A thanks and a question!

[Mommy Of A Little Angel]

I posted a few weeks back about being nervous about buying a house and everyone was really encouraging. So, this past weekend we FINALLY called a realtor and he was super helpful! We went house-hunting on Sunday and it was actually a lot of fun. We feel so much better about what we can afford and that we can really do this! Thank you all so much for the encouragement I really needed.

Now the question! This was our first trip out and we saw two houses we liked. (Not that we are going to buy these, but it got me thinking about our options.) They are totally different and I was wondering what you would do:

House One: Built about 20 years ago. 4 bedrooms/2 baths. Located on a dead end street back/side is woods. Been on the market for about 6 months. This house is in good condition, but we would like to replace carpet, paint, etc. We could probably get a really good deal because it's been on the market so long.

House Two: Smaller, but built about 8 years ago. 3 bedrooms/2 baths. Located in a HOA neighborhood (think more cookie-cutter houses). Just went on the market. More expensive and probably don't have too much haggle room.

So, would you go for the older one with more potential (and more risk I guess) or the newer one where you would be confident you didn't have much to do, nice neighborhood, but not a fantastic deal? DH and I are having a theoretic debate over here!

[MayB]

I don't know which way I would go because 20 years old is kind of old -- can you or your husband tell the quality of the construction; an extra bedroom is definitely appealing. I like the idea of putting together a list of pros and cons for each house you're looking at. One thing you'll want to check is who owns the woods behind and next to the house. If there's a chance it will be developed, it could drastically change the appeal of the house. People say it's a buyer's market, so don't feel pressured into deciding anything too quickly. Good luck.

[Mommy Of A Little Angel]

Yeah, I doubt we will actually buy either of these houses. It's more a theoretical question we have been debating. Thanks for the tip on who owns the woods. That could definately make a difference!

[kristenk]

I'd go with the older one. That's what we did. Our house had been on the market a while. It was dated (built in 1980 and not updated), it didn't show well and it started off over-priced.

As long as you feel comfortable with painting, replacing carpet, etc. go for the older one. The dead-end street, backing to woods sounds great. (We live on a circle and back to a greenbelt.) If you end up buying it, you might want to try to paint and replace the carpet before you move in. Also, paint first so you don't have to worry about messing up your new carpet!

When DH and I were trying to decide on the house, I talked to MIL about it. MIL & FIL are both very handy people and aren't afraid of home repairs. Anyway, the ONE thing that kept drawing us back to the house was the house's layout and its location. MIL reminded me that there's a lot you can change about a house, but it's pretty difficult to change location! We're so happy we bought our house!

As long as you like the neighborhood, get it inspected and are comfortable with the fix-ups, go for the older one!

[megs4413]

a house is an investment. what are the property values comparatively? like say the bigger house was in excellent condition is it worth more than the smaller house that's newer? let me see if i can be more clear...

if you buy a house who's value range is 130-200K for 130, then you have the potential to make a lot in its resale if you put some money into it and take good care of it.

if you buy a house that's in good condition already and has a value range of 130-200K but you buy it for 190K, you're not gonna make a lot of money out of it unless you stay there for a good long while.


we bought a "fixer upper" for less than it was valued. we got an awesome deal and have made some imnprovements already. the great thing about this house is that the floor plan is awesome, it is a lot larger than what we could have gotten otherwise, and it was completely livable how it was. not gross or dangerous or anything. just needed cosmetic updates. i'm glad we went the way we did.

[Mommy Of A Little Angel]

I think your house sounds a lot like the older one. It is listed under the appraised value already and since it's been on the market so long, the realtor said we could get a really good deal. The fixes it needs are purely cosmetic, but the house is completely livable as is. I think once the changes are made, the house could be worth a lot more. For that reason it gets me really excited (I LOVE a deal!) and I would love to have projects to do around the house.

The neighborhood isn't as nice as the other. It's not bad (great location overall), the houses are just older. It doesn't have that neatly manicured look of the newer one. That's the biggest drawback. Well, that with the fact that it has been on the market so long.

[dules]

I am LOL at the idea of a 20 year old house being "old" - ours is "new" for our neighborhood, dating from around 1910. :)

That being said, there has been shoddy construction in all decades and with my house, heck, I knew it had been standing 90+ years and was still in good shape so the builders must have gotten something right. It's also the "newest" of the three we have owned.

