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TheDivineMrsM
2 girls 4 me!
Member since 8/08 7878 total posts
Name:
Mama mama mama....
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Another "which house" poll
House #1 is 2100+ square feet. 5 bedrooms (3 on the second floor). There is a large extension/family room, LR, DR, huge finished basement. Kitchen and bathrooms (3 full) are usable and clean but dated. No garage; it was converted to living space. At best, we'd get it at the top of our price range. 70x100 lot, though part of the yard got eaten up by the extension. Yard has a patio and chain link fence.
House #2 is 1700+ square feet. 3 bedrooms, all upstairs. Large living room, den, finished basement (though not as big as the one in house #1. Kitchen is new-ish w/granite and great cabinets. Hall bath is also new. Walls in the main living areas and upstairs hallways are a wreck, thanks to some wall treatment that went horribly wrong, and need to be replaced. There is a garage (single car). 100X100 lot on a corner. Yard has a deck and a PVC fence. List price is 20K less than house #1 and taxes are 1k lower.
They're in the same school district. Both in great neighborhoods.
Thoughts???
Message edited 1/26/2015 7:53:02 PM.
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Posted 1/26/15 7:51 PM  |
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SHOPAHOLIC
LIF Adult
Member since 1/07 1712 total posts
Name:
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Re: Another "which house" poll
Personally I would keep looking.
I think having more sq. footage and 2 additional bedrooms is worth 20k more but no garage is p a deal breaker for me.
House #2 sounds ok.. but a little small and you don't seem to love it.
Don't settle. You will find something you love!
Message edited 1/26/2015 8:43:14 PM.
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| Posted 1/26/15 8:14 PM |
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LSP2005
Bunny kisses are so cute!
Member since 5/05 19458 total posts
Name:
L
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Re: Another "which house" poll
Honestly, neither house seems like a winner to me. I would keep looking. The spring market is when homes go on sale. I would wait.
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| Posted 1/26/15 8:33 PM |
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pumpkinmom
LIF Adult
Member since 5/12 2911 total posts
Name:
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Another
Tough choice because I really like a larger property, but sometimes the corner lot is not as good. I would probably say number 1.
Message edited 1/26/2015 9:39:32 PM.
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| Posted 1/26/15 9:39 PM |
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sunnyplus3
:)
Member since 11/05 8749 total posts
Name:
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Another
#1 sounds very similar to our house. 5 bedrooms upstairs and down, 3 baths, no garage.
Our layout is unique because the house had an extension. We bought it as a destroyed fixer, no Sheetrock, interior doors, trim, floors, etc.
over the years we've renovated and the floor plan has turned out to be perfect for us.
11 years ago when we were buying we only wanted to be in our neighborhood of about 600 homes, this house was much bigger and newer than others in this area.
We are adding a garage, keeps getting pushed back because my DH is so busy.
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| Posted 1/27/15 12:48 AM |
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alexb
LIF Adult
Member since 5/13 960 total posts
Name:
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Another
I would keep looking until you find what you want but between the two, i like #1.
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| Posted 1/27/15 8:32 AM |
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TheDivineMrsM
2 girls 4 me!
Member since 8/08 7878 total posts
Name:
Mama mama mama....
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Another
DH is probably the only man on the planet that is anti-garage lol. He'd actually prefer that it's living space. We currently use ours for storage but don't have a basement.
I frankly don't love either house... but I do love what we could do with house #1. I'm intimidated by all the work it needs though. I'm less intimidated by house #2, but the square footage will always be less than #1...
And while I guess we could keep looking there just isn't a ton of inventory right now. Unless something awesome comes up in the next week or two, we'll probably choose one of these two houses.
Thanks ladies!
Message edited 1/27/2015 9:14:22 AM.
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| Posted 1/27/15 9:12 AM |
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NYCGirl80
I love my kiddies!
Member since 5/11 10413 total posts
Name:
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Re: Another "which house" poll
After the snow storm last night, I'd say house #2! A garage was a must for us, and I'm glad we had one to put one of our cars in last night!
Honestly, I wouldn't rush it. You said you don't love either house so I'd keep looking. Things will come on the market. We were looking this time last year and I said the same thing about there being nothing on the market, and then our house was put up for sale in early March.
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| Posted 1/27/15 9:30 AM |
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SHOPAHOLIC
LIF Adult
Member since 1/07 1712 total posts
Name:
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Re: Another "which house" poll
Posted by TheDivineMrsM
DH is probably the only man on the planet that is anti-garage lol. He'd actually prefer that it's living space. We currently use ours for storage but don't have a basement.
I frankly don't love either house... but I do love what we could do with house #1. I'm intimidated by all the work it needs though. I'm less intimidated by house #2, but the square footage will always be less than #1...
And while I guess we could keep looking there just isn't a ton of inventory right now. Unless something awesome comes up in the next week or two, we'll probably choose one of these two houses.
Thanks ladies!
Is there a reason for the rush? Don't buy a house you don't love. It's a long expensive commitment. Where would you store your snow blower and all the outside tools if no garage? You wouldn't keep that stuff in a basement. Plus on days like today it's nice to have the car in the garage so you don't have to dig it out!
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| Posted 1/27/15 9:52 AM |
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TheDivineMrsM
2 girls 4 me!
