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

[JoeWras]

It's not that hard to make your yard into an oasis, but it's really hard to get comfortable in a house that's not configured well for your use.

I think there are degrees here. There are some houses that just won't work. One friend had this outrageous set of stairs to get to the upstairs that was just not safe for them with their knees. Clearly, this was not a compromise, it was a problem.

I'm thinking many of us don't have the perfect house, but it is safe. For example, our bathrooms are small, but have everything you need. I'm even considering turning one tub into a no sill shower. But it will be ridiculously small. It isn't a deal breaker, just not optimal.

Trade-offs, trade-offs.

Oh, and one thing about our 8 ft ceilings... Turns out the stairs to the upstairs are not so bad. I'm finding out that that extra foot or more is part of the reason for some of the crazy stairs going to the top floor in some recent homes. I've also seen some other recent plans that recognize this issue and deal with it in clever ways by creating lofts which act as landing zones, among other clever ideas.

 

[Music Lover]

I'm surprised that more people chose neighborhood. We're handy and do a lot of work both in the house and in the yard. I'd choose the perfect house. It's not that hard to make your yard into an oasis, but it's really hard to get comfortable in a house that's not configured well for your use.

Different strokes. I'd rather knock down a wall than do landscaping. But, as to houses I'm fine with a simple 1000 - 1200 square foot bungalow with a decent size kitchen. Since 1000 - 1200 square foot houses are everywhere here, I would confine a home search to the neighborhoods I prefer.

If the kitchen isn't that big, it's just a matter of knocking out the wall between living room and kitchen to open it up and I'm good to go.

 

[Silver]

I need to also vote neighborhood....and even more specifically lot or land with a view. As stated previously, a house can be changed to make it what you want. The neighborhood and view cannot be changed to the same degree.

We just purchased a new house in the same 55+ community, but the new house has a gorgeous view of the lake. Our old house was on a corner with a very large lot, but it is an interior lot with a view of the back of a neighbors house. That got old.

We looked at a lot of homes in other communities, but we love our community and really didn't want to leave it. Lake homes don't come up for sale often here, so we jumped on this one when it did, and we're thrilled.

 

[Bestwifeever]

It sounds like the new house is in a new subdivision neighborhood surrounded by new houses, and the older house is in an established neighborhood surrounded by older houses. That is a lot of deciding to do. Drive around both areas, a lot, at all times of the day and evening, and see what the feel is. Talk to the neighbors. If you never see people out, that says something too, which one may or may not like. Both neighborhhods are probably good, just different.

Landscaping grows pretty fast.

 

[RobbieB]

Yes, it's the location. Isn't that what they they've been telling us all these years?

You can always reno the house at your leisure.

 

[tb001]

We’re in the middle of this dilemma as well. Great house in a very nice area, but much more suburban, a bigger hike to amenities and good restaurants, etc... vs very dated homes at the top of our price range in an area that is still a bit of a drive to restaurants, etc but once you’re there the amenities are a 10 vs a 6. We’re going with house at this point in our lives. We’re homebodies and spend a lot of time there. Hoping we’re making the right decision.

 

[aja8888]

We moved to what we thought was a perfect 2,000 square foot house in a 55+ development on the outskirts of town with nearby shopping and hospitals. Wow! Minimal interior upgrades were done (kitchen stuff) and the neighbors in our age group were great (DW speaking here)!

One big mistake I made: The two car garage is too SHORT in depth! I never tried to put my "smallish" excab (not crew cab) truck in it. The depth of the garage is one foot less than the length of the truck. I guess the builder figured old folks would be all driving small cars? Our SUV fits, but the truck stays outside (bummer).

I should have noticed all the pickups and long SUV's parked in people's driveways and asked about this.

 

[rodi]

I'd pick the neighborhood. Absolutely. You can renovate a home... even tear it down to the studs and redo it completely... You can't change the neighborhood. You talk about formal living room and dining room.... Walls can be taken down to achieve an open concept.

Also - as ER types - do you need more space? We're looking at downsizing from our 2000sf home to a 1000sf home once the kids are launched... and will likely pick an established neighborhood with mature trees and lots of local infrastructure.

I'd also be prioritizing "aging in place" - single story, easy to maintain yard, etc. Maybe even a lock-and-go condo where someone else does the maintenance.

 

[Music Lover]

One big mistake I made: The two car garage is too SHORT in depth! I never tried to put my "smallish" excab (not crew cab) truck in it. The depth of the garage is one foot less than the length of the truck. I guess the builder figured old folks would be all driving small cars?

More likely, the builder figured out that they could save a couple thousand in costs by building a smaller garage.

