would you choose: new house or nicer neighborhood?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would the older home need updating or an addition to meet your needs? If you have to live there during an addition and if you have young children it could be a lot to deal with. Not to mention that the cost of an addition hasn't really gone done with the real estate market going down. The other question is could you live with the smaller (I'm assuming) space of the older home? I have found I have to be ruthless with throwing things out and trying to stay on top of the clutter because we just don't have the space. We also just don't have the room for a ton of toys so . I am a pack rat by nature so it is a challenge but I am finding out that I have lots of stuff that hasn't been worn in over a year, toys barely played with, magazines never read etc. If you think you can handle the space and the amount of updating needed, I would say to pick the older home. I was never much of a neighbor person before moving here but I think having sidewalks has made a difference. We see lots of people walking dogs, run into people while we are going on walks with the kids, kids riding their bikes on the sidewalk etc. One thing I forgot to ask, is the newer homes on a dead-end street? That can make a difference. I knew someone that lived in a new neighborhood with only a few homes on the street. It was a dead-end street so it was a little easier to walk around or have the kids playing without a sidewalk there. Also, lots of moms were SAHM so they would have the kids out front or in the driveway/garage area during the day - it wasn't an issue to meet other people or have a place for the kids to play.

I find one of the JOYS of living in a small home is being a minimalist and being tidy. I am so thoughtful when I purchase anything, especially furniture. Everything has to have a dual purpose. We also just don't buy that much stuff b/c we don't have the space for it. Our small home is actually quite efficient and spacious because I have been deliberate about everything that goes into it. Also, we have been able to do some really nice, quality remodeling because the house is small. I also have had fun with my remodeling projects in keeping the integrity and charm of an old home with modern materials and conveniences. Less materials, less money.

I love watching design shows and getting design magazines for small spaces. I personally think a small space with an awesome design is much better than a large space with boring personality. Living in a small home also makes me a more organized and neater person. You cannot have a messy small house b/c the mess will always be in your face, there's no where for the mess to hide. I just love walking into my well designed tidy old house.

[Anonymous]

You can check out maps on line that show where the property values are dropping. The declines are much sharper in the outer suburbs than in the old suburbs.

A smaller home is also cheaper to operate. Less electric, less gas, less furniture. Think of all the things you can do with that money.

Your kids will be more independent (and probably thinner) if they can walk or bike to fun things to do and to their friends' houses.

[Anonymous]

Definitely neighborhood. Especially if it is in a better (or same quality) school district. I love the older homes too. Ours was built in the 1950s and is SOLID. Yes, it was a pain when we had to renovate, but all my friends who went for the new home now regret it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would the older home need updating or an addition to meet your needs? If you have to live there during an addition and if you have young children it could be a lot to deal with. Not to mention that the cost of an addition hasn't really gone done with the real estate market going down. The other question is could you live with the smaller (I'm assuming) space of the older home? I have found I have to be ruthless with throwing things out and trying to stay on top of the clutter because we just don't have the space. We also just don't have the room for a ton of toys so . I am a pack rat by nature so it is a challenge but I am finding out that I have lots of stuff that hasn't been worn in over a year, toys barely played with, magazines never read etc. If you think you can handle the space and the amount of updating needed, I would say to pick the older home. I was never much of a neighbor person before moving here but I think having sidewalks has made a difference. We see lots of people walking dogs, run into people while we are going on walks with the kids, kids riding their bikes on the sidewalk etc. One thing I forgot to ask, is the newer homes on a dead-end street? That can make a difference. I knew someone that lived in a new neighborhood with only a few homes on the street. It was a dead-end street so it was a little easier to walk around or have the kids playing without a sidewalk there. Also, lots of moms were SAHM so they would have the kids out front or in the driveway/garage area during the day - it wasn't an issue to meet other people or have a place for the kids to play.

I find one of the JOYS of living in a small home is being a minimalist and being tidy. I am so thoughtful when I purchase anything, especially furniture. Everything has to have a dual purpose. We also just don't buy that much stuff b/c we don't have the space for it. Our small home is actually quite efficient and spacious because I have been deliberate about everything that goes into it. Also, we have been able to do some really nice, quality remodeling because the house is small. I also have had fun with my remodeling projects in keeping the integrity and charm of an old home with modern materials and conveniences. Less materials, less money.

I love watching design shows and getting design magazines for small spaces. I personally think a small space with an awesome design is much better than a large space with boring personality. Living in a small home also makes me a more organized and neater person. You cannot have a messy small house b/c the mess will always be in your face, there's no where for the mess to hide. I just love walking into my well designed tidy old house.

