# How Many Times Did You Sell and Move?



## dogcom (May 23, 2009)

I read an article not very long ago saying that people sell and move to often and averaged about 5 or moves in their lives. The reason this can be bad is because of all the costs involved in selling, buying and moving. Many people also moved because they were bored of living where they did or cashed in thinking they made money from rising prices and then bought again. They also said it made sense to buy something bigger now so you won't have to move up later. 

Have you moved for the right reasons or have you wasted money? For me I have moved twice and the reasons were right and I made money from the moves. I didn't make it so much from the gains because I would gain anyway no matter if I stayed put. I gained because I needed a bigger house the first time and I did it during a recession and the second time I didn't want to renovate a knockdown and took part in a hot market that way overpriced my home to something better, bigger and close by that didn't need the work.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

I've only sold once. We bought a bigger house.


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## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

Our first house was a mistake. We bought in the burbs because we thought we valued a nice house more than the location. We were wrong. The commute started really getting to me. So we sold and moved into the city. I don't know if we necessarily lost money, since I suspect the Toronto housing market has been going up faster than the Vaughan one.


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## Ethan (Aug 8, 2010)

We're living in our first house, although we've only been here 2 years and are in our late 20's. Looking to move in 1-2 years to a bigger house, near a good school, and to live in that house for a considerable amount of time. We're thinking 20 years, as you mentioned moving costs are considerable. I'd also like to get the mortgage paid off before 40 so I can ramp up my investing.


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## Berubeland (Sep 6, 2009)

Bought once still there...


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## dogcom (May 23, 2009)

You have done well berubeland and do you plan on making a move if we get a decent correction. Four Pillars I am guessing you are a little older and was able to afford what you wanted so didn't need to move. 

Ethan and spudd you guys are more a product of todays generation that hasn't got any choice really and are forced to buy something and move up later. I just don't see how people just getting in can do it any other way unless there is some kind of large correction. I will say this though as spudd mentioned location is the most important and it was the best choice I ever made.


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## GoldStone (Mar 6, 2011)

Berubeland said:


> Bought once still there...


Ditto.

Bought in 2002, still there.

We bought well below our means. Don't really like where we live. Looking to move up the market, but insane prices scare us off.


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## Cal (Jun 17, 2009)

Principal Residence I am assuming. 2x thus far. I anticipate 4x in my lifetime. The last one being downsizing.


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## Berubeland (Sep 6, 2009)

dogcom said:


> You have done well berubeland and do you plan on making a move if we get a decent correction?


Nope, I'm not moving anytime soon. If I ever needed much more space I could build another story on this house, one of the reasons I bought it was because it was double brick. 

If there was a correction I would buy an income property if it paid me. 

If I was to buy for myself, I'd buy a cottage where my only neighbors were mosquitos but I don't foresee that for many years, I have to live in the city to work. There's no way I'd sign up for a long commute. I already spend too much time in the car going from site to site. 

My first purchase would probably be to buy an office condo to move my business into. Right now it's in the basement apartment downstairs. When I decided to move my office down there, I also moved the laundry to where the kitchen used to be. It's a little weird for the people who work for me to have to walk past that and my storage area. 

Or I could build a large "storage" area on my lot. I'm allowed a lot more space the house is only 750 square feet including the garage. 

By the time I want real estate most people won't so it will work out well that way.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

Bought and sold 6 times, twice for work relocation.

Buying and selling is a great way to improve the income of your real estate agent and lawyer, but not so good for you.

All of our moves were back in the day when home prices were basically flat, and we considered ourselves lucky to break even. We lost money on 1 sale and earned a little on the last sale in 2007. I could buy the house back today for less than I sold it for...........

People who live in bubble areas may not comprehend it, but for the rest of the country there wasn't a lot of money to be made in real estate.

The lowest interest rate we paid was 8%...........and we bought and sold for 30 years. We always put 25% down, so if we calculated the loss of return of capital on the down payment, added up all the maintenance costs and home improvements, taxes, and interest..........we always lost money.

A return to "normal" is going to be a financial shock for people who have bought homes in recent years with little down payment and no equity to rely on.


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## jamesbe (May 8, 2010)

I've bought 3 times now and sold twice 

First home was a starter, we lived there for 6 years (townhome) we outgrew it plain and simple. I've got a racing habit and a job that requires 3 cars in the driveway this was not really feasible so we bought a single with a big driveway and garage.

I wanted to move into the country at that point but could not because my other half needed bus access. 4 years later we got the country home and plan to stay here for awhile. There is room for all the cars and plenty of room in the house. It's also a short commute to work for me, actually takes less time than when we lived in town but it is more km.

Next home will be a downsize, I'm thinking 10 years no less, but could be more.

Yes moving costs a lot, but being lucky, no realtor fees on both transactions and no moving costs we were able to come away with some equity on the first sale and lost a little due to taxes on the second sale (and a need to sell in a slow market). Overall I think we came out about even.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

dogcom said:


> Four Pillars I am guessing you are a little older and was able to afford what you wanted so didn't need to move.


