Would you settle on a house to live in a location you love?

My DH and I have found an area we love and know we would be very happy there. It's in a particular section of a town where the houses are $$$. The problem is the house we can afford in that area is definitely not what we wanted. Basically, it's a high ranch with a lot of good, unique features but not the style home we wanted. In fact, I'm not sure why our RE even took us there because we were clear we were anti high ranch. In any event, now we love this neighborhood but are torn on the house. The house is nice, move in ready and I'm sure we could be happy there but we still are just about it. Would you settle to live in the neighborhood you want to be in?

Anyone do that? Thoughts?

Re: Would you settle on a house to live in a location you love?

Yes…because, as someone said on here before, you can always change the house but not the location!
We're buying in a location we love and the house is great but a little smaller property than what we'd like. But, the motto rings true: location matters more in my opinion!

Would you settle on a house to live in a location you love?

It depends. If I didn't like the total style of the house, which it sounds like you don't, then no.

I totally believe to buy for location but you still have to like the house. We just purchased a house and I was very limited on where we would buy. I knew because of where I wanted, the house wouldn't be exactly what I wanted because of price. I had to settle for a smaller kitchen,a smaller den area and smaller lot size, but I LOVED the house itself. I would focus on the area and just keep looking for a house that you love.

Re: Would you settle on a house to live in a location you love?

Yes.

Your house I feel like is always a work progress. times change, things change and you can always change your house.

Would you settle on a house to live in a location you love?

No
it is the single most expensive thing you will purchase. Every month the large mortgage payment, utilities, taxes eat up a huge portion of your monthly income.... all for living in a house you don't like.

I'm not saying the house has to be perfect, it won't be, there will be compromises... but that is too much of one.

Would you settle on a house to live in a location you love?

Normally, if it were things that could be changed, then yes, I would. But, I don't think you can really change a high ranch, at least not without spending a fortune. So in your case, no I wouldn't settle.

Re: Would you settle on a house to live in a location you love?

We did this and have no regrets. We wanted to be in our neighborhood, in the exact area, but the houses were way out of our price range so we started looking elsewhere on the island, further east, in neighborhoods that are just ok to us and I just wasn't excited about living there. Turns out the house we ended up getting in our perfect neighborhood needed a LOT of work and TLC, but we were able to get it in our price range. It is a cape - which is the ONLY style of house I didn't want - but we couldn't beat the location. You can change a house - a lot!! - but you can't really pick it up and move it.

Re: Would you settle on a house to live in a location you love?

Re: Would you settle on a house to live in a location you love?

Would you settle on a house to live in a location you love?

No, I would not settle just because you love the neighborhood. You'll be spending your life in that house, not just the neighborhood. Unless you have plans and money to redo the house or layout, I don't think you'll be pleased with your decision.

Re: Would you settle on a house to live in a location you love?

I think location is really important in real estate. But in my mind - it's more from the standpoint that buyers shouldn't buy in a location that is undesirable for them (on a main road, on railroad tracks -- assuming those are things that the buyer didn't want -- or in a school district they don't want) to get a "better house." Often buyers are swayed by a new, updated house, or a bigger house, that may be in a less desirable location. I would always advise the buyer to consider that location won't change, while houses can be changed (in some ways). I mean, house interior décor can change, improvements (like CAC or gas heat) can usually be added, houses can be extended/expanded.

But that being said, it's not always worth making sacrifices to get into a desired location if other good locations are an options. By this I mean - sometimes I have clients who like a cache of a certain neighborhood. For example, some clients like Wantagh Woods in Wantagh. But if they buy in other areas of Wantagh, they will still be in Wantagh school district, near the same stores/parks/highways, on the same train line. So there are gradations in evaluating location.

I mean, if all of the locations you are considering are very good and provide a lot of the same benefits to you/your family and your lifestyle, then I wouldn't compromise on the house too much just to get into a particular neighborhood that is maybe a "tick" nicer than other very nice areas that are options. For example, I often have clients who love the look of the Merrick Woods neighborhood, but these same clients really want a basement. Well, most houses in Merrick Woods don't have basements (built on a lot of old stream beds), so I would think that these clients would do well to consider other areas of Merrick, which are very nice, too, and get a basement, since digging out a basement is not practical/possible in the vast majority of cases!

