Reply to Would you buy a home in neighborhood where neighbors make a lot more than you?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]No. I like to do the opposite and it removes the whole keeping up with the jones.[/quote]

+100000

OP, you have no ida what the situation you propose does to some people, mentally.  Some people go into breakdowns over this.  DON'T DO IT.

[/quote]

+1000 It is very lonely and a lot of explaining. "We are not going to the Caribbean for Christmas. Nor will we be visiting Vail. Nor can you accept an all expenses paid trip to Europe with your friend Isabella. No we are not doing the $15k summer camp with Sammy"[/quote]

This makes me very sad. We bought a $700K teardown in a $1.2++ neighborhood. There are dark moments I wish for more, but we love making this house ours. We do much of the work ourselves including the landscaping. Our neighbors have been incredibly welcoming and compliment our efforts to improve the place. The neighborhood kids play at our house, not because it's the nicest place on the block with the best stuff, but because it's a happy place to be. It's true, we have lots of conversations about why DD can't take private horseback lessons or get French manicures every week. Sometimes these conversations leave me exhausted, but mostly I look at them as opportunities to talk about how lucky we are to have what we do. Wealth is relative. And there will always be someone richer, smarter, thinner, etc. None of that matters if you're right with yourself. I'd rather her learn that in life than how to surround herself with people exactly like her.[/quote]

Unfortunately, it catches up with people sooner or later.  It's not as easy as feeling you bought a bargain, in a close in neighborhood, unfortunately.  It comes with a ton of baggage, physically and mentally, internally and externally, which most people are not able to handle.  You can pretend everything is near perfect, but its not.  Most people aren't right with themselves for long, if they are at the low end of the spectrum.  Its common sense. You can't fit a square peg into a round hole.

[/quote]

We bought a house in a more expensive area than we probably should have and there are pluses and minuses. Main con is that we both need to work at least till kids are out of elementary and we'd prefer to have one parent at home. Also, the house needs larger renovations that will take time. There is also more of a competitive atmosphere than I'm used to. Pluses are that it's a large enough house for us to live in for many years, the neighborhood is safe and desirable, many nice families, lots of kids nearby, amenities and schools nearby, great school reputation, great aftercare at the school, walkable neighborhood near shopping, and it's convenient to many jobs in the DC area should one of us lose a job. Do I sometimes wish I could hang out at the pool and tennis court all summer? Sure, but every choice has drawbacks.[/quote]

We made the same choice and have no regrets. Home improvement can be addictive and expensive, but buying a fixer upper was the only way for us to afford a terrific neighborhood with great schools in Bethesda. Like many close-in neighborhoods, ours is a mix of older neighbors who have been here forever and newer ones with $2 million homes. The wealth disparity isn't an issue for anyone but you, OP, and you're the only person who knows if you can handle it.[/quote]

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