Are you suggesting I'm old?  Getting there.

My first house was 2-bedroom 750 sq ft in a pretty good location near downtown T.O. I should note that it wasn't such a great neighbourhood when I bought it,which is why it was fairly affordable. 

After living in a basement apt for 3 years, the house seemed like a palace for one person. The 2nd bedroom was the computer room/guest room and the dining room was my weight room/storage room. I even had a back yard!

My wife also had a house, so we decided to sell both places and buy something a bit bigger. I guess we didn't need it at the time, but it came handy later on when we had 2 kids. 

I'd love a bigger place now, but I will not move further away from downtown and I will not pay any more money for a new place. Which means of course, we're staying put.


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## uptoolate (Oct 9, 2011)

In our second home. Sold the first one because the family got larger. We sold the first for the same as we bought it after 5 years during the real estate market downturn of the early 90s. We had put money into a new furnace and I had finished the basement and attic. Fortunately, we were buying into the same market we sold into and got a great deal on the new place which we have had for 16 years now. Next move will be to downsize in about 10 years.


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## Echo (Apr 1, 2011)

I'm in my 3rd house now (I'm 32). Moved to Lethbridge (from Calgary) to go to University and bought a 5-bedroom frat-house (co-signed with my parents, I was 19). 

Sold that when I finished school and bought a brand new, 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom starter home. Lived in that house with my girlfriend (now wife) for 8 years. 

We just built a new house that we moved into last summer. It's much bigger than the starter home, but we're expecting our 2nd child this Spring and we needed the extra space. We don't plan on moving again for 20+ years.

My brother, on the other hand, told me he just accepted a new job and will be moving to Edmonton. This will be his 4th move in 8 or 9 years.


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## crazyjackcsa (Aug 8, 2010)

I'm in my first house. No great accomplishment since I'm only 31 and we've lived there 5 years.

We planned to by our last house first, but there may be a relocation/downsizing in our future. I figure about 30 years from now. I'd add the caveat that we would relocate for work.

My parents have spent 30+ years in their home. My grandparents still live in the house my grandfather built 60 years ago.


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## dogcom (May 23, 2009)

Many are forced to move for jobs which is a hard but necessary thing for many people. 

I figure Sags must have been moving around in the late 80's and early 90's in order to have a problem not making some money as a side to owning a house. Living in Vancouver or those living in Toronto must find it hard to imagine what a flat to falling market is like over the last 20 years. Sure we have had corrections but nothing that didn't seem to last all that long.

Uptoolate there is really no better market to move up in then a bad market. I did the same in the early 90's and most people only look to good markets because of what they can get for the house they are selling. Unless they are retiring or downsizing they are looking at it in the wrong way and are actually ripping themselves off. Also low interest rates can be a horrible thing when buying because you often pay way to much to own but again people don't see it this way.


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## Ihatetaxes (May 5, 2010)

dogcom said:


> I read an article not very long ago saying that people sell and move to often and averaged about 5 or moves in their lives. The reason this can be bad is because of all the costs involved in selling, buying and moving. Many people also moved because they were bored of living where they did or cashed in thinking they made money from rising prices and then bought again. They also said it made sense to buy something bigger now so you won't have to move up later.
> 
> Have you moved for the right reasons or have you wasted money? For me I have moved twice and the reasons were right and I made money from the moves. I didn't make it so much from the gains because I would gain anyway no matter if I stayed put. I gained because I needed a bigger house the first time and I did it during a recession and the second time I didn't want to renovate a knockdown and took part in a hot market that way overpriced my home to something better, bigger and close by that didn't need the work.


I went from a $169k townhouse to a $750k (now mortgage free) house with two homes in between over a 10 year period. Made a nice profit on the last two sales, increased value through smart renos plus sold both privately saving a total of around $60k in realtor fees. Current home is fine for now and would sell quickly, also privately, as we are on a ravine in a highly sought after area. Bought this house the day it went on the market after selling the last one so we were able to make a strong condition free offer which worked out well.

I think you can make great tax free gains with your home if you are a smart buyer/seller with a good product in a good market.


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## Homerhomer (Oct 18, 2010)

We just sold our first house after living here for 8 years, the new house we bought we plan on living in for many, many years.


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## Homerhomer (Oct 18, 2010)

Ihatetaxes said:


> I think you can make great tax free gains with your home if you are a smart buyer/seller with a good product in a good market.


In a raising market yes, if you were to be hit with a severe correction and happen to buy at the top it wouldn't work out this well, and obviously you would have to move quite often and live in a house that is often under renovation.

The money can defintely be made, buying and selling smart, keeping the house in good condition can make a whole lot of difference in any market though.


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## uptoolate (Oct 9, 2011)

dogcom said:


> Uptoolate there is really no better market to move up in then a bad market. I did the same in the early 90's and most people only look to good markets because of what they can get for the house they are selling. Unless they are retiring or downsizing they are looking at it in the wrong way and are actually ripping themselves off. Also low interest rates can be a horrible thing when buying because you often pay way to much to own but again people don't see it this way.