Things like house style won't change (unless maybe you are talking about making a ranch or a cape into a colonial, and even then it's very expensive to do), so if you don't like the layout of a hi ranch, I wouldn't buy one.

But again, I am assuming that you are talking about slight differences that make one neighborhood slightly more desirable than another. If you are talking about buying in a very mediocre school district v. very highly rated, it may be worth it. Or if you strongly prefer to be in Nassau and you would have to otherwise buy in Suffolk unless you buy a hi ranch, then that's different. It's hard to say without knowing more!

Would you settle on a house to live in a location you love?

Not in this situation. I am not a fan of high ranches and that's not something you can change at all.

Re: Would you settle on a house to live in a location you love?

Would you settle on a house to live in a location you love?

No. You cannot chage the style of the house. You are limited by the design. I would keep looking.

Re: Would you settle on a house to live in a location you love?

Re: Would you settle on a house to live in a location you love?

Re: Would you settle on a house to live in a location you love?

Thanks ladies! You confirmed what my gut was saying but I was trying to ignore it. What Christine said about it being just a tick up hit home because that's all it really is. We'll find something eventually.

Re: Would you settle on a house to live in a location you love?

I settled on some things. Bought a house on a busier street and also took a smaller yard than I wanted. BUT I was adamant about a certain style house and that's what we got. I loved the actual house (even though it needed work) and the area. It's great to live in a certain area, but you live IN your house. You need to love it. And unless you knock it down and start again, it will always be a high ranch.

Re: Would you settle on a house to live in a location you love?

I think there needs to be a middle ground. We sacrificed on some things with our house because of the location, but we still like the style of the house.
We had a list of deal breakers and based on those we wouldn't even see the house in person because I knew I might be temped and would be disappointed in the end. Some deal breakers were based on house style, some were street or location (inside our preferred town) based...we also didn't use a real estate agent.

Re: Would you settle on a house to live in a location you love?

We only wanted colonial, nothing else. We ended up with a 3 level split. I like my house but I'll never LOVE the set up. We didn't want a ranch, high ranch, or a cape either.

I still hope one day we can find a colonial in this same neighborhood, but they are hard to find.

So my answer is no on the high ranch, hold out for what you want.

Would you settle on a house to live in a location you love?

Style is important, so is location. If you think you'll hate the house I wouldn't go for it. I am starting to doubt our home choice. We have an "expanded ranch" which I still define as a cape. I wish we would've gone with a colonial or tudor. When we were looking we were torn between two houses ours and a more traditional tudor that needed some very minor upgrades (also 40K cheaper). Somehow I let me huband convince me to go with the expanded ranch and I am starting to hate it lol. We have a multi-level bedroom issue. So we basically need to build up or sell when we have kids....AghhHhh the joys of homeownership!

Re: Would you settle on a house to live in a location you love?

I would choose a house that wasn't my exact desired style; however, I would NOT choose a house that I HATED. A high ranch is also one of the harder styles (if not the hardest) to change.

Would you settle on a house to live in a location you love?

As all pp's said I would pass. I have a ranch and even though its not my favorite type of house we can easily expand and it has a really nice flow. We almost bought a high ranch but they can't really be changed and I found them to be too squishy.

Re: Would you settle on a house to live in a location you love?

Just out of curiosity, most of the replies are from posters who dont like Hi-Ranches..Why is that? Is it because of the stairs going into the house? I would love to get into a hi-ranch, just wondering what makes it undesirable..

Re: Would you settle on a house to live in a location you love?

Posted by EclecticEsq10810

Just out of curiosity, most of the replies are from posters who dont like Hi-Ranches..Why is that? Is it because of the stairs going into the house? I would love to get into a hi-ranch, just wondering what makes it undesirable..