 

[JoeWras]

More likely, the builder figured out that they could save a couple thousand in costs by building a smaller garage.

One big mistake I made: The two car garage is too SHORT in depth! I never tried to put my "smallish" excab (not crew cab) truck in it. The depth of the garage is one foot less than the length of the truck. I guess the builder figured old folks would be all driving small cars? Our SUV fits, but the truck stays outside (bummer).

I should have noticed all the pickups and long SUV's parked in people's driveways and asked about this.

There is something in the water with these home builders! Vehicles are growing, and they are shrinking garages sometimes in width, sometimes in length, and sometimes both.

Be careful out there!

 

[Oz investor]

Location. location, location.
You can keep Manhattan, just give me that countryside.

for me , it was a semi-rural block , the major problem is it is too far away from the appropriate emergency care ( about 10 miles too far ) ( and the erratic cell phone signal ups the risk factor , to boot )

so looks like i am back to couch-surfing for 3 or more years

 

[travelover]

Without a doubt, neighborhood. When we moved to the PNW we lived in a nice house in a crappy neighborhood. We could not wait to flee, not to mention the kook that lived next door.

 

[Rianne]

Nothing scientific, just for fun if you're inclined.

We're getting close to relocating, and find ourselves faced with having to choose between the house we'd like and the neighborhood we'd like, we can't afford both. We've done our homework and we're simply going to have to choose. Congrats to those here who have or can afford both.

We'd like a modern house with all the modern features, and open concept - but they're all in new suburb developments with fewer amenities (grocery, restaurants, shopping, culture, etc.).

We also love established neighborhoods with mature landscaping, tree lined streets and much closer to an abundance of city amenities. But at the same price point those homes are relatively small and out of date, with formal living and dining rooms, no garages, inevitably some latent maintenance issues, and poor energy efficiency.

We're almost certainly going to choose the former.

Just for fun, how about you?

You're right, the new subdivisions have few, if any, mature trees and need a car to get anywhere. We bought a 50 yr. old brick house, 2500 sq. ft. that needed major updates, kitchen and living room for open concept. Updated the bathrooms, new floors, knocked out walls, big project! But, we are in a prime location, mature trees, great friendly neighbors, can walk to grocery store, starbucks, art mart, parks, school...seriously great neighborhood. We don't have kids but resale would be easy. We bought at a lower price and did all the updates. We have a great living space that easily accommodates guests and small parties. Older homes have "better bones." We also updated HVAC and the house is perfect for us. I don't think we'll move again. Also, airport that is small but has major airlines to Chicago O'hare so traveling is reasonable.

 

[Huston55]

This thread made me do a mental inventory of all the places we’ve lived during our working careers (16) and think about whether ‘neighbrhood’ or ‘house’ was the driving factor. So, thx MidPack for that trip down memory lane.

Early in our working lives, affordability was the dominant factor (first apartment, first owned home) so, the goal was to meet minimum standards for both neighborhood & house that we could afford; often a struggle. Later on though, we had much more flexibility in our choices, and our clear pattern was to choose neighborhood first, then find the best home in that location (we were DINKs w/ a dog so not always a standalone house for us). We were also location/neighborhood driven in FIRE. In fact, we moved back to Cali (who the hell does that?! ) for FIRE to be in our chosen area, chose a neighborhood, and then a house (which is 148 yo & not at all “perfect”). But, our decision is validated every time we sit on the balcony or walk down the street to our favorite places; it’s a little slice of heaven, which is the goal for us all when we’re choosing a place.

I expect you have quite a bit of flexibility too, in that you can choose many combinations of neighborhood/house that exceed your minimum criteria. So, having said all that, my vote is ‘neighborhood’ first, then house/home.

“Your home is living space, not storage space.”

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Neighborhood. We really like having a yard with lots of mature trees and a pretty backyard. We sit outside on the patio often just enjoying the surroundings, especially now that we are retired. We kind of lucked out as urban sprawl caught up to our neighborhood, so we now live in a walkable urban area with shops and restaurants but with a nice size lot with trees and mountain views near a state park and a train station. We have had to fix up our house over the years but we just space it out and do one big project every year, like redoing the plumbing or replacing the fencing. Land has gotten very expensive here so most of the newer housing close to us is very high density with small lots, which might be better fit for us when we are older but for now we're enjoying the yard and don't mind the upkeep.

 

[Souschef]

We found the place that is perfect for us. It is a+55 mobile home park, and we are on a cul-de-sac.
Our 1400 sq ft home was brand new, but over the years we have upgraded it. New appliances. refinished kitchen cabinets, manufactured wood decking.
It is an ideal venue to "age in place".

