Anyone buy a house just because of the house?

[Anonymous]

No. I'm all about 'location'. The house is secondary. I won't buy a butt-ugly house---but walkability (blocks to everything) are huge for me.

It really is 'location, location, location'...not just the neighborhood but location within the neighborhood (on a street, etc--not a busy corner, etc).

I've seen plenty of beautiful houses, but often they are in locations I could NEVER be happy in. Urbanite at heart.

Location will keep those property values strong as well. The areas hit hard in the recession were the outer suburbs. DC, N.Arlington,Bethesda faired much better.

I would never in my life consider what you are considering...a house vs all other things, esp commute...g*d no!

[Anonymous]

Just know who you are and what would make your family happy. I am a house + friendly, walkable-neighborhood gal. My husband is a swanky kitchen + restaurant-ful, walkable-city guy (could probably care less who his neighbors are). Now that we know this about each other, we're less likely to make bad choices for ourselves and each other.

FYI, my mother is a house + garden + short commute lady. My father is a garden + access to public transport guy. So it goes... to each their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thinking of buying a house just because we love the house and the acerage that comes with it. Don't really like the community and the commute to work would not be ideal but not outragous. Close enough to family. Pubic schools would be OK but most likely would snd kids to private. I know the kids would love the house, has a pool and tennis court great place to play and ride bikes etc. but really nothing else for DH and I. What would you do?

For what it's worth, I went to pubic school and would not recommend it. Some of them can be quite hairy.

Funny. I went to public school in Mo Co. Wasn't an oustanding student, but I did my work, took honors classes, AP, etc. When I got to a nice, private, 'elite' university, I found that I was a better writer and library-researcher than most kids from private schools. No one was more surprised than I. I regularly edited dorm-mates' papers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thinking of buying a house just because we love the house and the acerage that comes with it. Don't really like the community and the commute to work would not be ideal but not outragous. Close enough to family. Pubic schools would be OK but most likely would snd kids to private. I know the kids would love the house, has a pool and tennis court great place to play and ride bikes etc. but really nothing else for DH and I. What would you do?

For what it's worth, I went to pubic school and would not recommend it. Some of them can be quite hairy.

Funny. I went to public school in Mo Co. Wasn't an oustanding student, but I did my work, took honors classes, AP, etc. When I got to a nice, private, 'elite' university, I found that I was a better writer and library-researcher than most kids from private schools. No one was more surprised than I. I regularly edited dorm-mates' papers.

Ah. But you never learned to have a sense of humor (or pick up on details).

[Anonymous]

I would do it. If the commute is bearable.

[Anonymous]

Think about this: YOU might buy the house for the house, but consider all the negative responses you've gotten so far. THESE are more reflective of the opinions of your potential BUYERS when you decide to sell. They likely won't fall in love with your house over the protests of the better judgment about the commute, the schools, the neighborhood, etc. You may have >6 months on the market trying to sell and/or break even.

Don't do it. Wait for the house that has everything you need and most of the things you want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thinking of buying a house just because we love the house and the acerage that comes with it. Don't really like the community and the commute to work would not be ideal but not outragous. Close enough to family. Pubic schools would be OK but most likely would snd kids to private. I know the kids would love the house, has a pool and tennis court great place to play and ride bikes etc. but really nothing else for DH and I. What would you do?

are there any kids nearby for your kids to play with? Do you want to deal with the landscaping/yard work? Keeping a pool is also a ton of work. What about the 'community' do you not like? That is a big red flag to me. Commutes which seem 'not ideal' at the time and excitement at purchase often become unbearable in a short amt of time.

[Anonymous]

OP here - thought I might clear a few things up to see if this changes any responses.
1 - holding out for the perfect house - not possible. We could never afford the perfect house, unless we win the lottery - in the perfect location so there will have to be trade offs.

2 - The neighborhood is not ideal for us (DH and I who love living in the city) but is one that others would consider very attractive.

3 - The kids would love this house. There would be so much to do at home. We live in the city now and have to go somewhere else to do everything - ride bikes, swim play sports...all we do at home is eat, sleep etc.