Totally agree. We were very lucky on the timing in terms of buying our move up house in a down market. Only bad timing was making the initial buy into the market in the late 80s near the top but it was a small starter home and like most, we didn't have a huge amount of flexibility on timing. Your interest rate comment is true too of course. Most people are programmed to see the monthly payment not the total price and not enough have an appreciation of where low rates usually go.


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## Mall Guy (Sep 14, 2011)

I have moved 14 times since turning 18, 0 times before that. As for houses purchased and sold (the 1st @ 22) 6 sold and 7 purchased (+ 1 cottage equivalent which is actually a condo in the city with a view of the water). I have one more planned move, which is to the 2 bedroom walk-out apartment downstairs (at which point I will rent the 4 bedroom house upstairs). Of course all that could go out the window, as I have already relocated three times for "career advancement".

My favorite address . . . a townhouse on Stately Way . . . nick named Stately Wayne Manor . . . purchased for $82,000 sold for $157,000. These townhouses eventually hit $229,000, before dropping like a stone back to $129,000 when I lost track of the prices. However, I see similar townhouses on the $350,00 range . . . to steal from another thread, I can't thoil the notion.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

For us (since we moved out of our parents house), we've bought twice for our principle house (plus 1 for a vacation property), sold zero, moved 2 times.

My spouse(fiancee at the time) bought a small 2 bedroom apartment near downtown. After a couple of years, we needed more space, and moved into a rental house (my parents rental property for a great price), we rented out the apartment. Then when we had a large enough down payment, we bought our current house.

We've done decently. We bought the apartment in the $70K area, at the height of the market it was over $250K, right now, probably around $200K conservatively. 

While living in the rental, our rent was really cheap, plus I had a basement suite that my friend rented, so our rental was cheaper than our apartment, and allowed us to establish ourselves.

I actually hate paying the costs from selling, and I hate moving under a time constraint. We're too lazy to move. We have debated moving into larger home, as we didn't realize that kids take quite as much room as ours do. Right now, we're debating of buying a larger house, but are enjoying being mortgage free, and trying to figure out if can just make do. If we do buy larger, it will be to keep our current house too, rent that out, but we would like to buy the next house in cash, so that's going to be a long while.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

Moved 5 times but four were all expenses paid company moves. The company expense policy definitely encouraged purchase. The last was a downsizing. Put the money in investments. That enabled us to retire 5 years early. Rented until we bought our snowbird home. So was totally out of the market for 10 years.


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## dogcom (May 23, 2009)

Plugging along I don't mind the selling and looking around to buy but like you I sure hate moving and I hope I don't have to again for a long time. Mall Guy seems to enjoy it having to move 14 times.


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## hboy43 (May 10, 2009)

Berubeland said:


> If I was to buy for myself, I'd buy a cottage where my only neighbors were mosquitos but I don't foresee that for many years, I have to live in the city to work.


I live next to the Mosquitos, nice people. Much nicer than the neighbours on the other side, the Blackflys.

I bought my first house at 22 in 1985. Bought second in 2000, Sold first in 2010 after it was a rental a few years.

I used to say that I was leaving my current house horizontally. Now I could see living on a boat instead, if I could give up all the extracirrucular activities like gardening, woodworking, and general junk collecting. "I might need that one day".

I don't intend to ever buy RE again, I'll be a renter. I've had my fill of fixing other peoples FUs, and I am nowhere near done yet at the current abode.

hboy43


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

How many times did I sell and move .Only twice ,bought first home in 1991 and sold it in 2001 for $100,000 profit plus another $128,000 equity paying down mortgage.House #2 bought in 2001 and sold in 2010 for $197,000 profit ,no equity accumulation as we paid cash for it.
Our current home we had built and moved in April 2010.
Bought and sold many investment homes over the year ,they were easier than moving lol


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## Causalien (Apr 4, 2009)

hboy43 said:


> I live next to the Mosquitos, nice people. Much nicer than the neighbours on the other side, the Blackflys.
> 
> I bought my first house at 22 in 1985. Bought second in 2000, Sold first in 2010 after it was a rental a few years.
> 
> ...


Thumbs up to this. I will be selling the current one within the next 5 years.


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## alexboston (Mar 8, 2012)

*My experience*

I literally moved 4 times. Two we're apartments while the other two is from my granny's house and the other is our personal house.


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## dogcom (May 23, 2009)

I think hboy43 hit it on the head as to why you may not wish to buy again. It really is a pain fixing other peoples FUs as he put it. You really need to have people you can trust to call to fix the FUs if you are unable to do it yourself. Possibly berubeland comes to mind here as she probably has a network of people to call to fix stuff up without screwing the job up.


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## Charlie (May 20, 2011)

We're still in the first home we bought with no intention of moving. We bought a neighbourhood we liked, and a home we could grow into. And did a major reno when the mortgage got too small . I've no need to fund my local Realtor's golf memberships....


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