Dream Home - The American Trap

[Danmar]

Ah yes, the cost-benefit analysis of a dream home. Obviously a personal choice. I'm currently wondering how to steer my children. Buy the most expensive house you can afford and hope it appreciates, or live cheap and simple like the ERE people, invest, and save yourself the trouble of driving up and down that freeway to work for 40 years? Hmmmm.
» About ERE Early Retirement Extreme: — written by Jacob Lund Fisker, Freelancer

Lot of ground between those extremes. Balance is the key.

 

[Danmar]

Nice looking place Rustic. Congratulations!

 

[Redbugdave]

Sort of like this Ha Ha?

 

[Rustic23]

And that could be your rental!

 

[Pete]

Something else I ponder is, are the "dreams" I have, really "my" dreams. How much of what I want was planted in me by my genes or culture? I was born into a very materialistic/commercial world and sometimes this can be very hard to decifer. For me at least, it turns out, I have great control over what I want so the logical path was minimal-simple-comfort, because it was the path of least resistance.

 

[haha]

Sort of like this Ha Ha?

Oh yeah. I like the cooler nearby in case you get thirsty doing wheelies.

 

[Orchidflower]

My dream home is perfect for me and a guest(s) every once-in-awhile.
Just a tad under 1,500 sq. ft. with a huge bedroom for me--well, huge to me with a queen bed, cocktail table and Laz-Y-Boy in there and 2 chests--a guest room, and an office that has a desk and cabinets built-in wall to wall, 2 car garage and no grass to cut. A bonus were the high vaulted ceilings which look...well, just cool.
The real selling point was the streams/lakes throughout this community, so I just walk 1/2 block and I can paddleboat, catch and release fish or just look at the view of the lake. 1-1/2 blocks away is a swimming pool. And, yeah, there are other amenities here, but this is enough for me to be happy.
A major metro with tons to do all the time, lots of boomers in my area to talk to and low crime statistics in my area...yup, here.
But the real joy comes in knowing I bought very cheap, got a good place and just have to wait for the turn-around in the market.

It's all relative.

 

[chinaco]

Buying a home that better fits your needs is not the point.

Overdoing it was the point of the post.

We will buy another home also. It will be the practical home, the dream home needs to go!

Oops typo.

Correction: Buying a home that better fits your needs is the point.

 

[Rustic23]

Most people would consider their dream home as fitting their needs. Maybe not your needs but their needs, that's what makes it their dream home.

If you define a dream home as something you could never afford, then I see your point, but just because my dream home may be smaller/larger, plainer/grandiose, or urban/rural if it is what we can afford, and what we want, then for us it is our dream home.

I guess my point has been, ones dream home is in the eyes of the owner, not the next door neighbor.

 

[Danmar]

Orchid: House sounds great, Why worry about the market coming back? Doesn't sound like you will be selling anytime soon

 

[freebird5825]

My late husband and I never went for the big "dream home". We bought a previously owned house for the princely sum of $63K (1984 dollars). We based the purchase price we could afford on only 1 income. The perfect starter house for newlyweds.
The house was in move-in condition but needed some upgrading outside (driveway, landscaping, septic system, lawn care)and a lot of TLC inside (1970s wallpaper and carpeting from h*ll ).
Over the years, we saved up and slowly transformed the place into our
"dream home". A contractor friend did the majority of the w*rk, with us
(2 engineers ) as interior designers. Yes, he is still my friend in spite of all those #@*! sticky notes I put on the walls to mark installation spots.
It is now a beautiful place, inside and out. I have no doubt it will sell quickly when Mr B and I decide to relocate.
Until then, we are living in a modest but beautifully appointed home that is
PAID FOR.

 

[Khan]

Have had various ideas of 'dream home' over the years. As I am reaching decrepitude, I am thinking of a 1 bedroom apt, not to far from someone who gives a darn and is willing to take cash.

 

[chinaco]

...

If you define a dream home as something you could never afford, then I see your point, but just because my dream home may be smaller/larger, plainer/grandiose, or urban/rural if it is what we can afford, and what we want, then for us it is our dream home.

...

People often buy more than they need (use) and the money could be best used for other purposes. This is mainly a rant about the McMansion or McTooBig Home.


However... as was stated several times... it is a personal decision.

I intend to sell ours.

Our home has some really positive attributes. Fortunately that will make it easy to unload. I am hoping to find one of those "personal decision" couples to sell them their dream home.