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

We will be dealing with your exact problem soon when we relocate to "fly over country." I will be happy to leave the hustle and bustle of the metro Atlanta area, but we have an almost perfect house in an almost perfect neighborhood...and that will be tough to replicate.

Where we are moving, large and expansive lots are easily had but at a cost of lack of neighborhood amenities or even decent internet availability. Yes, there are neighborhoods (with 5+ acres) that are closer to the amenities of larger towns/smaller cities, but almost all of them have HOA restrictions that are well...just too damn restrictive. There is no way I am granting an HOA an easement for the entire plot of land...no way, no how.

So, not sure what we will do in the end. It's very likey that this will be our last home purchase, so there are a lot of "gotta have's" which will make it even tougher. Lucky for us though, we are going to be able to rent a decent house from SIL that we can use as home base while we figure out what we are going to do...which will probably mean a custom build home...which, oye...

 

[Ronstar]

Neighborhood > house. I can change the house to my liking.

 

[Aslowdodge]

Neighborhood. That establishes home values. Location location location.You can change a house over time as budget allows but you are mostly stuck with the neighborhood.

 

[Midpack]

If I had to choose..... then I wouldn't move quite yet. I'd keep looking until I could find the perfect home with the perfect yard in the perfect neighborhood at a price that I could afford. My present house that I call my Dream Home is like that.

None of us are getting any younger. This may be your last chance to buy the home you really wanted all of your life, with the perfect yard, in the perfect neighborhood.

Are you sure you want a modern house? Sometimes you can get an older house (on the established, convenient tree lined street like mine), that has been renovated to provide it with most or all modern features and conveniences.

My advice would be to keep looking! That perfect house/yard in the perfect neighborhood has just got to be out there waiting for you. It takes time to find just the right one.

We've been looking for 7 years. We're not going to get the house we want, in an established neighborhood, at a price we're willing to afford. Just "settling" for the house we want will cost us double (purchase & ongoing expenses) what we've lived in for 25 years. We're not willing to pony up triple or quadruple to have it all...and that's what it would cost reno or not.

The suburb we're leaning toward has most of what we want within 10-15 miles, and almost everything within 25 miles or so. After 25 years living 50+ miles outside Chicago, most amenities will be considerably more convenient.

And we've lived with a disgusting neighbor on one side for almost 10 years, they don't take care of the house and they don't take care of their yard at all - they mow about every 4 weeks and they've never fertilized, weeded or anything. They let weeds grow into volunteer trees at the foundation of their house 10-15 feet tall...

 

[Midpack]

I don't think Midpack is having to choose between a beautiful, genteel neighborhood and a ghetto with a great house. It's perfect house in a less than perfect neighborhood vs. significantly less perfect house in a really nice looking neighborhood. Based on those options, I agree with his choice to go with the house.

Basically true. It's between a perfect house in a suburb 15 miles from the city OR or a small, completely outdated house with no garage in a beautiful established neighborhood.

Crappy neighbors can pop up anywhere, so not a factor we can control. We had a great neighbor where we are, until they sold and the Clampetts (as I call them) moved in next door.

 

[Midpack]

I have read and appreciate all the replies, many interesting comments as usual, thanks. And believe me I can argue neighborhood>house as easily as house>neighborhood. But we have to make a choice.

 

[haha]

Neighborhood. This can mean many things, depending on how the home hunter defines a good neighborhood. My girlfriend's neighborhood is way more upscale than mine, but to me it is a bit boring. It is never boring here, though not many Sunset Magazine homes either.

She is more likely to visit me here, than I am to visit her at her place, just because there is more street activity here.

One of my touchstones is "do people leave reasonably attractive junk along the sidewalk divider? And if yes, does it disappear fairly promptly?"

I have never lived in a real slum, and never would. I have worked in slums, in the Midwest and in LA, and they truly suck.

Looking back, I realize that every urban neighborhood that I have lived in was undergoing a rapid and disrupting metamorphosis. Every one of them. Thus there was always some tension, as those about to be pushed out have ways to make the incoming pushers uncomfortable at best.

Ha

 

[tb001]

It’s been interesting to read the replies. FWIW, I posted this question a few months ago on another forum I frequent and the replies were very evenly split. We currently live in an area where there are great restaurants and shopping within a mile of us, so it’s going to be a pretty big lifestyle adjustment.

 

[aja8888]

I have read an appreciate all the replies, thanks. And believe me I can argue neighborhood>house as easily as house>neighborhood. But we have to make a choice.

Seeing this thread was just for fun like you stated in the first post, have you considered leaving the Chicago area and maybe the state if Illinois? There seems to be an exodus of residents from that area due to impending additional taxation. There's a good thread on Tennessee that may interest you if you can leave the area.