Should I give up my low mortgage rate to move?
Giving up a low mortgage rate around 3% or 4% for a current rate of 6% to 7% creates a painful financial impact when families need more space for children or a better neighborhood. Homeowners are forced to choose between staying in a home that feels like it is bursting at the seams or taking on a much higher monthly housing cost to improve their quality of life.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- This comes up 23.0× more often in r/homeowners than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Staying put and building savings instead of moving
- 2Renting out the current house while buying a new one
- 3Sending children to private school while keeping the existing home
- 4building an extension or home addition
- 5renovating existing bathrooms and layout
- 6hiring a professional organizer for storage optimization
- 7moving to a larger home and accepting a higher mortgage rate
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I was in a similar boat in 2024. Had a small home with a 2.75% rate purchased in 2019 but needed to expand the size to have kids.”source ↗
“I gave up 2.75% for 6.5% last year. The financial impact stung for sure but in our case, we significantly improved our quality of life”source ↗
“It’s definitely tough giving up that 4% for the current 6-7% but can make sense if the reasons and the math works for you.”source ↗
“Similar boat, I’d do it if we could afford it. But we have to decide if we want a nicer house in a nicer neighborhood that would give us the space for a 2nd child. Or we stay where we are at which allows us to afford a second child…”source ↗
“We owe $229k at 4%, but the neighborhood and schools aren't where we want to raise our kids.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 2How to handle a car shortfall after finishing debt review
- 2How do you stop losing things during a cross-country move?
- 5Why did I get charged extra interest after paying off my car loan early?
- 10Should I pay off zero interest debt early or keep the cash in savings?
- 7Tax and financial implications of paying off a parent's debt