Home & Garden Which would you choose? House or lot?

The house you're currently in needs a new roof? That could create a problem when trying to sell.


The place you're looking at .... are there other kids around? Have you checked on the schools? Taxes? What about things like high-speed internet?

If all those things are OK with you and the house is in good shape, I'd go for it. I'm on nearly 7 acres and I'd never go back to having neighbors 30' away as long as I can avoid it.

Outside upkeep can be a problem as noted above, but if you don't have the time and can afford it, you could hire someone from the area.

No, the other house needs a new roof. I know the district. It is the one we are in already. The realtor mentioned something about the buyer of the comp having young girls. It would be great if they were the same ages as my girls.
I know DH will never agree to this scheme. lol. We would have to go from a 13 year mortgage to a 30 to be able to do it. I know the taxes will be somewhat higher than what we are paying now. We would probably be looking at about a 25% increase.

But it IS kind of creepy how all the things that could make this happen are happening. For example, the lawsuit we are currently in with our builder will be over in like 2 weeks. Houses are suddenly selling very well in our neighborhood. Interest rates are at all time historical lows. Contract fell through. Seller would love it if we didn't tear down the house. Cue up creepy musics here.
 
To answer a question someone posted, we did get a bank apprasial for the mortgage loan but they would not let us see it. We took the real estate agent's word and paper of the MLS as being the truth since we lived out of state and asked about the house and square footage many times. It was a real estate agent who sold our house when it was empty and we moved to Florida, she also sold the house of the people who bought our house and then sold the house they bought from us 4 months later when they had a job transfer so she made good commission from the past three sales. We used her because it was her office exclusive listing and hubby loved the house. Funny story is there was a for sale by owner house for sale in the cul de sac behind our house which I would have bought. The real estate agent who lived 2 houses away from it and was the listing agent for the house we bought took the for sale by owner sign down so hubby and my SIL would not see it when they looked at the house we bought. The neighbors in the cul de sac told us this.

Have you talked to your husband at all about wanting to possibly buy that house? Is he going with you to see it? I would have a really hard time going from a 13 year mortgage to a 30 year one and add higher expenses. Are you sure you are not rushing into things? I would think you would want to look at dozens of houses before you could fall in love with a outside pool area that you saw once and now decide the house has to be the one. If it is meant to be it will happen. Best of luck in finding the inside perfect with no major defects. I would hire the best home inspector around and make sure the seller is not trying to sell the house as is.
 
Have you talked to your husband at all about wanting to possibly buy that house? Is he going with you to see it? I would have a really hard time going from a 13 year mortgage to a 30 year one and add higher expenses. Are you sure you are not rushing into things? I would think you would want to look at dozens of houses before you could fall in love with a outside pool area that you saw once and now decide the house has to be the one. If it is meant to be it will happen. Best of luck in finding the inside perfect with no major defects. I would hire the best home inspector around and make sure the seller is not trying to sell the house as is.

Yes, DH said it is ok to see it. He can't go with me tomorrow because he just got back from London and he needs to be in the office tomorrow. I am going to be the scout ant. We won't rush into it. I hear you on the mortgage thing. I am trying to run numbers to see if we could do it on a 15 year mortgage. We have looked at many houses over the years and I have only seen one that I liked and that one wasn't an option at the time. I agree if it is meant to be it will happen. I would definitely hire an inspector. As I said, I have a pretty extensive real estate background so I am pretty comfortable with this whole thing.
 
Sounds like things may fall into place and work out for you. Hubby and I have been people to just decide we want to move and have put our house for sale the next week. We always felt life was a adventure and moved around and have lived in some wonderful places. I do miss two of my old homes in Florida. We moved out of state to be closer to family and that really did not work out since I never see them.
Sometimes things happen for a reason and if you have looked for years and now love this home it may be available to you. I know the way one feels to want something they feel is perfect because my dream home is two blocks away. If there way a way we could sell our house and buy the other one I would but it is not a option for us. When we found our last house in Florida I had my friend look in the development for a lot or house for sale. She called me and said the lot we were thinking of buying had a custom house built on it one year before and it was for sale by owner. I called the owners that night and asked them not to sell the house to anyone before hubby flew down to look at the house. He bought the house that week and we owned two houses before the kids were out of school and we could move. Our house up here sold a few months later. Sadly we only stayed in Florida for one year and moved back up here and it was a big mistake since I love Florida. I could never replace how perfect my house was in Florida with all the custom features and attention to detail. Moving into a builders development house is just so not what I wanted to step backwards to do. But the neighborhood is nice, the kids are happy and life goes on. Sometimes it is nice to just start all over and do things the way you want because you learn from what worked and did not work in the past.

Hope the house is perfect inside with lots of things to make you happy. Take lots of pictures and enjoy the visit. Sending good vibes your way.
 
