Monday, March 23, 2009
House Hunting
So we have been married for three and a half years, and I always thought when the time came to look for a house, that it would be fun and exciting...wrong. It's stressful and discouraging. Don't get me wrong, when we find the right house, I know I will be very excited, but right now it's stressful. We got pre approved for a loan last week, and we had our first trip with our realtor this morning. It was frustrating how different the houses looked in real life rather then the pictures on line. Most of the houses in our price range are either small and new, or old and big....and I can't decided which is better. We looked at a couple of older homes that have some real potential, but I was getting a head ache thinking how much work we would have to put in to make it nice. We figured out yesterday that the first house we buy we will need to stay in for around 8 years if we want to build enough equity for a down payment on a nicer home, so this has to be something I can be happy with for at least 8 years (assuming the economy gets better and we can sell for what we bought it for or more) So I guess my question is which is better a newer home with not much space and storage or an older home that needs at the least new carpet, paint, and other little remodels, but has a lot more square footage? The lazy side of me thinks it would be nice to move into a newer home, and leave it the way it is, but the more adventurous side of me thinks that maybe taking a risk on an older home would be fun. What do you think?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hey Courtney!
ReplyDeleteI remember house hunting... we weren't planning on staying 8 years though. Even though it's more work, getting an older house you can fix up a little... you can get more out of (the fixes you make add value for when you sell)... as long as the economy is up by then :)
Good luck finding a house you love.
Sooo Jeff & I thought we would stay in our 1st house for 5 yrs..turned out to be 9, just an FYI :) You need to find a happy medium, something that will be fun to fix up, but something you can live with me and be happy with while you live in it..prime example..my house! :) Love you! Sis
ReplyDeleteSince Philip and I have zero experience in doing house upgrades on our own, we'd pick the small new one. But since Justin knows how to do all that stuff, you might be better off getting the bigger one. In 8 years you'll have way more than 1 kid (I think) so you'll need the space. Plus, if you do some custom upgrades, you can make your house exactly like you want it and add things that fit your needs. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThat's a tough choice, because we've done both. I do kind of miss the older home... not that ours had more space though. They tend to have more character. There is nothing wrong with updating, but just be realistic with what you're willing to tackle. By the time you get around to really FIXING things... you'll probably be pregnant or have another kid. That could get crazy, really fast. So find something that has simple cosmetic needs... nothing you'll have to overhaul too much (carpet, every room painted, fixtures, lighting, windows, etc.) in order to make it livable. Aside from the headache... it gets SOOOOO expensive! Good luck! Can't wait to see the place! :)
ReplyDelete