Looking for first home in this market...

We own a co-op but are still looking for our first house. In this market and these amazing interest rates - are you now looking at your future home as an investment more than ever? What I mean by that is before we were looking in our desired neighborhoods at reasonable houses we can afford - b/c of interest rates now DH wants to look at things that are higher that has come down a lot, with more land than a good house, thinking its a better "deal"/ investment. Thoughts when you bought your house or are looking?

Re: Looking for first home in this market...

Dh is looking for the investment, I'm looking for the house to live in forever. I'm more of a stay in one place forever kind of person though.

I want to perfect the perfect house, not keep buying and moving. I feel that just buying the house is an investment and in 60 years when our kids sell it, they'll get some nice change.

Re: Looking for first home in this market...

When we first started shopping we were looking for a "first" home. Then as prices and interest rates drop we thought we might get a "forever" home.

We wound up somewhere in between - in a town and school district we wanted in a house that we COULD stay in forever - it just might be a little tight.

If we finish the basement and add a bathroom down there though, it would be much more comfortable to stay long term, even if not forever. Of course we could add a second story too, in which case it could be a forever home, but that might be too much of a project for me!

Re: Looking for first home in this market...

We bought in a SD we love (I am PG) in a large house, but not our ideal house. We did not want to overextend ourselves, and wanted a mortgage that we could handle on one salary since the economy is so fragile right now. We were approved to go much higher, but I feel extremely comfortable with what we spent, which was most important to us.

So no, we didn't look for a larger home, though we were able to buy in a better SD/neighborhood than we could have afforded 3 years ago, which I know made our house a better investment than a town we would have settled on years ago.

Message edited 3/31/2009 10:08:32 AM.

Re: Looking for first home in this market...

We just bought our home. We both consider this our "first home". it's in a nice area but we really want to live in West Islip. We will re-evaluate the situation in a few years.

Re: Looking for first home in this market...

Re: Looking for first home in this market...

When we bought our home it was with the intent that it would be our forever home. Once we finish the basement it will be extra living space that will be perfect for a family. The people we bought the house from lived there for 40 years and it was a family of 4. We made a lot of improvements to it and if they can live in less house then we can do it for sure.