4 - The commute is a big factor - now commute is about three miles and takes 15 mins in traffic. We can run or bike to work as well. Moving would add an extra 9 miles and be about 45 - 60 min.

Its just so hard trying to balance what would work for DH and I with what the kids would enjoy...I 'm so confused!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thought I might clear a few things up to see if this changes any responses.
1 - holding out for the perfect house - not possible. We could never afford the perfect house, unless we win the lottery - in the perfect location so there will have to be trade offs.

2 - The neighborhood is not ideal for us (DH and I who love living in the city) but is one that others would consider very attractive.

3 - The kids would love this house. There would be so much to do at home. We live in the city now and have to go somewhere else to do everything - ride bikes, swim play sports...all we do at home is eat, sleep etc.

4 - The commute is a big factor - now commute is about three miles and takes 15 mins in traffic. We can run or bike to work as well. Moving would add an extra 9 miles and be about 45 - 60 min.

Its just so hard trying to balance what would work for DH and I with what the kids would enjoy...I 'm so confused!

You are on the right track by trying to weigh your priorities to see which is more important. Unfortunately no one but you can tell you whether or not these sacrifices would be "worth" it for you. But I will tell you that I made a similar move and ended up regretting it. And so now we are moving. If you really aren't wed to living in a city, then this might be good for you. For me it wasn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Its just so hard trying to balance what would work for DH and I with what the kids would enjoy...I 'm so confused!

Maybe instead of making it parents vs kids, it should be what is best for you as a family group. My kids would enjoy lots of things--one was just telling me the other day how we should go live at the beach, and if there's not a school there, we could just home-school. Yes, they'd enjoy that set-up, but no, we're not moving to the beach any time soon.

We did factor in our kids--a lot!-- when we bought a house. We prioritized schools, because that we were going with public schools and wanted to provide them with excellent educations in a warm elementary school. We also came up with a maximum commute time we were willing to make. Then we looked the options in our price range, trying to balance access to outdoor space, proximity to shopping and services, etc. In the end, we're not in a house we're passionate about, but we are totally happy with our set-up.

Along the way we found one awesome house that we thought about for about 5 minutes before realizing that we didn't trust the school zone and because it was really old and would have needed special care. In a different life, I would have loved the house, but it wouldn't have worked for our family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thought I might clear a few things up to see if this changes any responses.
1 - holding out for the perfect house - not possible. We could never afford the perfect house, unless we win the lottery - in the perfect location so there will have to be trade offs.

2 - The neighborhood is not ideal for us (DH and I who love living in the city) but is one that others would consider very attractive.

3 - The kids would love this house. There would be so much to do at home. We live in the city now and have to go somewhere else to do everything - ride bikes, swim play sports...all we do at home is eat, sleep etc.

4 - The commute is a big factor - now commute is about three miles and takes 15 mins in traffic. We can run or bike to work as well. Moving would add an extra 9 miles and be about 45 - 60 min.

Its just so hard trying to balance what would work for DH and I with what the kids would enjoy...I 'm so confused!

all of that sounds great to me. I thought u were going out to middleburg or something

[Anonymous]

Hi OP. We are weighing this exact thing ourselves right now (well, actually, agonizing over is a better description for us). I know you aren't looking at the one we are looking at, though, because it doesn't have a pool or tennis courts.

We have been thinking about what our family time looks like there versus where we are, the loss of a beloved next door neighbor/best friend of my kids if we move, and a neighborhood where playdates have to be arranged - there is no city park just a few blocks down the street.

There are also fewer restuarants and stores, but we think we might actually cook more at home. Plus, frankly, I hardly ever go shopping anyway.

We have not yet come up with an answer ourselves, but trying to visualize yourself both places - where you are now and there, at different age points for your kids, might be helpful.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just bought a house for the neighborhood and space. I added to our commute and really don't like the house because it needs a lot of improvements. It is however in one of the best public school districts in the Virginia and within that one of the best elementary-HS in said district. The schools for us was really important. So for us school was first, size of home second, neighborhood third, and commute last.

Just curious - do you live in or near Waynewood? This is how I feel about our house purchase (2 yrs ago) but wouldn't change my mind if I could go back and do it over again.