Cheap$kate Millionaire

When my wife and I first got together, we were thinking about moving up in houses. We were younger and we were both working. Jenn bought the house that we are in now for our daughter and her. She didn't really expect a third person here. It was a strange situation because in selling her old house the market shot up really quickly. She found herself getting pushed out of the market and had to make a decision: buy now or get completely pushed out and rent. With my new wife, we had more disposable income and moving was a real possibility. Back then, our house was $350k and the houses "up the hill" were about $750k. Since then, the houses in both locations have doubled in value.

The "what if" runs through my mind. What if we had made the decision to move? Sure, we would have a bigger house - in retrospect it seems like a no brainer! You get a house valued at $1.5 million by today's standards, but it got me thinking.  Would we have taken an interest only loan? Would we have financed it to the hilt to purchase all of the new furniture we would have to buy? Could we afford the adjusted rate? Would we be tempted to "keep up with the Jones"? With all of the fallout we are seeing from the mortgage industry would we be stuck with one of these loans that is forcing everyday citizens out of their life dream? I would like to take a peek inside somebody else's life to see what the outcome was.

I think that everybody asks the "What If" question. Usually that is accompanied by the "I wish I would have known..." statement. I wonder what it would have been, but at the same time I'm concerned that a different situation wouldn't put me in the position that I'm in now. I don't have the house "up the hill" but I have a very comfortable lifestyle, a very low mortgage, and I'm comfortable with my family in our house. I'm just thinking out loud, but I don't know that the "what if" factor is worth my peace of mind.