If it were me, and if you definitely want one of those two houses, I'd put in an offer on the first one with an inspection contingency, meaning that if the inspection uncovers any major problems that you don't want to deal with, you can back out and you are only out the cost of the inspection (around here, $300 - $700 depending on the size of the house, additional garages/barns, etc.).

Otherwise, sounds like you're getting a good sense of what's on the market in your range and can afford to just keep looking until one really speaks to you.

Good luck!

Mary

[ShanaMama]

IMO older houses are better built. More solid, etc. That being said, you 'inherit' someone else's problems. You never really know if something major will break, as it is 20 yo.
I think you are best off buying a house that needs cosmetic work. It doesn't have the manicured look, but you can give it that look. DH & I both love landscaping, so we're naturally drawn to those houses that have nicer landscaping. Then we tell ourselves- you're not buying bushes! Buy the house you want, & improve it with nice lanscaping.
I agree with the pp to shop around. Don't rush into anything. But if I was choosing b/w those two homes, I'd go for the bigger, cheaper, older one, with the privacy it affords. (I love the dead end/ wooded area). You just have to be able to picture the upgrades in your minds eye, & know it's something you could love.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I may be repeating other replies as I haven't had a chance to read them yet but here are my thoughts...

#1- I would pick this one, not knowing anything more about them (school districts, overall quality of the structure, why this one has been on the market so long...). I think it is more important to have good bones as you can slowly work on aesthetics over time. I am not wild about being against the woods though as I am paranoid about people lurking where I can't see them. :) I'd probably just buy a really good fence and some motion sensor flood lights to ease that discomfort.

I would *not* assume you could get a good deal. My house was on the market 8 months (timing is everything and we put ours' on at the wrong time of the year). We got a few low ball offers and we refused them.

#2- I would want to know what kind of HOA they have. Do they have ridiculous rules and some anal people in charge? If you live somewhere with snow do they have someone that will clean off the roads? How about dues? I don't think HOAs are all that great but not always a problem depending on how they were run. I keep remembering the story in CO back in December...you can see a picture of the wreath online and read the story:
"DENVER - A homeowners association in southwestern Colorado has threatened to fine a resident $25 a day until she removes a Christmas wreath with a peace sign that some say is an anti-Iraq war protest or a symbol of Satan...."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15912456/

In either case I would want a thorough inspection. With the older home I would want to know what maintenance had been done (any upgrades or timely replacements like furnace, water heater, appliances...).

Sometimes I think older homes were built better. Especially when compared to cookie cutter, quickly put up subdivisions. At least that was the case in our old city.

Look around both of them to see if there have been any new housing or business developments built. Our old house wound up having water issues b/c they built a new subdivision on the hill behind our house. Having the brush and woods elminated made it so any extra rain ran right through our yard (think river during a heavy downpour!). They had anticipated water cutting through the yard when the home was originally built but not at that volume. Summary- just ask if there have been any changes since the home was built. :)

I think I would also want to know, with either, how into do-it-yourself repairs the people were in...and whether they did a good, sound job. Some people cut corners an others do thorough work.

Finally, I think it's always nice to have one more bedroom. :)

Beth

[jesseandgrace]

I would pick number one. The larger size gives you room to grow with it, and with the money you save you can make it into your house by adding details you like such as flooring and painting. You also stand to make more $ if you sell, as long as the neighborhoods are equally as desireable. An evil, evil witch of a boss who is incredibly smart once told me "buy the worst house in the best neighborhood you can afford." I think that is really good advice, and thanks to her we have made good $ off the two houses we bought and sold when we moved. House #2 will only appreciate as far as the market is appreciating, could be great, could be not so great. House #1 has potential to be improved/updated and will appreciate based on that as well as the market, assuming both are in similar school districts and have similarly desireable neighborhoods. Even if you plan on living there forever, you just never know, so always consider resale value.

[saschalicks]

I'd go older one. This will always be my preference. I like the individuality of older homes. I also really want to make the house my own, so fixing it up seems more style then anything else. I don't own a house, but DH & I both agree that newer/cookie cutter is definitely out.

[bostonsmama]

Good job taking that first step w/ a realtor! FTR, we didn't buy either of the first two houses we saw. We bought the 3rd. :) Our home was built in 86, so it's now 21 y.o. The nice thing is that it came with a great home warranty purchased by the seller, and we used it twice for very large problems, one being the hot water heater that died within 2 months of moving in, the other being a crack in the shower drain PVC, that when the plumber patched, he had to cut into the ceiling from downstairs to accesse the pipes. It took a fight, but the warranty people also covered a drywall guy to come out and repair the hole the plumb cut (2ft x 2ft) under the same $50 copay. Anyways, maybe you could ask for one of those or seek a house with a warranty.