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I live in a new house that my DH and I built (well, it is now 8 years old) and we have had some problems with it and we made some mistakes that are not correctable when building it. When we built the house, I didn't realize how small the back yard would be because we are in a new subdivision and none of the surrounding houses were built yet. A friend of mine invited us to swim at the house of an elderly lady friend of hers once and I just drooled over her lot. It was a cul de sac 1.25 acre lot and the house was built in the 50's. It is dated. For the first time, it is for sale now. Ideally, I would love to buy the lot and built a new house but we just can't afford it. We could probably buy the house and either A) live in a while and wait a few years and maybe build or B) remodel. I haven't seen the interior yet but it looks like a good layout. Just dated. It got me to wondering. What would you choose? New house with tiny backyard (and we do have kids) or older home with gorgeous private lot?

No question, I would always choose an older house with a gorgeous lot.

The suburban homes built in the 50s were often built like fortresses. Steel frames, plaster walls, brick exteriors. And the wood they used back then was old growth timber, often oak or maple. Much sturdier, heavier and far more fire resistant than the lightweight quick-growth pine used today.

Friends who've run into major problems when they've rennovated older homes seem to have bought homes from the 20s, 30s, and 40s that weren't built as well as those suburban fortresses in the 50s. In fact they were built cheaply and slapdash to begin with, in addition to being relics.

With a 50-year-old house one thing to keep in mind is that it is probably in need of new sewer and gas lines at this point. Excavating on an acre lot can be pricey. If you make an offer I would definitely have the sewer line scoped. On a cable home-buying show I saw years ago a new home owner was facing a $25K bill for a new sewer line and her lot was a small one.

You'll probably also need to update the electrical, although that shouldn't cost more than a few thousand dollars. Chimneys also usually need to be rebricked/recapped/relined around the 50-year mark.

Something else to consider: around here homes in older neighborhoods with acre-sized lots are being snapped up by developers who are cobbling them up into five or more lots and stuffing as many big new homes as possible on them. This is happening in my mom's city too. Even when neighbors raise a hullabaloo, arguing that all these new homes will overtax the aging sewer, water and even phone infrastructure, the town grants permission anyway because they want to expand the tax base. Even with the depressed housing market this is still going on. So there's always the possibility that even though all your neighbors have acre and half-acre lots, you might find yourself with many more neighbors, all tightly packed in, when the original owners' heirs sell off the land to developers.

That said, there have been a number of 50-plus houses around here that have been completely rennovated with new roofing, new siding, new windows, new concrete work, new landscaping, and even new additions. Truly gorgeous!
 
No question, I would always choose an older house with a gorgeous lot.

The suburban homes built in the 50s were often built like fortresses. Steel frames, plaster walls, brick exteriors. And the wood they used back then was old growth timber, often oak or maple. Much sturdier, heavier and far more fire resistant than the lightweight quick-growth pine used today.

Friends who've run into major problems when they've rennovated older homes seem to have bought homes from the 20s, 30s, and 40s that weren't built as well as those suburban fortresses in the 50s. In fact they were built cheaply and slapdash to begin with, in addition to being relics.

With a 50-year-old house one thing to keep in mind is that it is probably in need of new sewer and gas lines at this point. Excavating on an acre lot can be pricey. If you make an offer I would definitely have the sewer line scoped. On a cable home-buying show I saw years ago a new home owner was facing a $25K bill for a new sewer line and her lot was a small one.

You'll probably also need to update the electrical, although that shouldn't cost more than a few thousand dollars. Chimneys also usually need to be rebricked/recapped/relined around the 50-year mark.

Something else to consider: around here homes in older neighborhoods with acre-sized lots are being snapped up by developers who are cobbling them up into five or more lots and stuffing as many big new homes as possible on them. This is happening in my mom's city too. Even when neighbors raise a hullabaloo, arguing that all these new homes will overtax the aging sewer, water and even phone infrastructure, the town grants permission anyway because they want to expand the tax base. Even with the depressed housing market this is still going on. So there's always the possibility that even though all your neighbors have acre and half-acre lots, you might find yourself with many more neighbors, all tightly packed in, when the original owners' heirs sell off the land to developers.

That said, there have been a number of 50-plus houses around here that have been completely rennovated with new roofing, new siding, new windows, new concrete work, new landscaping, and even new additions. Truly gorgeous!

Interesting stuff. Who would I hire to check out the sewer line?

Sounds like things may fall into place and work out for you. Hubby and I have been people to just decide we want to move and have put our house for sale the next week. We always felt life was a adventure and moved around and have lived in some wonderful places. I do miss two of my old homes in Florida. We moved out of state to be closer to family and that really did not work out since I never see them.
Sometimes things happen for a reason and if you have looked for years and now love this home it may be available to you. I know the way one feels to want something they feel is perfect because my dream home is two blocks away. If there way a way we could sell our house and buy the other one I would but it is not a option for us. When we found our last house in Florida I had my friend look in the development for a lot or house for sale. She called me and said the lot we were thinking of buying had a custom house built on it one year before and it was for sale by owner. I called the owners that night and asked them not to sell the house to anyone before hubby flew down to look at the house. He bought the house that week and we owned two houses before the kids were out of school and we could move. Our house up here sold a few months later. Sadly we only stayed in Florida for one year and moved back up here and it was a big mistake since I love Florida. I could never replace how perfect my house was in Florida with all the custom features and attention to detail. Moving into a builders development house is just so not what I wanted to step backwards to do. But the neighborhood is nice, the kids are happy and life goes on. Sometimes it is nice to just start all over and do things the way you want because you learn from what worked and did not work in the past.

