Housing Woes
AJ and I have put a lot of thought into buying our next house, lately. We love the house we have now. We are extremely blessed to have it. Many different factors worked into it pretty much falling into our lap, and it's a perfect first house. It's in a prime location. It's just big enough for the two of us. Our payment is manageable. We haven't had any homeowners problems, like bursted pipes, leaky roof, etc (knock on wood).
Eventually, though, we want a family. Two bedrooms and one bath aren't going to cut it. The windows will need to be replaced. The appliances will need to be replaced. The house just isn't worth adding onto. It's cinderblock, for goodness sake. And our 60 lb, 6 month old lab is not getting any smaller.
Right now, since the market is still a buyer's market, AJ and I have been scouring the internet & talking to our realtor friends. And we absolutely hate everything in our price range.
The town that we live in (we refuse to live anywhere else, or outside of town limits) is small. And old. So options are limited. With the money that we can buy a 1500 square foot, 50 year old, 3BR, 2BA house would buy us a 2400 square foot, 4-5BR, 5 year old house just 2-3 minutes in any direction. But we have to live here. Call us spoiled. Or stupid. But we have to. Just do.
So, it narrows our options. Throw in the fact that AJ thinks like an architect, and that narrows our options even more. The houses are old. They're outdated. They need work. And the ones that are move-in ready & perfect for us are way out of our price range. But we may have found something.
I am not a fan of cookie-cutter houses. I despise them. AJ calls them an architect's nightmare. But they might be the answer. There's an area in our town that used to house a driving range & putt-putt course. About 2 years ago, they took it all out & turned that area into a small sub-division (if you will) with 49 land plots to house eight different layouts. They built two model homes and cleared all 49 lots. Nothing has sold in there. Not one plot/house in two years.
The Pros:
One of our friends has offered to meet with us to discuss the floorplans, the model houses, and the price list. But, bloggie friends, I need your expertise. Those of you that have an HOA or have experience with one, do you love it or hate it? Is it strict? Is it expensive?
Eventually, though, we want a family. Two bedrooms and one bath aren't going to cut it. The windows will need to be replaced. The appliances will need to be replaced. The house just isn't worth adding onto. It's cinderblock, for goodness sake. And our 60 lb, 6 month old lab is not getting any smaller.
Right now, since the market is still a buyer's market, AJ and I have been scouring the internet & talking to our realtor friends. And we absolutely hate everything in our price range.
The town that we live in (we refuse to live anywhere else, or outside of town limits) is small. And old. So options are limited. With the money that we can buy a 1500 square foot, 50 year old, 3BR, 2BA house would buy us a 2400 square foot, 4-5BR, 5 year old house just 2-3 minutes in any direction. But we have to live here. Call us spoiled. Or stupid. But we have to. Just do.
So, it narrows our options. Throw in the fact that AJ thinks like an architect, and that narrows our options even more. The houses are old. They're outdated. They need work. And the ones that are move-in ready & perfect for us are way out of our price range. But we may have found something.
I am not a fan of cookie-cutter houses. I despise them. AJ calls them an architect's nightmare. But they might be the answer. There's an area in our town that used to house a driving range & putt-putt course. About 2 years ago, they took it all out & turned that area into a small sub-division (if you will) with 49 land plots to house eight different layouts. They built two model homes and cleared all 49 lots. Nothing has sold in there. Not one plot/house in two years.
The Pros:
- brand new house
- customizable
- natural gas appliances
- in our price range
- lake-front property
- we could pick a floorplan that would fit our needs
- the location is within the town limits
- none have sold, what's up with that?
- they cut down every tree in the subdivision, weird?
- your house might look like your neighbors
- there's an HOA
One of our friends has offered to meet with us to discuss the floorplans, the model houses, and the price list. But, bloggie friends, I need your expertise. Those of you that have an HOA or have experience with one, do you love it or hate it? Is it strict? Is it expensive?
(This is our favorite!)
I think it depends on where you are. We are currently under contract for a new house, in a new neighborhood with an HOA. It is about 280.00 per year. Pretty cheap from what I have heard. I don't know what all it covers yet but I know the subdivision has a clubhouse and work out place, and an olympic sized pool. A friend of mine has lived in the same neighborhood for a few months now and he hasn't said anything about it being too bad, but I have heard of some HOAs being nightmares. Just read the paperwork closely! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteOur condo complex is not very strict, but also not very good. We pay $200 a month and they're supposed to do all snow clearing, lawn mowing etc. Most of the time you have to remind them to do anything. But there's a few common pools and clubhouse and tennis courts. I'm not sure if that's the same as an "HOA" though...good luck!
ReplyDeleteI live in a neighborhood that has probably 8-10 different floor plans and an HOA-I absolutely love it! BUT, I don't think that our HOA is strict. I did consider a house in a neighborhood where they do have to approve all the landscaping, screendoors, paint colors, etc. and I found it to be ridiculous. If I want to plant purple tulips then I should be able to! lol!
ReplyDeleteI would get a copy of the covenants and restrictions for the HOA and read through them before you get too far into the process.
We have an HOA for our neighborhood and we love it! The dues are not bad and we receive a detailed expense report that shows what the dues go towards. Our dues go to the upkeep of the common areas, the pool, etc. So we have no problem paying those.
ReplyDeleteOur neighborhood does have a lengthy set of covenants but you can always petition the neighborhood to make exceptions and from what I have heard they are pretty reasonable. Most of the rules are in place to make sure that people don't let their properties become total dumps and de-value the homes around them.
Good luck!