Also, check square footage over # of bedrooms. I would kill for larger rooms and more square footage...and we haven't even welcomed #1 home yet.

I hate HOAs. That's all I have to say. PM me for more b*tching. (LOL)

And to reitterate what everyone else said, older (and esp only 20 years) is nothing to quibble over, and in most cases, including ours, we are tucked into a sea of cookie cutter homes where the only thing separating them from the outside is a sheet of drywall and some Pyrex styrfoam against vinyl siding (NO PLYWOOD!), whereas our home has vinyl siding and some brick, tyvec wrap, OSB or plywood, then insulation-fiberglass, then drywall. The differences I've seen in a hurricane are catastrophic! The only major thing that's starting to go wrong with our house is the drafty windows. They were definitely upgraded windows when it was built (argon gas-sealed), but the springs in the raising/lowering of the windows are gone and we're losing LOTS of energy. It's probably going to cost us $6-8,000 if we do it right. We also put about $4,000 in new flooring a month after we moved in. I'm going to go against the recommendation to paint before you move in for two good reasons: 1) moving in dents up, dings, scratches and scrapes the walls, and 2) you really should live in the space for a month or two to see how much and what type of light it gets, what you use the room for (this might change after you move in and find one area more convenient and swap a living/dining room...I've seen it...my good friend just converted their den into the master bedroom!), and you might even redecorate w/ new furniture, so don't go picking colors just yet...I'm saying this as someone who has 4 different colors of paint under the current shade prevailing in my master bedroom.

Good luck and keep searching! You'll know it when it's the one.

[karolyp]

Congrats on taking your first move! That's so exciting!!!

But as the other posters have mentioned, there's a lot more to consider besides the actuall house itself.

For instance:
what are property taxes like at the two locations?
how are the school districts?
How's the surrounding land (that is if it's vacant) going to be developed?
How's the traffic around the houses during rush hour?
What about crime rates?
And lastly - they say the most important consideration when purchasing a house is: location, location, location!

Also, I would highly highly recommend getting the house appraised/inspected (esp the older house) before purchasing.

Good luck and I hth!

[Mommy Of A Little Angel]

Thanks for the list! I actually have been working my way to the answers for them all. The two houses are one town away from each other so they are very similar as far as crime, traffic, etc. Neither location has a big rush hour issue. They both go to all A-rated schools (except the newer house goes to a B-rated high school). The taxes are very close in amount as well. I found out the surrounding land is greenbelt so that (I am pretty sure) means no development.

The neighborhoods themselves a quite different. The older house has an older feel (look of the houses, landscaping, etc). The neighbors are older, though it seems there are a few younger families that moved in recently. From first glance, I'd say the newer neighboorhood was nicer.

[bostonsmama]

Can I just say that I love old people? My mom lives in an old neighborhood (and I'm talking 1940s old), and everyone is so polite and quiet; there is NO crime; everyone watches out for each other; they're more likely to lend you a tool or a cup of sugar....I could go on and on.

I'm sure if this is your forever (or child-rearing) home, you might be more tempted to move into a neighborhood where the kiddos can walk to friends' houses instead of you driving them all the time, but I'm sure it's not the last house that will be on the market, so new families could move in just as quickly.

We live in a transitional neighborhod with lots of new and older families (great if I ever need a babysitter), and I get kids hanging out on the street corner (on which our house sits) yelling and horsing around until nearly midnight in the summer. I've seen drug trafficing, gang fights, drive-by shootings, gun exchanges, bus-stop beatings, and all-night block parties go down within feet of our home...and it's a very nice neighborhood with both expensive homes and moderate priced homes...and the majority of the trouble comes from the spendy home sections....go figure. Anyways....talk to the neighbors. Usually they'll give you the low-down if you ask the right questions.

[o_mom]

I was thinking that too!

Our house is 45 years old, and by no means does it feel 'old' like some of the 1910-1930's built houses just a few miles from here (no plaster, knob/tube wiring, non-dimensional lumber, for example... that's 'old', LOL)

[dules]

Got plaster, got knob/tube! BUT our house was never coal heated. THAT would be old. LOL.

Mary