I live in “flyover country” too. We bought this house 15 years ago and about 5 years ago paid off the mortgage. Now we are thinking of moving to a different “flyover state”.
I am considering putting a price on my house and letting it sit until I get my price for it. I would go ahead and buy my new house, again, possibly paying cash for it.
I have a son who lives near me and could take care of this house for me while I live in another one. The only disadvantages I can see would be real estate tax and insurance would still have to be paid. $800 tax and about $600 insurance. If it never sold I wouldn’t be bothered too much as my kids would inherit it.
It sounds like the best of both worlds to me - buy low and sell if and when the market is up again but I’m sure that someone will be along shortly to tell me why my plan is full of holes.
I think the REAL panic is the property tax people who now realize their tax collections are going down. If taxpayers adopt tax increase caps, it may mean some state and local governments will have to do without “their” tax collection money.
We see it now with school districts demanding a “one time” tax assesment to try and bypass tax caps.
I have a son who lives near me and could take care of this house for me while I live in another one.
Just remember, an empty house is not a good thing. It's not good for the house itself and it brings unexpected problems and burdens.
Banks charge extra high interest rates for people that buy a house without selling the old house. The reason is they ASSUME you are going to rent out one of them, so they charge you commercial rates on the new one.
It might be different if the old house is paid off. But I doubt it.
A house tht sits vacant will soon fall apart. Bad things happen to homes that don’t have anyone living in them. It doesn’t seem to make any sense, but that’s the way it is. I think it’s probably because when someone lives in it, that person sees little things that need attention and takes care of them. WHen there’s no one there, the little things pile up and gradually turn into a whole lot of big things. I bought a house that sat empty for over 5 years...got it real cheap. There was tons of stuff to fix. I’ve been in it 10 years now and I still feel like I’m playing catchup.