We have a 3% mortgage. How do we move without feeling like we're lighting it on fire?
Answered by Chris Deutsch, Founder & Editor
Licensed Minnesota Realtor #20382264 ·
The short answer
Start by pricing the life, not the loan. A low rate is real money — but it's only cheap if the house still fits. A small payment on rooms you've outgrown, or a commute you dread, isn't savings. It's a discount on the wrong thing.
On stage The 60-second answer
Captions on · Transcript below
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The transcript posts with the video.
The longer answer
The practical moves: run the true monthly delta — new payment minus old — and weigh it against what the move buys back. The shorter commute. The main-floor bedroom. The town you'd rather be in. Ask your lender about paying points now or recasting after your sale; both soften the number. Some people consider keeping the old house as a rental just for the rate. Be honest about whether you actually want to be a landlord — most people who back into it don't.
One reframe that helps: nobody counts staying in the wrong house as a cost. It is one. When you want the actual numbers side by side, that's a short conversation.
The next department over
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From the editor's desk
“As Founder and Editor, I review, correct, and stand behind every answer.”
Is your situation more specific than the market? That's the one worth talking through.