Currently, I live in a 2 bedroom apartment above a bar in a not so awesome neighborhood (not dangerous, just not great - the bar is fine though - we are friendly with the owners, bartenders and bouncers). DP and I do not live together, he owns a house a few minutes away - in a much worse neighborhood, terrible school district.
Baby #4 will be here soon (8 weeks!) and DP is planning to purchase a home for us.
My ideal home? 4 bedrooms (we really need an office, as DP works from home almost everyday), more than one bathroom, land, a garage (DP kinda needs a workshop - for his own sanity), no neighbors or at least not on top of each other
DP has $40K to put down. He has another $15 set aside. He is a tenured prof, no worries about losing his job. He is very frugal. He outright owns two homes already (one is a rental, he is looking to sell for around $70K if he can). He has been a bachelor for years - and we frequently joke that his house is the 'russian army barraks' or 'Paperstreet Soap Company' (Fight Club reference). It's very spartan, and needs a lot of work - IE: the hardwood floors NEED refinishing, all the walls need painting. He doesn't care to do the work on the house he lives in, but he would do it for a house I lived in.
I would be moving no sooner than June - With a new baby, it would be a real challenge for me to get the kids too and from school each day if I moved before that - we won't change districts this school year.
I have two homes in mind. Both homes are in the same awesome school district. Neither come with appliances. Both have really nice views.
Home #1: Awesome location - a 15-20 min commute to work (current commute....5 minutes) , 3.36 acres, very close to my family. The house is TINY! I have a feeling it's smaller than my apartment - maybe 1000 sq ft. It needs a new kitchen and bathroom to be functional. The bathroom is impossibly small - literally as wide as a tub, with the toilet and sink almost touching the tub. There is no possible way to expand the bathroom without removing the 3rd bedroom. There are no closets, no linen closet, no storage in the bathroom. The bedrooms are very small, adding closets is out of the question. There is a great garage, and the possibility of putting on an addition - but we can't do that right now. The house needs far too much work. The attic/basement spaces cannot be converted to additional living space. It's the last tiny house (in an area of tiny houses) before a string of mansions. There is a possibility that sometime soon there will be an offer for a gas lease on the property (Marcellus Shale thing -- it's happening right in the neighborhood). This could be good, or bad. Good - the income potential. Bad - potential environmental damage. We may not have an option regarding the lease (by law, if the owners of 60% of the land in a 'block' sign the leases, the gas ppl can drill and give you the minimum payment). The house has potential, but it's very small, and we were really hoping for more space. Oh, and DP won't be living with me. Not yet. We aren't ready for that. We both want/need our own space. If we choose this house, we will lose the option of DP moving in at some point. It's just too small. For sale by owner : 65,000 it needs a minimum of 5,000 in materials to be livable. It may need a new roof also - not sure. My father is a home builder and willing to do the work for us. I don't mind doing the work either, and would like to do things 'my way'.
Home #2: 4 bedrooms, 1.25 acres, BEAUTIFUL! Brand new kitchen, 1.5 baths, very clean - sparkly even. 2200 sq ft, unfinished basement, no garage. Move in ready. Nothing needs to be done. The sellers dropped the asking price $10K yesterday to 100K. The downside...it's pretty far out in the country. I grew up in that area, just not that far out - commute is 25-30 minutes. 15 minutes minimum to the grocery store. No cable service (not that we need it - use it for the internet, it's just that is how far out the place is). The option of DP and I living together is much more reasonable in this house - we would have the space we need for it to happen. DP may or may not go for it - given the price, location. Originally he set my home budget at $80K, they are all fixer-uppers for that price or tiny or in bad areas/school districts. Believe it or not - the taxes on this house are about half of the taxes for home #1. The big issue here is how far out in the 'country' this house is - up and down steep hills in the winter/snow/ice, plus it's more expensive. But it is a beautiful home, and an excellent price. It's almost exactly what I would like in a home.
The homes are about 'equal' to me. I'm very much torn. Either house saves me $$ - no more rent, DP is paying/carrying the mortgage/taxes/ins.
Which home would you choose?
