We messed up - how to fix?

[Anonymous]

You won't find better schools elsewhere unless you pay for privates, and even then you'd be hard pressed to do better by your children than the public schools in GF. You also have no guarantee that your next home purchase will provide any of your desired perceived advantages, apart from a smaller lawn to maintain and a smaller house to clean, neither of which should be a consideration for most people who can afford to live in GF - just hire people to do those things for you. Hire a handyman for the innumerable small fix-it/maintenance jobs, too. Outsourcing those for a decade will cost much less that the costs of relocating again.

You'll lose your transaction costs at a minimum, will pay a second set of moving costs, and may or may not lose money on the sale compared to what you paid.

Frankly, it sounds as if you have a fantasy neighborhood and home in mind, which may not have any real-life counterpart. Your kids may not find nearby playmates in a new neighborhood, the weather and insects will be the same anywhere in NoVa, houses on smaller lots will be subject to more noise from adjacent properties and possibly from closer and busier roads. In other words, you may make your situation worse, not better, by indulging in your buyer's remorse.

I'd plan to stick it out for at least a couple of years, taking more advantage of your sunk moving and transaction costs, and giving the property a chance to appreciate a little. During that time you can also do actual due diligence and employ some discernment in looking at other neighborhoods and homes, something you did not do this time.

[Anonymous]

Damn, got some tough love in the last few responses. I'm hearing you though and these are all fair points. Spouse and I decided we are going to wait till next Spring and then make a call rather than rushing something now. I just hope the market doesn't tank in the meantime. We owe the house a full year to see if the situation improves.