Eight Signs It's Time To Move Up (part 4 of 4)

Everyone else has moved on

So, your kids were young and bicycles and basketball nets lined the street when you first fell in love with your home. At the time, it was everything you were looking for. But now, so many of those families have moved on, and the lively street you loved has turned rather sleepy. If you're still holding on to the memories of what your neighborhood once was, maybe it's time to find one that better meets your lifestyle needs today.

You've crunched the numbers

Presumably, a move-up home is going to be more expensive. Beyond the equity you can use to make the purchase doable, you have to consider the monthly expenses, too. "It's not just the sticker price on the house; it's the long-term costs associated with it," said Realtor.com. "When you go up (in square footage), you get higher property taxes, higher utilities, and more maintenance." And acquiring more rooms means shelling out for more furniture, too.

You can make sure you can afford a move-up home without becoming "house poor" by "using online affordability calculators to figure out how far you can stretch your dollar.