So as time progresses and I slowly move forward toward the realm of home ownership, my wife suddenly throws curveball after curveball at me. Here's the situation:
We are currently renting a decent sized 4BR home on the outskirts of suburbia in a decent quiet community, no HOA's, 0.5 acre lot, 2 car garage. Should we choose to buy the home, some pittance of our rent will go toward the purchase price of the home, which I believe is around $185k.
However, moving in a slightly different direction, a bit more rural, there is a newer subdivision that is still building where I can purchase a home roughly 40% larger (4000+sqft) for the same price, or better yet some of the smaller models (heh, yeah, 3200sqft) for about $150k. The lot size is significantly smaller, likely around 0.2 acres which really isn't a terribly big deal since my kids seem to be allergic to the outdoors, figuratively speaking. Distance from work is about the same as what I drive now. The major catch is that the zoned schools for that area plain suck, meaning my wife would likely homeschool all of the kids instead of just our son as she does now. The benefits would be a much larger home, cheaper, with a 5th bedroom and then some for everyone to have their own. I'd lose a good deal of the outdoors, and likely wouldn't be backing up to a small patch of wooded area followed by a horse pasture and small stream.
Which would you pick?
We are currently renting a decent sized 4BR home on the outskirts of suburbia in a decent quiet community, no HOA's, 0.5 acre lot, 2 car garage. Should we choose to buy the home, some pittance of our rent will go toward the purchase price of the home, which I believe is around $185k.
However, moving in a slightly different direction, a bit more rural, there is a newer subdivision that is still building where I can purchase a home roughly 40% larger (4000+sqft) for the same price, or better yet some of the smaller models (heh, yeah, 3200sqft) for about $150k. The lot size is significantly smaller, likely around 0.2 acres which really isn't a terribly big deal since my kids seem to be allergic to the outdoors, figuratively speaking. Distance from work is about the same as what I drive now. The major catch is that the zoned schools for that area plain suck, meaning my wife would likely homeschool all of the kids instead of just our son as she does now. The benefits would be a much larger home, cheaper, with a 5th bedroom and then some for everyone to have their own. I'd lose a good deal of the outdoors, and likely wouldn't be backing up to a small patch of wooded area followed by a horse pasture and small stream.
Which would you pick?