Hope the house is perfect inside with lots of things to make you happy. Take lots of pictures and enjoy the visit. Sending good vibes your way.

I am sorry that you left your favorite home. That must be hard, too.

As I said, if it works, it works, if it doesn't, I am not out anything. I will let you know. Hopefully, with the seller home, it won't be too weird to snap some pictures.
 
Some sellers like to stay home to make sure buyers don't go through their personal stuff and get robbed. My friend was selling her house and the real estate agents bought in groups of people who would wander in different rooms and she was robbed clothing and purses from her closet. She also had expensive perfume and beauty products taken. It was really strange. Also I think many older sellers might like to see who has interest in their homes and feel safer being there to make sure nobody touches things they should not. I remember my friend looking at houses and one old lady made them take their shoes off before they came in and then refused to let them look in the garage and go in the backyard because their feet would bring dirt into the house. They did not buy that house.
 
Just saw the house. Wow, the inside is amazing. It is dated. No question. But the condition is amazing for such an old house. The architectural details are beautiful. The house needs a little work on the outside as I mentioned. It needs a new roof, and the trim and shutters need to get scraped and painted. Inside, everything is cosmetic. Nothing is hideous. It could be done over time. Even the kitchen is kind of cool and retro. The fatal flaw is the master bedroom. The closets are tiny and so is the bathroom. You could knock a door into the adjacent bedroom and build a master bath. It would be a shame to do that though because it has a Jack n Jill bathroom with the next bedroom. Definitely NOT a tear down. The lot is to die for. Best lot on the street for sure. Price is still high though.
 
Weirdness. The second I left, the seller called our mutual friend and said she sold the house. She thinks I am buying it I guess. MY friend tried to talk me into it. Ugh. Not loving my friend lately.
 
Interesting stuff. Who would I hire to check out the sewer line?

A lot of large plumbing companies offer that service. So do some of the Rotor-Rooter franchises. They advertise it in the phone book under "sewer repair" or something like that.

The fatal flaw is the master bedroom. The closets are tiny and so is the bathroom. You could knock a door into the adjacent bedroom and build a master bath. It would be a shame to do that though because it has a Jack n Jill bathroom with the next bedroom.

A friend did that sort of rennovation. It wasn't nearly as hard or as much of a hassle as one would think.
 
Is the master bedroom big enough to do a wall of wardrobe closets? I did that in one house because I gave hubby the two walk in closets. The master bedroom had one wall of tall IKEA closets which I could put everything in, had pull out drawers, shoe things, plastic bins, ect..... The bedroom had the one wall of closets, king size bed and two night stands. It was very clean and uncluttered. As for small bathrooms in a old house that is hard. We had a 100 year old house we renovated and just left the bathrooms but redid them with new floor, toilet, sinks, ect. The closets were a downfall since they were about 4 feet wide (if that) and very narrow. But we were able to make it work by using another room as a closet room.

I do think it is very strange the lady called your friend and said she sold the house. I guess she felt you had interest in it but that is a bit jumping the gun.
My brother has a retro kitchen and scraped about 5 layers of vinyl off the kitchen floor to find the original wood floors under it. He left the original cabinets, repainted them and put all new hardward on it. He also did new counter tops and appliances along with lighting. It looks very fresh and clean. Even though he has a 80+ year old house he did so much with wood or laminate floors, new drywall and paint so the house looks more modern then old. He has a beach cottage type house.

I think one can make any house work if they have vision and are willing to comprise. We had a beautiful renovated 100 year old house built solid. Renovations with contractors were a nightmare because they did so many things wrong. In the end the house was perfect but we could not live without central air and there was no way we could make it work in that house. Add to that the volunteer fire station about 5 house lots away which had the siren go off a few times a day and the neighborhood lady with the hot rod car. The noise level was not something we could live with so we sold the house right after we were done with renovations. It sold to the second person we showed it to.
I do think the features in older homes like the beautiful wood trim and having lots of windows in different sizes is so different from the no frill builders of today.
 
A lot of large plumbing companies offer that service. So do some of the Rotor-Rooter franchises. They advertise it in the phone book under "sewer repair" or something like that.



A friend did that sort of rennovation. It wasn't nearly as hard or as much of a hassle as one would think.

Just got an estimate on the roof. I was pretty close but I wanted to make sure.