Around 15 to 20 years, houses start to need expensive maintenance- new appliances, perhaps siding or roofing if you've had a rough run or it was poorly installed, etc.
If you are unable to sell the house and don't have a nice savings cushion, you need to look at a HELOC to pay for it.
Since sellers often pay real estate agent fees and some others, you need a pretty decent sale price above what you owe on the mortgage just to break even... And then money for moving costs and a down payment on wherever you go next.
Edit: it is also not uncommon to take out a HELOC to pay for sprucing up a house- flooring, new kitchen, etc- if you are struggling to attract any buyers at all. I've known people in smaller towns go into debt just to sell their house because they had to move for a job. They even tried renting it out for awhile since noone was buying, and the renters ended up trashing the place, so that made it even harder.
If you are unable to sell the house and don't have a nice savings cushion, you need to look at a HELOC to pay for it.
Since sellers often pay real estate agent fees and some others, you need a pretty decent sale price above what you owe on the mortgage just to break even... And then money for moving costs and a down payment on wherever you go next.
Edit: it is also not uncommon to take out a HELOC to pay for sprucing up a house- flooring, new kitchen, etc- if you are struggling to attract any buyers at all. I've known people in smaller towns go into debt just to sell their house because they had to move for a job. They even tried renting it out for awhile since noone was buying, and the renters ended up trashing the place, so that made it even harder.