 

[REWahoo]

...not to far from someone who gives a darn and is willing to take cash.

Ha will be along shortly to recommend you consider a kind-hearted hooker.

 

[Rustic23]

Who gets to decide what I need? As I said, my neighbor has 5,000 sq ft, we have 2,800 and another 1,800. The neighbor with the large home can well afford it, and it is what he and his wife want. Who are we to criticize his dream. To the folks living in shanty town, I am sure our home and yours, would be more than you need. A dream home turns into a nightmare when you buy more than you can afford. When I was saving for retirement, I often bought more on price than on [-]DW's wants[/-] needs. Now we tend to buy what we want regardless as to whether we need it or not.

 

[pb4uski]

We demolished and are rebuilding our lake house in preparation for retirement. The lake house is around 1900 sf compared of 2700 sf in our current home (which we plan to sell). We are looking forward to smaller space (my DW less so - I tell her the problem is too much stuff rather than not enough space). One thing we are consciously trying to do is spend a bit more for better quality finishes given we will have less space and this will be our "last" house. I'd rather spend a bit more now than skimp some and end up doing numerous upgrade projects later.

 

[SVHoper]

Ha will be along shortly to recommend you consider a kind-hearted hooker.

or ... kind-hearted looker?
or ... kinda hard hooker ?

I'll stop now.

 

[obgyn65]

I own a small condo in a very large city, and I am very happy with it. No need for anything bigger even if I can afford it.

 

[Danmar]

Never really considered getting a "dream"house. Had dream cars and vacations for sure. Wouldn't make sense having 3 places. All 3 are great but very different. Almost by definition could not be the " dream" house, I think as we like to move around so much.

 

[Katsmeow]

The ex-dream house is pictured below. Oh, we still own it but are trying to sell it.

We bought it just over 4 years ago. At the time we had 6 people living in the house and it looked like a good bet my mother's health would deteriorate and she would need to reluctantly (on her part) live with us.

We were thinking of building, looking at houses and then this one came on the market.

It was perfect in many ways. It had large secondary bedrooms which was important to us. It had a little over 2 acres of land. It had no pet restrictions (important as we have dogs). It was beautiful to drive up to.

And -- best of all -- it had a newly built guest house.

It wasn't entirely perfect. I didn't really like the kitchen/dining room configuration and thought about some day remodeling. The utility room was large, but I would like it to be larger. It had two stories. However, the layout was such that DH and I would hardly ever have to go upstairs.

We bought it planning to never leave.

So...why sell it now?

Several reasons. It was totally manageable on our then income but is too expensive for our retired lifestyle unless we want to cut out things we don't want to cut. It wasn't just the mortgage but it very expensive to maintain.

But it isn't just the expense. Our needs and wants changed.

We now have 4 people living in the house. In 18 months, it will likely be 3 and in a few years it will be two. My mother's health rebounded and she is still living on her own.

And, we realized we don't really want to have to take care of an almost 4500 sf house. We do plan to build our "dream" house but that house will be about 2500 sf and one story. Even if the cost of buying/maintaining each house was the same we would still pick the smaller house at this point.

 

[fun in the sun]

A home is a necessity but seems to be a liability rather than an asset for it consumes the largest amount of money in most peoples lives. The ideal (dream) home is one that is practical, comfortable and fits like a glove but most importantly user friendly. The days of formal dinning and living rooms are fading fast and yes we have both in our main home but not in our newer second one. Downsizing is the way to go. Each generation defines what is important in terms of "things". Right now it seems to be electronics and as Dave Ramsey says "The paid off mortgage has taken the place of the BMW".

 

[rmark]

My dream home - I may have spent too many summers at boy scout camp.

Tent Cabin Kit, Portable Housing Kits, Bungalows, Afforable Housing, Portable Structures, Yurts: Sweetwater Bungalows

 

[Danmar]

Katsmeow: Another reason why you would rather not have a mortgage on your dream house?

 

[Walt34]

Sort of like this Ha Ha?

Attached Thumbnails


Wow, that looks like my first apartment! I really did have a motorcycle in the living room, a 650 cc Yamaha, but I didn't do doughnuts in there. It would have torn up the carpeting.

 

[HFWR]

Oh yeah. I like the cooler nearby in case you get thirsty doing wheelies.

I think the cooler had something to do with the activities in that photo...