Which house to potentially buy?

[SunnyD]

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?

 

[BurnItDwn]

I'd stick to the older home with the bigger yard in a quiet community ..... That said .. If I thought I needed the space, I would sacrifice some yard for a bigger house ....

note; I live on .2 acres, but my house is only taking up about 900 sq feet of lot, (no garage either) .... so I still have a nice big back yard. (also houses on both sides of me are double lots, and across the street there is 1 house, then an area of about 4 or 5 acres or so of forest) Behind me is currently an empty small lot (like 40 feet by 90 feet or something crazy small) .... I'd be tempted to buy it to have a nice place to put a garage, but it's about 30K and I've pretty much got enough debt/expenses as it is .......)

 

[NoMoMoney]

I would stick with the house you are in now. Not moving saves some money, lots of hassle, and you know you like the house and probably know all the quirks of it. You can probably also negotiate some new appliances or flooring in the place you are now. Buying new is great, but if the schools are crap it might take longer to sell in the future. 4000 SQ FT is large for a 0.2 acre lot and it sounds like that is probably on the high end for that town (the new construction). What you are in now most likely is the upper end, but not pushing on the top edge. One thing to do is make sure the house you are in now is really worth 185K. If that is the price they are offering you, is that what it would go for on the open market. And don't forget that they would have to pay a Realtor fee if they sold it through an agency, so there is some bargaining there.

And damn, I always am jealous of the costs of homes in other parts of the country. Living in the Boston area is just too expensive.

 

[Dirigible]

I'd stay where you are. But that's 'cause I want to send my damn kids to (a good) school when they're old enough, and send my wife back to work. Earn some money, woman!

My family of four lives in a 1200 sf house on a 3600 sf lot, with crappy schools. So I reckon whichever way you go I'll be jealous.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

How many sq ft do people really need? I've never lived in anything bigger than about 1300sq ft.

I'd go for better school and bigger lot over bigger house any day.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I'd look into what it would take to enroll your kids where you want them to go. I paid tuition to go to high school ($1300/year) because I lived in the county and wanted to go to the city schools where my sister attended (also paid tuition).

As for the house purchase. If you're going to buy, it's a good investment. If you consider the equity you can build over time, it's a good move to buy as long as you don't end up having to renovate everything. Make sure the subfloor and most of the house systems were constructed properly. Get a home inspection.

If you're buying a home, buy based on location & neighborhood first. Then pick a house out of those areas that suits your needs. Remember if you pick a house that's not big enough you can add on if it has the land attached to it. You can't make your yard bigger...if you want the land, you have to pay for it up front.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Hmmmm, those seems like too large of houses for me to even consider... I'd move somewhere better, and with a smaller house + larger land if possible.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
Hmmmm, those seems like too large of houses for me to even consider... I'd move somewhere better, and with a smaller house + larger land if possible.

You don't have a family of 6.

 

[her209]

Are there a lot of problems with the current house?

 

[Newbian]

Originally posted by: vi edit

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
Hmmmm, those seems like too large of houses for me to even consider... I'd move somewhere better, and with a smaller house + larger land if possible.

You don't have a family of 6.

The thing is you don't really need a bathroom for everyone since other then maybe in the morning they tend not to be used that much at the same time.

Three would be more then enough provided the parents have their private one and the other two for the kids.

More then that would just be a waste of space most of the time.

Unless the kids are around the same age that is then that can be a issue.

 

[Vette73]

Why is the old house higher price? Is it land only?


But the house me and my wife bought was mostly due to the land size, NO-hoa, and close to metro for work. We are adding onto the house right now.

 

[TwiceOver]

hrm. Hard decision. With that many kids, a yard is great. However, I'm a sq. ft. whore so I'd say go with the bigger house.

$185k for a 4000 sq ft house is an excellent price just about anywhere.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: Newbian

Originally posted by: vi edit

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
Hmmmm, those seems like too large of houses for me to even consider... I'd move somewhere better, and with a smaller house + larger land if possible.

You don't have a family of 6.

The thing is you don't really need a bathroom for everyone since other then maybe in the morning they tend not to be used that much at the same time.

Three would be more then enough provided the parents have their private one and the other two for the kids.

More then that would just be a waste of space most of the time.