I'm with you. My husband is trying to convince me to move to larger home and I'm not interested.

[Anonymous]

re: smaller house. We have one. I find that it just forces us to be better at throwing out junk we don't need and donating a lot more to charity. On the flip side, I think that if I had a bigger house, I'd be more prone to keeping everything (like baby clothes when we've decided we are done - really, who needs bins full of stained baby clothes lying around?).

[Anonymous]

We've lived in both the old (circa 1920s), solid, small house and the new construction house (circa 2002) (the house we currently live in). Both houses are equal in terms of neighborhood, since they're in the same neighborhood, LOL (the new construction was among a few houses that were infill). (Our new house is not a "McMansion," BTW--it has the same setbacks as all houses in the neighborhood and was specifically built to conform to the neighborhood and to take up only slightly more of the footprint of the previous house.) Having lived in both, there are advantages and disadvantages to both, and it's really a matter of personal preference: neither is inherently "better." The older house had more solid walls and somewhat more charm in certain things--the fireplace moldings, for example, and a set of pocket doors, etc.). The new house, however, has more charm in other ways: for example, it has large windows that let in lovely views and light, and built-in bookshelves (you can put those in older houses too, of course, but if the house is smaller there might not be room to take up space with built-ins which take up a fair amount of space), and higher ceilings (not talking two-story great rooms, just regular higher ceilings.) I think it is erroneous to say that older houses are always more charming than new--it really depends on the house. I've seen plenty of charmless older houses too, LOL. Also, with new houses you get floor plans better suited to current lifestyles--for example, in our current house the family room is off the kitchen and the kitchen looks onto it; you don't get that in older houses and that was a design feature that was important to us.

As for space, for us personally, the new house wins hands down. We LOVE LOVE LOVE having space. (More space was the main reason we moved, when we had a second child.) There is a place for everything, and even though we are total slobs and our house has lots of clutter, it doesn't feel cluttered because there is space to put things. I also love being able to store things in the basement (unfinished), and love that we have a first floor powder room and coat closet (both of which our older house did not have). I also love having a bedroom for each child as well as an office for my husband and I. In a nutshell, space is wonderful and calming. I totally understand that some of you have the ingenuity to live in a small house, and that's great. We just don't have the temperament for it.

[Anonymous]

My recommendation at this point would be keep looking. I think you may have more choices. If you get an older home, try to get a contractor in to provide an estimate for all the renovations you want to do. You don't want to put a lot of $$ fixing up the place to find out in a year or so that the value has depreciated. Happened to a friend mine.

[Anonymous]

I would definitely pick neighborhood over new house. It might also be wise to keep looking to find a nicer house in an established neighborhood. We purchased our house before kids came along. We did a lot of research and found the neighborhood where we wanted to live -- sidewalks, nice lots with trees, school in walking distance, etc. Then we waited until the right house became available. In fact we were just about to put a contract on a different house in the neighborhood when I talked my husband into the one we bought. The one we purchased did not have as much curb appeal and needed a lot of cosmetic work, but I knew in the long run it would work out better since it was on a cul-de-sac and backed to woods. I am so happy with our purchase. Anyway, it is now 2008 and we just finished putting an addition on our house -- our family ended up expanding a little bit more than we planned . . . My oldest son was dissapointed that we did an addition since he wanted to move into a bigger new house, but DH and I are in agreement that we are here to stay . . . at least until retirement!

[Anonymous]

This is one of the PP posters. As you can tell DCUM is full of people that live in small houses Seriously, I thought about moving into a bigger house - but when the numbers didn't add up to make moving a realistic option we turned our energy toward fixing up (even more) the space we have. I told my friend it's like the song - If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with ... We our working with an interior designer to help pull everything together and solve some of our problem areas. In the end it all depends on your preferences and where you are in terms of time, money, and willingness to fix anything up. When I was in my early 20's looking for my first home my realtor showed me a townhouse in a prime location in DelRay but had no central AC. She assured me that it could be added and how the place had great bones etc. Trust me, I wasn't hearing that. I wanted move in ready. It was just me, with no family in the area at the time, and no network to even know who to hire, what would be a good price etc. and after living in a cheap but crappy apartment while all my friends had nicer apartments the last thing I wanted was a fixer upper. Fast forward years later - willing to take on some fixing up but there had to be something done in the house - I couldn't walk in and feel like that postcard I had years ago of a shack practically falling down with the statement "360 more payments and it's mine". So even though the mantra is location, location, location - you also have to feel happy about what you buy in that location or what is the point? I think someone mentioned that maybe you can find more of your dream combination of more house and established neighborhood if you keep looking but if you have to buy, go with your gut.