Baby #4 will be here soon (8 weeks!) and DP is planning to purchase a home for us.
My ideal home? 4 bedrooms (we really need an office, as DP works from home almost everyday), more than one bathroom, land, a garage (DP kinda needs a workshop - for his own sanity), no neighbors or at least not on top of each other
DP has $40K to put down. He has another $15 set aside. He is a tenured prof, no worries about losing his job. He is very frugal. He outright owns two homes already (one is a rental, he is looking to sell for around $70K if he can). He has been a bachelor for years - and we frequently joke that his house is the 'russian army barraks' or 'Paperstreet Soap Company' (Fight Club reference). It's very spartan, and needs a lot of work - IE: the hardwood floors NEED refinishing, all the walls need painting. He doesn't care to do the work on the house he lives in, but he would do it for a house I lived in.
I would be moving no sooner than June - With a new baby, it would be a real challenge for me to get the kids too and from school each day if I moved before that - we won't change districts this school year.
I have two homes in mind. Both homes are in the same awesome school district. Neither come with appliances. Both have really nice views.
Home #1: Awesome location - a 15-20 min commute to work (current commute....5 minutes) , 3.36 acres, very close to my family. The house is TINY! I have a feeling it's smaller than my apartment - maybe 1000 sq ft. It needs a new kitchen and bathroom to be functional. The bathroom is impossibly small - literally as wide as a tub, with the toilet and sink almost touching the tub. There is no possible way to expand the bathroom without removing the 3rd bedroom. There are no closets, no linen closet, no storage in the bathroom. The bedrooms are very small, adding closets is out of the question. There is a great garage, and the possibility of putting on an addition - but we can't do that right now. The house needs far too much work. The attic/basement spaces cannot be converted to additional living space. It's the last tiny house (in an area of tiny houses) before a string of mansions. There is a possibility that sometime soon there will be an offer for a gas lease on the property (Marcellus Shale thing -- it's happening right in the neighborhood). This could be good, or bad. Good - the income potential. Bad - potential environmental damage. We may not have an option regarding the lease (by law, if the owners of 60% of the land in a 'block' sign the leases, the gas ppl can drill and give you the minimum payment). The house has potential, but it's very small, and we were really hoping for more space. Oh, and DP won't be living with me. Not yet. We aren't ready for that. We both want/need our own space. If we choose this house, we will lose the option of DP moving in at some point. It's just too small. For sale by owner : 65,000 it needs a minimum of 5,000 in materials to be livable. It may need a new roof also - not sure. My father is a home builder and willing to do the work for us. I don't mind doing the work either, and would like to do things 'my way'.
Home #2: 4 bedrooms, 1.25 acres, BEAUTIFUL! Brand new kitchen, 1.5 baths, very clean - sparkly even. 2200 sq ft, unfinished basement, no garage. Move in ready. Nothing needs to be done. The sellers dropped the asking price $10K yesterday to 100K. The downside...it's pretty far out in the country. I grew up in that area, just not that far out - commute is 25-30 minutes. 15 minutes minimum to the grocery store. No cable service (not that we need it - use it for the internet, it's just that is how far out the place is). The option of DP and I living together is much more reasonable in this house - we would have the space we need for it to happen. DP may or may not go for it - given the price, location. Originally he set my home budget at $80K, they are all fixer-uppers for that price or tiny or in bad areas/school districts. Believe it or not - the taxes on this house are about half of the taxes for home #1. The big issue here is how far out in the 'country' this house is - up and down steep hills in the winter/snow/ice, plus it's more expensive. But it is a beautiful home, and an excellent price. It's almost exactly what I would like in a home.
The homes are about 'equal' to me. I'm very much torn. Either house saves me $$ - no more rent, DP is paying/carrying the mortgage/taxes/ins.
Which home would you choose?
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. It sounds like you have done zero merging of finances to date and haven't lived together.
I love the space for my kiddos to play, I easily adapted to meal planning with groceries 20-30 min away. Do you have your own vehicle? Will you feel lonely? How do you feel about winter driving? Will you be able to afford good winter tires?
