First time home buyer MAJOR REGRET

[Anonymous]

We bought a fixer-upper and spent everything on the interior of our home. It is nice inside now, but the outside of the house is making me crazy. It looks horrible. Also, my child can not play in the yard because there is no yard just rubble, and clay etc... We walk to the park twice a day. Can you finance landscaping? Really I just want to sell the house and get a more expensive home that has decent curb appeal and a yard. (Not fancy just decent.) We could afford a more expensive mortgage but don't have a lump of cash upfront for the work that needs to be done. I think that we could sell the home for more than we paid. This was our first home and I realize that it was a huge mistake. I talk to my friends who are looking to buy their first homes and caution them to learn from our family's mistake. Advice appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Have someone watch your child, put onl your oold clothes, and get to work on cleaning up your yard. You don't need a pro, just good old fashioned elbow grease. Go online and learn about gardening/landscaping and slowly start to creat a plan. This is a good time of year to think about it - you can clear out the yard now and then plant in the spring and be ready when it's warm.

[Anonymous]

I think you are over-reacting. If there were huge structural flaws, and water was pouring into the house, then I think your hysteria might be justified, but if you like the inside of the house, how can the outside appearance matter so much? Why can't you save up? Why do you care so much?

[Anonymous]

find cheap labor and have them do it all.

[Anonymous]

Do your landscaping in stages - work on growing grass from seed next spring - the garden centers will give you good advice and we've had good sucess. Chat up people who live in your neighborhood with nice lawns/landscaping. We've gotten lots of good tips/help that way. Check Freecylcle and craigslist in the spring/fall for people giving away plants. We've gotten a bunch of stuff that way - it may not be the best stuff, but it's better than what we had before. And you won't feel bad about ripping it out when you have the $ for better stuff.

You can do it. There's always something to complain about with a home, nothing is ever perfect. And moving is a PITA.

[Anonymous]

Seriously? I can't believe you are complaining about this. You have a totally remodeled interior of your home, and the possiblity of a yard. Get out and do it yourself! It's not rocket science.

Many of us walk to the park 2x/day with our kids anyway.

[Anonymous]

I am sorry you are going through this! We also bought a fixer--upper. Way too much work, and money, and I was mad for a long time. It is almost completed now. So much more comfy. Try not to blame yourself. This is a very tough market, b/c everything is so expensive. Keep looking in the winter, after Chritmas, there will be someone who will smooth out your yard for less than an landscaper would charge. Try Angie's list, put your seed and straw down, and in the spring it will be better. (I did this) Also sod has gone down in price. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Wow. You want to sell a house because of a yard? Throw some seeds down and water it. Agree, you are over reacting

[Anonymous]

if you sell, you will have to pay 6% to a realtor unless you do a FSBO (which is a lot of work and you may end up loosing money by not selling for top price), when you buy you will have closing costs. with home prices in this area, you are llikely talking about tens of thousands of dollars. you say you do not have money. how do you think you are going to buy a more expensive home? you will need a downpayment, are you sure you will mange to sell your home and, after all costs of selling and buying, have a decent downpayment for a more expensive home? and this is a selle's market in many areas, with very low inventory and home rightly priced flying out of the door in days, so you need to put a very attractive offer to win.

I feel your pain because our yard needs some improvement, and we are moving slowly (and we are soing everything ourselves). but if you can afford a higher mortgage, save the extra money starting this month, and in less than a year will have some decent amount. look at the GardenWeb forums, plenty of people who look and get advice and how to remodel a yard, and do some work yourself. and be patient, because it takes years anyway to build a nice yard

[Anonymous]

Also, if you do decide to sell, the first thing your agent will tell you is that you need to fix up the front yard to increase curb appeal.

[Anonymous]

First world problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First world problem.

This is so old. All our problems are first world problems. So what?

[Anonymous]

OP, what specific things do you hate about the front and back yard?

If it's overgrown, prune the shrubs and take out dead/ugly things. Put out some mums or winter blooming flowers. Clean the siding or power wash.

Can you set up a little play area for the kid while the backyard is a work in progress.

Little things to tidy up the exterior can do a lot to help sanity while you save up for the big stuff.

If you are desperate to finance landscaping, some landscaping companies accept credit card (with the 5% markup fee they pass on from the credit card cos) and you could get a 0% financing card.

[Anonymous]

As a PP said, you'll have to fix the yard if you want to sell anyway. It isn't complicated work, just labor intensive. Get the kids to help picking up rocks or whatever. For each bucket they fill, they get an hour at the park (or TV). My point is, you can do this. It's not worth selling the house over.

I moved into a foreclosure a few years ago with a horrible yard. I fixed it up; so can you.

[Anonymous]

I can't picture your yard, OP. Can you shovel the rocks and lay down sod in the spring? It's a little more expensive, but it gives you a quick lawn with minimal work. They also have those "flowers in carpet" things that you just roll out and water. I have a friend who did it and it's really pretty. I was surprised. You cut it in any shape and water and it's done. It will have to wait until spring, but it gives you time to save up for the sod.