If You Had to Choose: Perfect Home or Perfect Yard/Neighborhood?

[Rustic23]

A great neighborhood does not guarantee a great neighbor! As I tried to say, but not sure I did, was a new neighborhood, will grow into a great neighborhood, but a so so house will seldom grow into a great house! (excluding a great sum of money)

 

[hesperus]

OP wasn't talking about a crappy neighborhood. Just a neighborhood that did not meet their desires like the other one did. I have a guess of which two areas the OP is referring to since I know the area I assume they are still looking at, and I think the less optimal one for them might be pretty ideal for growing families and people who work in the big technology park or want quick access to the airport.

Yeah, I'm speaking in financial generalities.

I once worked as a design architect for a guy who bought a fixer in a bad neighborhood. He put a lot of $$ into that home, thinking he would recoup that investment. He didn't, and he was quite bitter about it, constantly complaining about how the neighbors weren't taking as good of care of their property as he was his. Likewise, I had a friend buy a crappy home in a great neighborhood, and sell it a few years later for much more than she ever put into it.

again generalities from my experience. YMMV

 

[Nemo2]

YI had a friend buy a crappy home in a great neighborhood, and sell it a few years later for much more than she ever put into it.

As a realtor once said to me, "Buy the cheapest home in an expensive neighborhood".

 

[harley]

I notice the cost of DIY seems to have skyrocketed in the last couple of years. Has anyone else noticed that?

Absolutely. I do a fair amount of handyman work around my various houses, and the price of materials has definitely increased. Plywood, screws, glue, whatever. Duct tape has really gone up, and you can't survive without it. However, the price of tools has either gone down or the quality has increased for the same price. I really noticed a huge increase back in 2006 after Katrina, which was to be expected. But it never came back down, and now with the impending trade wars I expect it to get even worse. The only positive is that DIY is still cheaper by far than paying somebody else.

 

[kcowan]

Nope! The reason is that I don't DIY. I have a terrific handyman, who knows terrific tradesmen of all types (plumbers, carpenters, electricians, roofers, you name it). So if something needs to be done, I call him and he coordinates everything. He is a nice person and gets me decent prices, and what I like best is that he always does everything perfectly. A couple of times I have thought the prices were high, until I looked into it; he really doesn't overcharge me for anything...

Yes and a good handyman knows sources for the materials too. Around here, getting any kind of handyman is like pulling teeth.

I went to buy some duct tape and all they were offering was gorilla tape at twice the price. It is better but not twice as good.

 

[W2R]

Yes and a good handyman knows sources for the materials too. Around here, getting any kind of handyman is like pulling teeth.

I went to buy some duct tape and all they were offering was gorilla tape at twice the price. It is better but not twice as good.

Wow!! That's awful. I don't use much duct tape but the last roll I bought (in 2015) cost $3 on Amazon. It's probably more now. I have no idea what a good price for duct tape would be, or what brand is good; this was "Duck" brand.

The best part about my handyman, is that his family and Frank's family go way back, for many, many years. He has been a handyman for all of his life and does great work. But like us, he is getting older so we may eventually need to look for someone else.

 

[meierlde]

Wow!! That's awful. I don't use much duct tape but the last roll I bought (in 2015) cost $3 on Amazon. It's probably more now. I have no idea what a good price for duct tape would be, or what brand is good; this was "Duck" brand.

The best part about my handyman, is that his family and Frank's family go way back, for many, many years. He has been a handyman for all of his life and does great work. But like us, he is getting older so we may eventually need to look for someone else.

Amazon does not really carry real duct tape it is 3rd party for $16, it exists on Homedepot from $4 up (actually 3.99) Note Home Depot sells 15 yard gorilla tape for 4.97. So on some things Amazon (in particularly if not sold directly from amazon) may well be more expensive.

 

[RobbieB]

I am thankful that I'll never have to worry a couple of bucks for the duct tape inflation.

 

[trumpeting_angel]

We looked for over a year in rural Vermont, with price and location restraints that made it hard. DH is a carpenter and absolutely refused to buy a fixer-upper, which is 90% of the available housing stock. Go figure! (I do get it. Can’t spend all day doing heavy work and come home to start again.)

We looked until we found both the right neighborhood and the right house. This is, we hope, our forever home. First floor bedroom and bath, room upstairs for my daughter, her DH, and darling newborn granddaughter, as well as an office. A small house. Super energy efficient (it is Vermont!), 10 acres, extremely quiet yet only 2/10 mile from the paved road. Close (25-45 minutes) to our ski areas. Completely rebuilt in 2005, everything new.

Of course, DH is busy knocking down a wall to combine two tiny bedrooms into a master, building a new closet, and wrapping up plans for the garage and the barn! The one-car garage simply will not do for the shop, the antique tractor, antique Power Wagon, the winter van, the summer van, and my little SUV. But it’s not a fixer!

 

[brett]

We took four years to find the right home in the right neighborhood. It was very much to our advantage to take our time. Prices were going down, investments going up.

 

[TEO]

Perfect land and neighborhood for sure. The house can be changed... easily for some...lots of money for others. But the distance to and the quality of the people around you is not in your control to change.

 

[Camas Lilly]

Yard

We're in the same predicament. Right now we're in a nice big house, a nice big, private yard in a nice neighborhood, but it's too hot and humid to go outside, so all we have - is a house. Where we're going, we're focusing on the property and because of that we'll be outside a lot. Better weather, established landscaping, trees, bushes, wind breaks, out buildings and so on. The house is less than half the size of the house we currently own, but we can tweak that and make it work.

 

[ychuck46]

When we planned retirement we moved to a lower cost state in the South, purchased a fairly large home since the prices were so much better, and are situated in a nice suburban neighborhood about 7 miles from town. We love the house but it does take upkeep, and things do go wrong. If we had our druthers we would be homeless right now, since we already travel 4-5 months out of the year, and just hit the road for the whole year. The other option is to plunk an RV into a place and use that as home for tax purposes and as a place to come to occasionally. Still might do one of these two if we think we can get the house sold, but at 5K sq ft it is not the typical home to attract a lot of folks.

 

[bikeknit]

While your less than perfect house may need some maintenance, a smaller house will need less maintenance in the long run. We chose neighborhood. We wanted to live in a city neighborhood that is walkable and nearer to our friends. Everyone is different and has different needs however. We love our city townhouse even if we have some work to do on it. in our case, that is having work done. Also we don't care if the house is perfect. While open floor plans are great, I find some oddities in newer home layouts - gigantic bathrooms that just waste space, Odd foyers and gigantic high ceilings that make painting yourself nearly impossible. The need for a garage depends on your weather.