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Home Choices

PricklyPete

PricklyPete

Lifer
My fiance and I have been looking at two houses:

1) Near downtown in highly sought after neighborhood near downtown. 2BR, 2 BA, 0.20 acres, has been updated and has a lot of "charm" as my fiance puts it. Zillow.com and bankrate rate it at a worth of ~$225K. Homes on both sides have sold in the last 2 years for over $200K and are comparable +/- a few things. Seller has moved already and is motivated to sell...just dropped price to $189K from $205K. I don't think this one will be around much longer. Taxes are around $3K a year.

2) A house in a nice neighborhood, not too far from downtown, but not nearly as sought after. $157K, 3Bdr, 2BA, 0.40 acre lot. Fiance also thinks it is charming, but is not nearly as charming as other home (more familyish...less cool factor). Zillow.com and bankrate put it at about $149K. Taxes are around $1.2K a year.

Where we live (Greenville, SC), the housing market has not had the boom that a lot of areas have had in larger metropolitan areas, so I'm not as worried about the local real estate market's bubble bursting. The economy around here is pretty stable and actually growing quite a bit with new companies investing in the area all the time.

I don't see house number 2 appreciating all that quickly. We are likely to move into a larger house in 5-7 years regardless, so I'm not looking at this as my final home. Depending on my finances in 5-7 years, I might keep this house as a rental.

We are able to cover the payments for either of these houses, so that should not be a concern.

Based on this information, which house would you pick?



 
If kids are in the future, be sure to consider crime and school districts. Plus consider the demographics (family friendly with other kids in the area).

Also when buying a house, be sure to fully consider the bathroom numbers, bedroom numbers, storage space, and garage sizes. Those are all things that are very hard and very expensive to add on at a later time. Also consider the yard size and general "quietness" of the area. Two things that you have no ability to change short of moving.

"Cuteness" and location are nice. But you still have to like the house and your neighbors.
 
Originally posted by: vi_edit
If kids are in the future, be sure to consider crime and school districts. Plus consider the demographics (family friendly with other kids in the area).

Also when buying a house, be sure to fully consider the bathroom numbers, bedroom numbers, storage space, and garage sizes. Those are all things that are very hard and very expensive to add on at a later time. Also consider the yard size and general "quietness" of the area. Two things that you have no ability to change short of moving.

"Cuteness" and location are nice. But you still have to like the house and your neighbors.
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It will probably be 10 years before I'm concerned about the kids schooling...I will definitely be in a new house by then unless I'm having unforseeable problems. Either way I think the schools are somewhat comparable between the two places. The crime might be a bit higher in the #1 home, but crime is not really a big deal where I live. Both of the locations are pretty well isolated from poorer locations.
 
Downtown the house is more likely to grow in value from an investment point of view. It is always hard to tell about the neighbors. I suggest you take a look in the evenings around that area and listen for things like barking dogs and see if there are people hanging around on the street corner. The better the house the more the upkeep probably is. The older the house sometimes there are standards you have to meet to make any improvements if it is considered an historical neighborhood. Downtown parking may sometimes be a bit more problematic if the police are more stringent about it. In a more upclass neighborhood, you might actually meet people with more money that are in the know about business contacts that might benefit you or they may just be so stuffy that they never come out of their houses.

So you may just want to take a walk around the area in the evening when everyone is home to see what it is like. Do people come outside? Are they friendly? Are there thugs hanging around? Is there a lot of traffic noise? Do dogs bark a lot?
 
Good suggestions, thanks.

The street in the downtown neighborhood is very sleepy, little traffic.

Down here in the south, you rairly find areas where people aren't friendly, so I'm not too worried about that.

Parking will definitely be worse in the downtown area. You might be able to fit 3 cars if packed closely in the drive way and there is no garage.
 
Originally posted by: akubi
buy both and rent one out
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Wish I could...but that would be stretching my finances. If I do move into the downtown area, I will be keeping my eyes out for "fixer-uppers" in the area that I could turn into rentals.
 
Just an FYI that comps from a site are not to be considered as valid, you should only trust comps given from a Realtor using MLS access.
 
Originally posted by: lokiju
Just an FYI that comps from a site are not to be considered as valid, you should only trust comps given from a Realtor using MLS access.
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I'm not taking them as gospel...just using them as a reference. I will be asking such questiosn of my realtor on Wednesday when I meet with him again.
 
Originally posted by: lokiju
I'd go with house # 1 just because you'll have instant equity.
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That's what I'm thinking.

Side question, how exactly does a local tax rate on a home generally get determined? What would trigger a change in the tax (other than the tax rate in that area actually chaning).
 
Sounds like you would prefer option 1, so in this case I would spend a bit more and get what you will both be happiest with. Also, sounds like a better investment.
 
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