I like my house a lot, but I do get house envy. I'm a single mom and most of my friends are either married or make more money than I do (or both) so I have more houses to envy than I used to. I'm especially jealous of people who have lovely, pristine, updated baths! We have to replace our old pipes before we do the baths, so I'll probably be saving for another year for that. Also, I wish we had a neighborhood pool like I did growing up. North Arlington is not great if you want to join a pool.

Other than that, I'm pretty happy.

My house is just fine - lots of little things I don't like about it, but some charming bits, too. What I hate is knowing I'll never have a fabulous house, because we can't afford one. Oh well.

I love everything about my house, except, I wish the backyard was a little bit deeper, so I could put in a screened in porch without eating up too much of my yard. Or I wish I could put on a rear addition and expand my kitchen, but again, the yard isn't quite big enough.

17:31 - THAT IS FOR SURE!

We have always had really pleasant, sane neighbors that have all gone out of their way for each other equally.

Now, this is our sixth or so neighborhood, and we find ourselves where the demographics are similar, too similar! There are more needy SAHMs than not, and yes, many are bored and troubled and troublesome. I would feel bad for them, except that they entirely bring it on themselves.

OP, I agree wholeheartedly that you can change the house but not the neighbors. Some neighbors look fine on the outside, but it is just a matter of time before you find out what they are really about, unfortunately. Especially if you get a whacko next door! Tall fences perhaps.......

Immediate neighbors are crazy - foster dogs, college kids renting, and loony great aunt hangs out in the garage. Oh and their house is falling apart. noisy, unsafe, eyesore.

Can change the house but not the neighbors....

Anonymous wrote:We bought a cheap fixer upper in a great neighborhood. We thought it would be a good investment and we'd enjoy fixing it up. It's a total money pit and after doing all of the HAVE TO renovations (sewer stuff, asbestos removal, etc.) we don't have any money for some of the cosmetic things that we need -- like new doors, new windows, etc. My next house will be 100% move in ready, even if it isn't in the best neighborhood.

How old is the house and how bad are the windows? Replacements aren't necessarily the best option for energy efficiency or durability.

I looooove my house but it was a fixer-upper and we are moving before we planned to, which pretty much destroys the financial picture for this house. Many things that we could have fixed over time have to be done at once. It's depressing, expensive and stressful enough to make me reconsider the whole move. The worst part is giving up everything about this house that's extraordinary and beautiful compared to the utter crap we will be able to afford in DC.

Anonymous wrote:I hate my house. It's 100 years old and is suffering from having had too many bad renovations. It's falling apart. I'm underwater on my mortgage and almost everything is in bad shape - roof, porch, deck, etc.

Being a DC rowhouse, it's also has a terrible floor plan. Thankfully, my neighbors are good, the streets okay, and I can make my payments.

well if you bought it with a good price, maybe you can think the other way of houses price in dc are going up crazy.

I think many people want a certain neighborhood so bad, they can't afford what ends up being normal wear and tear. I would pick/buy one neighborhood "down" for this reason.

I hate my house. It's 100 years old and is suffering from having had too many bad renovations. It's falling apart. I'm underwater on my mortgage and almost everything is in bad shape - roof, porch, deck, etc.

Being a DC rowhouse, it's also has a terrible floor plan. Thankfully, my neighbors are good, the streets okay, and I can make my payments.

I hate my house because it is poorly built. We needed a house in a truly walkable neighborhood. Most of what we saw were the three-bedroom ramblers. I hated them. We found a 4-bedroom end-unit townhouse with a lot of space. I fell in love. I noticed a lot of cosmetic stuff that needed fixing (old appliances, old carpet, out-dated bathrooms). but I thoguht I coudl work with it.

What I didn't consider is that the place was built like crap. The walls are like cardboard. The windows might as well be saran-wrap, and door frames are even fitted at an angle. For example, my bedroom door is flush with the floor at the hinge, but is somehoe two inches fromt he floor where it closes.

But now I am used to all the space and cannot see myself moving into something smaller. I cannot afford anything that is the same size. I am stuck.

I'm glad we bought our house in a good neighborhood but I hate the fact that I can't afford to fix the front door, the landscaping, the roof, the bathroom, etc. I would do this stuff myself but am too busy with the kids.

I've come to peace with the fact that my dream house (3000 sf, everything is old but is meticulously maintained) will continue to be just a dream. The home that I have in real life is what matters.

Anonymous wrote:We bought a cheap fixer upper in a great neighborhood. We thought it would be a good investment and we'd enjoy fixing it up. It's a total money pit and after doing all of the HAVE TO renovations (sewer stuff, asbestos removal, etc.) we don't have any money for some of the cosmetic things that we need -- like new doors, new windows, etc. My next house will be 100% move in ready, even if it isn't in the best neighborhood.

Wow, you really must hate your house that you don't care about the neighborhood just to have something nicer. It sort of contradicts the thread on small home in a great area that's been going around, where the posters were patting the OP on the back for considering moving to a 2 bedroom house in a great area. What if you are unhappy in your new area even though you love the house? At least you may change the house little by little, vs. you cannot really change the area.

Anonymous wrote:We bought a cheap fixer upper in a great neighborhood. We thought it would be a good investment and we'd enjoy fixing it up. It's a total money pit and after doing all of the HAVE TO renovations (sewer stuff, asbestos removal, etc.) we don't have any money for some of the cosmetic things that we need -- like new doors, new windows, etc. My next house will be 100% move in ready, even if it isn't in the best neighborhood.

We have done a similar thing and are also falling into a money pit. We know we can afford to not only fix it but do cosmetic changes and update kitchens/baths/appliances, but we are still worried about all the other potential problems with the old house. Plus, I am not thrilled that we have small baths, tiny closets and smaller living areas, but unfortunately, cannot afford anything new or nicer. So, we must do if we want to live in a particular area, because we are not willing to compromise on location. We are hoping that all in all, we will be happy in an old smaller home because of location and that at the end of the day, we hopefully made the right choice.

We bought a cheap fixer upper in a great neighborhood. We thought it would be a good investment and we'd enjoy fixing it up. It's a total money pit and after doing all of the HAVE TO renovations (sewer stuff, asbestos removal, etc.) we don't have any money for some of the cosmetic things that we need -- like new doors, new windows, etc. My next house will be 100% move in ready, even if it isn't in the best neighborhood.

In another recent thread some posters have talked about buying houses that turned out to be huge mistakes and they are miserable living in them. If this has happened to you, why did your choice turn out to be such a huge mistake? Hoping to avoid major pitfalls as we look for a house.