Buying any house cuz time is running out

amother

Coral

Thu, May 17 2018, 10:44 pm

We have been unsuccessfully house hunting for a while. I would love to have the kids start school in the new neighborhood in September. I really need to go to contract soon to make that happen. Did you just buy any house that you can afford because you were desperate and how did it turn out at the end?

doctorima

Thu, May 17 2018, 11:32 pm

Doesn't sound like a good plan. Exchanging a legitimate but relatively minor problem for huge problems, such as tying all your money up in a house that needs major work, has an awful layout, has terrible neighbors, etc., just because you felt pressured and didn't do your due diligence, doesn't sound like a good long-term strategy to me.

amother

Periwinkle

Fri, May 18 2018, 12:20 am

amother wrote:

I bought a house because I was sick of the process of looking - and dh gently pressured.

The house was in fine shape - just smaller than I would have liked. We had budget for bigger, but couldn't find one.

10 years later. house is still small. Very happy about where I live.

amother

Fuchsia

Fri, May 18 2018, 4:19 am

A house is an expensive, long-term purchase. Better to drive the kids a long way to school for six months than to sink a lot of money into the wrong house. It's possible some prices will drop in fall and winter as peak season has passed by then.

lavenderchimes

Fri, May 18 2018, 9:36 am

What drima said.

"Any house--" no. A great house that isn't exactly what I wanted but that I could see myself being happy woth and thatvwould probably have good resale value -- yes.

Rubber Ducky

Fri, May 18 2018, 9:49 am

It's easier to buy a home that fits you from the get-go, but that isn't always possible.

After a few years will you be able to expand or remodel? Consider how you could turn a house that isn't right into one that will work better for you in the future. So yes, I would buy the wrong home in the right location — but I do space planning for a living.

amother

Lawngreen

Fri, May 18 2018, 9:59 am

We did this. I don’t regret it because it was the only house available and at the time we were so desperate to move out of where we were living. If we would have waited then the housing prices would be too much for what we could afford. I’m not happy with my house at all. It’s far from what I was hoping in a house. But if we would of waited then we wouldn’t have anything. If your not desperate like I was I would wait and choose a house your happy with.

Chayalle

Fri, May 18 2018, 10:00 am

lavenderchimes wrote:

What drima said.

"Any house--" no. A great house that isn't exactly what I wanted but that I could see myself being happy woth and thatvwould probably have good resale value -- yes.

This.

I remember when my sister was house-hunting, she looked at several houses....and then realized that one of them could really work for her, even though she initially nixed it. It wasn't about just buying any house, though....it was about realizing that she wasn't necessarily going to find something perfect, but this house met enough of her requirements that she could make it work.

AFAIK she's very happy with her choice. She's there for quite a few years already.

Ruchel

Fri, May 18 2018, 10:21 am

It's a bet to know whether you'll end up liking the house.
We did it for an apartment but it was rented, that's different - and basically the ONLY ONE we found in the area we were going for. In the beginning we were sooo happy then its defects become glaring.

amother

Coral

Fri, May 18 2018, 10:42 am

If I don’t buy now I’m going to be be priced out and I really want kids to start school there in sept. Driving back and forth isn’t an option because it’s an hr away from where we currently live and dh and I both work. I said A little bit ago I’ll take a tiny house on a big lot because then I can always extend. The houses for sale now are tiny houses on tiny lots....I hope More houses come to market soon because I really don’t want to settle for that. Al the houses in this area need work some 20k and some need 100k...

thunderstorm

Fri, May 18 2018, 11:09 am

amother wrote:

We househunted for three years and the right one showed up out of the blue when we had practically given up already. I would not rush.

amother

Periwinkle

Fri, May 18 2018, 11:22 am

amother wrote:

so long as you are comfortable that the house has "good bones" - I would purchase. Its required that we educate our children - and the school you found will provide the best education (I assume since you really want it) Its not required that we live in a big house.

amother

Seashell

Fri, May 18 2018, 7:25 pm

amother wrote:

Same. I find those who wait for perfection, don't find it and don't end up buying. We bought with the mindset that we're not getting married to the house and while location is ok but not great and layout is really not good and it needed work, overall I'm really glad we bought because now we own something. The market keeps moving up and the house I bought 2 years ago can now sell for at least 50-60k more than we bought it for, so if we do sell, there's no net loss to us.

Had we waited for the right house in the right location for the right price, we'd still be looking...