Given this scenario...
If you had to choose between and older place that has been taken care of, in a great neighborhood that you are dying to stay in that is the same size and same price as a brand-new, all bells and whistles (granite counter tops, black appliances, tile floors...etc) place in an upcoming beautiful neighborhood what would you choose?
I just can't seem to make a decision regarding this.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
What Would You Do?
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2 comments:
Hey Britt, I have a few little bits of advice to consider... take them with a grain of salt! :) Anyways, one thing I didn't think too much about when we were buying our home was the yard. A lot of the new homes don't have yards, and putting them in is a ton of work and money. Many homes in those new neighborhoods will have houses that have weeds instead of lawns and tress, for just such a reason. (Also a neighborhood with gutters or sidewalks is nice. Our first home didn't have either, and it was hard to walk the kids in their strollers/wagons, and when they wanted to ride bikes we had to make a trip to a park.) Oh, and fences are super expensive, so if you know you will have kids, look for one with a fence, or plan to set money aside to build one. Luckily Blaine was more concerned about this, and we bought a home in an existing location, which had a pretty nice established yard, a fence, and sidewalks. (We don't have gutters, but a lot of places don't these days.)
Another thing to consider is location to schools... which schools will your children attend in either house? Is one better than another? This is huge! Also, along that line is.... what is the ward like? We are really struggling with this one right now! We have very few youth in our ward, which makes it hard to do certain activities for the kids. (Last year our friend had to go to scout camp with a different ward, because there were no other boys his age to go with in our ward.) Also, look at the dynamics of the ward boundaries. Some of our friends have really "rich" houses, and their wards include a trailer park or 2.... yeah, that causes problems. Our ward has our street, and about 4 other little streets in "Old Ammon", but the majority of our ward is apartments. I think we have over 200+ apartments, and while they can bring great people, those great people don't plan on staying long. (And they tend to bring a few of the rotten types as well.) But anyways, it makes it very hard to keep the callings filled, and the main leadership callings just rotate between everyone living on our street. (The leaders are all getting burned out very quickly! Plus we have up to 7 families a week who are moving out or in, and being in elder's quorum stinks with that many moves!)
Another thing to consider is the condition of the older home. If it is in good condition, and has been remodeled recently, then it will probably be ok.... however, we are in a home that is going on 14 years old now, and everything has started to break down during the last year or so. (Garage door, roof needs to be re-shingled, our water heater rusted out, the dish washer had to be replaced, the microwave too, and several other big things that just give out after time.) So just be prepared to have a bit of savings for when these things happen.
So I hope I helped you think about a few things a little bit... these are just things that I have learned from my own experiences. (Oh, and one more thing... our first little home didn't have a garage, and while we made it work, it was tough. The winters were the worst! But having a garage now is awesome! And storage space is important too. When we moved into this house, we didn't have enough stuff to come close to filling it.... we have exploded as we have grown and added kids and stuff. A big storage room and garage are very helpful! Along with multiple trips to DI.) :) Anyways, good luck with your decision! It is so hard to make such a big one, because you just don't want to screw up something that big! I'm sure you'll do great, and I can't wait to hear what you decide on!
Love you guys!
I absolutely agree with Kimmer!!! Do the pros and cons list!!
Can't wait to start looking with you. We might have to do lunch again at the Burger Den!!!
Lisa
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