Who said anything about the number of bathrooms? Bathrooms are inconsequential in the square footage of homes. The OP lives in the south where he likely doesn't have a basement, just a slab or crawlspace. So trying to spread out 4 kids and 2 adults and still have enough space for a family guest or an office gets pretty tight in a hurry. Plus room for storage for the stuff that that many people may want.

 

[nanette1985]

I would guess that the higher price for the older house is because the school system is better.

 

[Newbian]

Got any pics of the said places?

 

[Onita]

Originally posted by: vi edit

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
Hmmmm, those seems like too large of houses for me to even consider... I'd move somewhere better, and with a smaller house + larger land if possible.

You don't have a family of 6.

Shrug, family of 6 grew up in ~1300 square feet, was just fine for me. Personally, I'd buy in the better school system, if for nothing else resale value.

 

[IronWing]

4000 sq ft? You gonna host square dances or somthin?

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: vi edit
Who said anything about the number of bathrooms? Bathrooms are inconsequential in the square footage of homes. The OP lives in the south where he likely doesn't have a basement, just a slab or crawlspace. So trying to spread out 4 kids and 2 adults and still have enough space for a family guest or an office gets pretty tight in a hurry. Plus room for storage for the stuff that that many people may want.

Wow vi, you're right on the nose as always.

Originally posted by: her209
Are there a lot of problems with the current house?

Current home is okay, in decent shape. We will of course have to likely put in new floors in the kitchen and bathrooms as they were extremely poorly done by (landlord?) whomever did them before.

The main problem is the current house is a 4BR home, and we have just recently moved one of our girls into the former office which was apparently a formal dining room at one point. It really isn't a bedroom, but sharing a room is not going to happen for the girls. And having my boys share - well, I'm not putting the baby in the same room as my oldest for multiple reasons.

Some remodeling would be needed in the long run, but the house is adequate. The living room layout absolutely sucks, and there's hardly any natural lighting at all in there.

Originally posted by: ironwing
4000 sq ft? You gonna host square dances or somthin?

To be perfectly honest, while my wife DROOLS over something that large, I'd be considering something in the high 2000's/low 3000's myself. They're plenty big enough and knock $30k off the price tag.

 

[Newbian]

What are the ages of the kids?

If they are close enough for the girls they should have no issues sharing unless they are getting that spoiled.

 

[JTsyo]

35K is worth it for a bigger lot and schools. As long as the house you have is big enough (and will still be when the kids get a bit older) I would stay. Also moving really sucks.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: Newbian
What are the ages of the kids?

If they are close enough for the girls they should have no issues sharing unless they are getting that spoiled.

So says you. The girls are a year and a half apart. They couldn't possibly be any more different. We had them sharing a room for a while. Unfortunately, it's hell trying to do so. It will only get worse over the next few years as they tumble into their teenage years.

 

[soulcougher73]

I would stay where you are not if you like it. Unless you need a McMansion because you have 5 kids

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: soulcougher73
I would stay where you are not if you like it. Unless you need a McMansion because you have 5 kids

4 kids actually.

 

[vi edit]

If you are currently renting, then have you considered building? The hardest/most stressful part about trying to build a home is getting out of the home you are currently in and then sticking through the temporary residence. Since you are already there, you are in a perfect situation.

Have you looked at available property in your current school district? Depending on how you option out the ammenities, you can build a house pretty affordably. Your housing market seems almost unrealistically value priced. Under $50 a square foot? Seriously? You can't touch many places for under $90 sq/ft in even what is considered reasonable markets.

If you decide to build then you pick the lot, you pick the floorplan, and you decide on how you spend the money to pimp it out.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: vi edit
If you are currently renting, then have you considered building? The hardest/most stressful part about trying to build a home is getting out of the home you are currently in and then sticking through the temporary residence. Since you are already there, you are in a perfect situation.

Have you looked at available property in your current school district? Depending on how you option out the ammenities, you can build a house pretty affordably. Your housing market seems almost unrealistically value priced. Under $50 a square foot? Seriously? You can't touch many places for under $90 sq/ft in even what is considered reasonable markets.

If you decide to build then you pick the lot, you pick the floorplan, and you decide on how you spend the money to pimp it out.

Well would technically be building with the other home. Staying in our area is one thing, however land prices here are steep from what I can tell.