I spend a lot of time talking about first-time-buyers, but what about those purchasing for the second time?

While the “what” and “where” are important reasons, I find it’s more the “when” that buyers focus on.

A couple of my clients just moved into their new 1500-square-foot condo and I’m insanely jealous…

Show me a young 20’s-something couple who buys a million-dollar, 4-bedroom house as their “first home” and I’ll show you a massive look of shock and surprise.

There is a certain life-cycle in real estate that starts with a small, first-time-buyer’s property, escalates towards the large family-home, and eventually downsizes to a maintenance-free condo, smaller house, or retirement property north of the city.

So for all those people who currently own their first property, the question becomes: WHEN do you move into something larger?

Or perhaps a second question should be asked: WHY would you need to move into something larger?

There are three major reasons that I can see, and I’ll use my clients as an example.

Kate & Peter owned a small, 1-bedroom condo at 255 Richmond Street, aka “SPACE Condos,” which they occupied for four full years.  They purchased this property when they were in their early-to-mid 20’s, and it served as their first true “home.”

Over the course of four years they settled into their jobs and got a couple promotions along the way, and eventually got married just this past year.  This is reason #1 for moving-on-up: LIFE CYCLE.

Sure, there are lots of married couples that can’t afford to own a small 1-bedroom condo, let alone do anything but rent, however Kate & Peter had the means to look elsewhere and therefore they did.  They were no longer bachelors or even engaged to eventually be married, but rather they were about to start the beginning of the rest of their lives together, and perhaps they were looking down the road to when they have kids.  They had simply outgrown the small condo in the current stage of their lives, and needed to move on.

Now as a married couple, a 590 square foot, 1-bedroom condo seemed a little small.

This is reason #2 for moving-on-up: SPACE.

It’s one thing to live in a 590 square foot condo as a single guy, or maybe an engaged guy with a fiancee that lives elsewhere, but once you’re married and about to enter the next phase of your lives together, you might require more space.  I mentioned kids in my previous point regarding life cycle, but it ties in with the point about space as well.  In addition, you might be hosting more family functions now that you’re married, and thus the fold-out dining room table (in the living room) isn’t going to cut it anymore.  You simply need a larger home.

Kate & Peter also found that with two of them paying the small mortgage on a condo they paid less than $200,000 for over four years ago, they were able to sack away a ton of money.  This is reason #3 for moving-on-up: MONEY.

There are some people that live beneath their means, but in today’s world, there aren’t many.  Kate & Peter saved a lot of money over four years, and could easily afford to put a major downpayment on a much larger property.

There’s that old adage, “If you buy AND sell in the same market, you can’t be hurt.”  It makes sense, given that whether the market is up or down, the prices of both the property you are selling and the property you are buying will move up and down together.

Kate & Peter sold their condo at 255 Richmond Street for $300,000, and moved into a 1500 square foot condo atRezen on Frederick Street.

Their new condo is simply stunning.

The kitchen, living room, and dining room (a real dining room!) is larger than their old condo in its entirety!  The layout is masterful with a den/office located to the right of the front foyer, and a large, open-concept kitchen that overlooks a huge living and dining room.  The living space is engulfed with natural light from the floor-to-ceiling windows as theirs is a corner-unit that faces south over the lake and west over St. James Park.

It’s a 2-bedroom, plus-den, 2-bathroom unit with parking and locker, and it is fully upgraded with engineered hardwood flooring, stainless steel appliances in the kitchen, and granite counters in the kitchen & bathrooms.  The tiles, cabinets, and doors throughout the unit are all upgraded, and my only critique would be the cheap light fixtures that the builders always use.

They purchased this condo in pre-construction for $570,000 ($383/sqft), and it’s probably worth close to $800,000 right now.

This isn’t just an example of “moving-on-up,” this is an example of a young couple that did everything right from the get-go, and made a ton of money on BOTH their first and second properties.

Now it should be mentioned that some people might skip a step in the process of moving-on-up, as did my good friend Dave.

Dave never bought his “bachelor pad,” but rather lived beneath his means (significantly!) for 2-3 years until he had enough money to purchase a $400,000 house that is beyond “starter-home,” and has enough room for him to raise a young family, which might be closer than he chooses to admit at the moment….

Most buyers don’t start with a $400,000 house, or something that has enough room for a wife and 1-2 kids, but some do.

You might also see a family of five live in a very cramped 3-bedroom house well into the kids’ teen years, until finally moving into the large mansion that keeps them from living on top of one-another.  This could be considered skipping a step as well, since you might expect there to be a medium-sized house in between the smaller house and the mansion.

In the end, everybody is different, and the life cycle, space requirements, and money are what dictate when to move-on-up and when to stay put.

Despite this, I still can’t help but feel a bit of jealousy after seeing Kate & Peter’s new condo, and I find myself analyzing my own life cycle, space requirements, and monetary situation…