Member since 8/08 7878 total posts
Name:
Mama mama mama....
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Re: Another "which house" poll
Posted by SHOPAHOLIC
Posted by TheDivineMrsM
DH is probably the only man on the planet that is anti-garage lol. He'd actually prefer that it's living space. We currently use ours for storage but don't have a basement.
I frankly don't love either house... but I do love what we could do with house #1. I'm intimidated by all the work it needs though. I'm less intimidated by house #2, but the square footage will always be less than #1...
And while I guess we could keep looking there just isn't a ton of inventory right now. Unless something awesome comes up in the next week or two, we'll probably choose one of these two houses.
Thanks ladies!
Is there a reason for the rush? Don't buy a house you don't love. It's a long expensive commitment. Where would you store your snow blower and all the outside tools if no garage? You wouldn't keep that stuff in a basement. Plus on days like today it's nice to have the car in the garage so you don't have to dig it out!
We're not rushing really, but there was a lot of interest in our house and we received an offer. We're negotiating and may have a contract soon. I would like to move on something sooner rather than later. Every house in our price range and search area is going to need something so for us it's a question of what project(s) we are willing to tackle.
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| Posted 1/27/15 10:46 AM |
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SHOPAHOLIC
LIF Adult
Member since 1/07 1712 total posts
Name:
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Re: Another "which house" poll
Understandable. With spring right around the corner I would talk to your prospective buyers about their time frame for moving. Maybe they won't mind sitting tight another month or two because I do think a lot more homes will come on the market soon.
The house we are buying was listed on a Thursday, we saw it that weekend and made an offer on it. The current owners hadn't even really started looking for another house as they didn't expect to sell so quickly. We aren't in a rush to move for a number of reasons and agreed to wait it out while they looked for their next house. Maybe you will have the same luck 
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| Posted 1/27/15 11:08 AM |
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skew
LIF Adult
Member since 5/05 6794 total posts
Name:
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Re: Another "which house" poll
Since you do not love either house, I would keep hunting.
Message edited 1/27/2015 2:04:02 PM.
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| Posted 1/27/15 2:03 PM |
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Re: Another "which house" poll
House 2 seems like a better choice... Most people don't need 5 bedrooms, and I think the other advantages of house 2 would outweigh the slightly smaller size (especially if the square footage difference is mostly from additional bedrooms in the larger house), unless you really need more bedrooms.
The garage conversion could be a concern. So many people have them but don't have COs. Even if you dint care, your lender might. At the very least, if it's an illegal garage conversion, you shouldn't give value yo that additional interior square footage (some banks will overlook no CO but won't include the garage space in the interior square footage.). If the seller is getting a CO, it can take awhile (sometimes variances are needed). Does it seem well done? Well insulated ? Maybe you've already fully investigated this, but if not, I would (especially since you have some timing considerations).
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| Posted 1/27/15 9:57 PM |
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allIwant
Love my crazy life!
Member since 1/10 9170 total posts
Name:
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Re: Another "which house" poll
House # 2 if you plan on have only 2 kids or don't mind if they share a room.
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| Posted 1/27/15 11:02 PM |
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TheDivineMrsM
2 girls 4 me!
Member since 8/08 7878 total posts
Name:
Mama mama mama....
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Re: Another "which house" poll
Posted by Century 21 Dallow - Christine Braun
House 2 seems like a better choice... Most people don't need 5 bedrooms, and I think the other advantages of house 2 would outweigh the slightly smaller size (especially if the square footage difference is mostly from additional bedrooms in the larger house), unless you really need more bedrooms.
The garage conversion could be a concern. So many people have them but don't have COs. Even if you dint care, your lender might. At the very least, if it's an illegal garage conversion, you shouldn't give value yo that additional interior square footage (some banks will overlook no CO but won't include the garage space in the interior square footage.). If the seller is getting a CO, it can take awhile (sometimes variances are needed). Does it seem well done? Well insulated ? Maybe you've already fully investigated this, but if not, I would (especially since you have some timing considerations).
There are CO's for it. It was done a long time ago and all the paperwork is filed completely. The house is currently vacant. It appeared to be well insulated. Like everything in this house, it was done well but dated (paneling, shag carpeting, ancient closet doors, etc).
Posted by allIwant
House # 2 if you plan on have only 2 kids or don't mind if they share a room.
We were considering going for #3, and I don't object to kids sharing if the room size is decent. But we're not sure. After the way my kids acted during the snowstorm, I was ready to tie my own tubes lol.
Message edited 1/28/2015 9:54:09 AM.
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| Posted 1/28/15 9:52 AM |
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JandJ1224
Member since 6/06 5911 total posts
Name:
Jannette
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Re: Another "which house" poll
I say #2.
Kitchen renovations are costly, as is new fencing.
When we bought a garage wasn't a must but I wanted to have an option for storage. While a basement is great, we currently have a lot in our garage (bikes, kid ride on toys, shovels, lawnmower etc.). I would consider the ability to add a shed to #1 but it already is a smaller property with portion of yard taken up by extension.
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| Posted 1/28/15 1:28 PM |
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w8andsee
LIF Adult
Member since 10/09 1193 total posts
Name:
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Re: Another "which house" poll
I would pick the house with the best 1st floor layout. Do they both flow nicely?
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| Posted 1/28/15 2:22 PM |
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