Talk to me about buying a new house

[Melaine]

I've never lived it a new home. We are looking into a new neighborhood. What kind of things should I think about/consider? We've only purchased one home so our experience is rather limited. There is only one floor plan we are interested in, and only one lot that we really like so I'm feeling pressure and stress that someone is going to grab the last floor plan. The size and layout are great for us and we would be living across the street from family, which is one of our dreams. You guys know we struggle with decisions though. The home would be ready in December which should give us plenty of time to sell our home (probably way too much time).

[SnuggleBuggles]

Look at Hillviews threads from the last year. Full of tips since she just had a house built.

ETA- just do it. The house we impulse bought in December is the best thing I’ve ever done (outside of marrying dh and having kids!).
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[Melaine]

Look at Hillviews threads from the last year. Full of tips since she just had a house built.

ETA- just do it. The house we impulse bought in December is the best thing I’ve ever done (outside of marrying dh and having kids!).
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Thank you, I just read over that thread and it did have some great info. I'm glad your impulse home was a great success. I could not sleep last night from thinking about this. It's going to drive me crazy....I wish there were a few lots that would work, I'm so afraid in our market this last home is going to get scooped up!

[gymnbomb]

Thank you, I just read over that thread and it did have some great info. I'm glad your impulse home was a great success. I could not sleep last night from thinking about this. It's going to drive me crazy....I wish there were a few lots that would work, I'm so afraid in our market this last home is going to get scooped up!

In our market, it would not last the week. We would need to be putting an offer on it today. If you know exactly what you want and it hits all of your most important things within budget, jump on it!


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[Melaine]

Pros & Cons: this is sort of a compulsion for me. I mentioned making a pro/con list and DH said "what other cons are there besides expense" and I laughed and laughed. If you think I can't come up with 100 cons to every pro then you just don't know me that well.

Cons first:

1) moving farther away from friends. Our city is ridiculously spread out and this would put us farther from several close friends. At the same time, these friends are people we will still see (at work, school, church). And we honestly don't do a lot of entertaining at ALL because our house is so small so I don't think this is actually going to change our day to day life.

2) $$$ yes we'd be paying more on a mortgage. It would be a slight stretch but shouldn't be a deal breaker. I know it would add a bit of stress money wise but that's more because we are ridiculously frugal and our current home is pretty cheap.

3) Higher utilities not sure how much difference this would make

4) More home to clean, this is actually a big one for me. I love cleaning my tiny house at 1300 sq ft.

5) Stress of moving, I mean let's be real, there is stress

6) Selling a home during COVID. ugh.

7) Selling a home with a puppy and three homeschooling kids, doable but double ugh.

8) very little shade to start out, and I'm not used to no shade! We could obviously plant some.

9) different side of town, not really familiar to us. The area isn't spectacularly nice but it's safe and easy access to shopping and interestate, nicer than where we were. (spectacularly nice will never be in our budget).


medium: about the same commute to work for DH, about the same to school for the kids and I although we will probably have some more traffic....only two days a week during the school year.

Pros:
1) right across the street from BIL, SIL and their two kids. DS and my nephew get along like long lost brothers (they just met last year for the first time when they moved here from California). For DS alone, I feel like this is worth taking the plunge. Since he is more like an only child with the big age gap, living across from his cousin would be life changing for him.

2) more space. The girls could have their own rooms which would be incredible. Twins just get so much time together, particularly homeschooling. Moving now would give them time in a new home before they move out in just a few years. I would feel bad if we moved into a nice bigger house when they were close to college age.


3) smaller yard. such a big pro, because DH hates yardwork and we are living on a massive hill that is such a pain to mow.

4) culdesac. Always wanted somewhere the kids could walk and ride bikes. Our neighbhorhood now is not safe for this.

5) garage, pantry, more closets

6) 5 minutes from my best friend. We've been almost 40 minutes apart until now. I'm not listing this as high on the list because I'm not super confident that they won't move....they have sort of been on the brink of it for a few years (kind of like us).

[Melaine]

In our market, it would not last the week. We would need to be putting an offer on it today. If you know exactly what you want and it hits all of your most important things within budget, jump on it!


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Eeeek. Really? It's been available for long is what DH is saying but I feel like you. We're talking it through right now.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Nothing on your con list would sway me. Yes, moving and selling suck but they are short term. And, heck, with less to do in the world due to Covid, you’ll have time for them (especially the packing/ unpacking). I was grateful for the projects.
You’ll really like bigger than 1300 sq ft too.


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[WatchingThemGrow]

Sounds like a no brainer! The excitement of moving and kids having their own rooms and being by family and closer to your friend and all of the above would make me do that in a heartbeat.

Just get a great realtor to work out the logistics of selling in your specific market. There may be a time that’s better than another (ours is spring/2nd highest is summer) so it may be that you could list sooner than later and plan to rent back/close closer to your move time. Or maybe selling in fall is okay where you are.

The cons are so minimal and totally within reach. Your family is a home-family, especially now(!) so the space will feel SO good. And your kids will learn how to help clean.


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[WatchingThemGrow]

Can we see a model home pic? I have always wanted to have a new new house!


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[mmsmom]

It’s a hassle but you will be glad you did it. Just plan for everything to take twice as long as they say it will. Especially in Covid times. Have a plan B if it isn’t ready in Dec.