seem to mind!
cherry / 108 posts
I literally gasped when I read this because we are considering the same thing! Thinking of selling our house (which we love
) and moving to a rental house. The debt of the house is a huge burden and selling would catapult us so much faster to our financial and career goals. The only thing is we don’t want to change is our kids schools because they are so incredibly good. We go back and forth about this decision. I just think of how humiliating this is because everyone else seems to be moving forward and it seems like we are taking a step back. But my husband says not to look at it like that, but rather just a little detour in getting to where we want. It’s tough. Thanks for your post. Nice to know we are not the only ones going through this. 
blogger / nectarine / 2043 posts
@catgirl: we’re in the process of closing on a house now and this is my biggest fear. My husband’s biggest dream is to own a house and I’ve never lived in one and don’t really care to have it and my biggest fear is we’ll just end up tied to the house and have no life beyond it. I’m hoping I’m being overly dramatic but yeah…
pomelo / 5084 posts
I absolutely love this! Good for you guys!! Owning a big house is NOT the end all be all for everyone. We bought a town home in the heart of the city (not in a “nice” suburb as is common in St. Louis) and got a lot of side eye. Yes we could technically afford more but we don’t really want to have a $5k house payment. It’s out of the norm for sure. You do what works for your family!!
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
We have never owned! I’ve never had a big desire to, although I see the appeal of my parents’ suburban home. I like apartment living too!
blogger / pomelo / 5400 posts
Honestly this is kind of my dream right now. I currently live in my “dream house” and it is a burden in a lot of ways I don’t think I was prepared for. I would *love* to live somewhere smaller that I wasn’t responsible for upkeep.
guest
We are married Midwestern suburbanites with two kids who both work, but we only have one car. Most people we know cannot comprehend this, but thanks to family close by and the ability to walk, bike, or bus to both our jobs as well as most places we want/need to go, we make it work.
blogger / olive / 52 posts
@Chicfro: Glad I could encourage you! While we do enjoy apartment life for now, sometimes a sacrifice in the moment is better for long term gain. But I hope it works out with the schools, and in the end you will know what is best for your family overall!
blogger / olive / 52 posts
@Mrs. Carrot: There are many great things about home ownership! I truly do hope that your family will be blessed with whatever decision you make.
blogger / olive / 52 posts
@wrkbrk: “Got a little side eye”. Way to not let that bother you! I love it!
persimmon / 1233 posts
I love apartment living and want to downsize once the kids are graduated. Nothing better than living in luxury, for an affordable price, and getting that slip of paper on the counter when you get home from work that says “maintenance came and fixed that thing you called about”!
We did end up buying a house but it has no yard and the schools aren’t highly rated (but they’re way more diverse than the suburbs) and we totally get side-eye for our choices. That’s ok – we’re happy with our lives! And there’s no better feeling than getting out of debt.
clementine / 874 posts
We live half an hour away from work in a rental townhouse. While we could rent closer to work, we could buy a house, we could get a nanny, we could outsource our cleaning or landscape work for out teeny backyard… we don’t.
DH’s family is full of terrible financial habits and we get lots of flack from them for not ‘moving up’ to the next stage of life, but we just aren’t ready yet. We’re saving too much for our goals to take on more debt or commit more of our budget. I’d rather watch our kid’s 529s and our 401ks and other savings accounts go up than compete in the house status contest.