Hypothetically...
Let's say I'm on the market for a house. What would I REALLY want in my ideal home? Of course this has to be somewhat tame and realistic. I'm not really on the market yet, since I have a smidgen of a down payment saved. (Do I really want to spend that money on a house? Why not a trip to Europe/Asia/anywhere?) I have been on the fence for awhile now because I wasn't sure if I was going to move out-of-state to go to vet school. Not much has progressed on that front, and I'm not exactly sure what I want to do for my career. Do I want to stay where I am at and try to work up the career latter in the library? Do I want to use my reduced tuition benefits to get my Masters? Another Bachelors? A PhD? A MLS?
Right now Paul and I are mutually frustrated with our living situation. We're not technically allowed to have pets but we have a hamster and birdies, so whenever the landlord needs to come over and do repairs, we have to hide the animals away. Secondly, we have a bad landlord. About 6 years ago, when Paul first moved into our place, someone broke in through a window and stole all of his stuff, but in all this time the window has never been replaced. Sure, there's a huge piece of wood there instead but it makes that bedroom frigid and quite simply absolutely easy to break in. Paul has nagged the landlord to get that window fixed (energy efficiency, anyone?) but it hasn't happened. Our kitchen facet is split and CONSTANTLY leaks (also my worse nightmare) and two years ago we called the landlord to fix it and he said, "Oh, I've ordered the parts to repair that, they should be in any day now", and two years later? NADA. The last two winters, the furnace constantly has issues and whenever the landlord comes to repair it, he gets random shit from surplus and "fixes" the problem for... maybe 2 months. I'm all for being frugal, but this is getting ridiculous. Oh and of course, "all repairs must be done by the landlord." GRRRR! Do I just have renters frustrations? Is that what is motivating me? It's frustrating because our rent is inexpensive, especially for what we have. It's just in a shitty location with a terrible landlord. Anyways, back to the imaginary dreams of a new house.
First of all, do you really want a home? Why not a townhouse or condo?
Ideally, I would like my own house vs. being boxed in near neighbors with potentially thin walls. Since Paul usually has some friends over with band things every once in awhile, not having to worry about being bothersome to a buildingmate would be ideal. If Paul and I were to live in a condo/townhouse, we would most likely need a dedicated practice room rented elsewhere. That's extra $$$. I am not opposed to getting a nice condo since reselling the place would be simple. We've also considered getting a manufactured home. It would be the fraction of the price, we'd actually have something to our name, but unless bought new the resell wouldn't be as high.
How long do I want to be in this house?
a) For the rest of my life? b) Five - ten years.
If I were to get a house now, I'd probably say 5-10 years. A house that we could afford now, would probably be smaller and might not accommodate children, etc. I am thinking maybe 3 bd, 2 ba. That way Paul could have his room, I could have my room, and then a shared sleeping room. I could accomplish this by a manufactured home, or a single family house. Since I will probably be in this house for 5-10 years, a condo/townhouse would be ideal since those are usually young couples and starter homes. If I could afford it, the rest of my life in a gorgeous place... but eh not likely.
Desired features:
Move in ready - maybe a few things that need fixing up
3+ bd, 2+ ba
Mostly up-to-date kitchen
brick exterior
2 car garage (attached or unattached)
a large backyard
hard wood floors
fenced
a (functional) fireplace - optional
central air - gas or electric
kitchen and laundry/mud room separate
nice neighborhood/neighbors
non-busy street
newish roof
Right now Paul and I are mutually frustrated with our living situation. We're not technically allowed to have pets but we have a hamster and birdies, so whenever the landlord needs to come over and do repairs, we have to hide the animals away. Secondly, we have a bad landlord. About 6 years ago, when Paul first moved into our place, someone broke in through a window and stole all of his stuff, but in all this time the window has never been replaced. Sure, there's a huge piece of wood there instead but it makes that bedroom frigid and quite simply absolutely easy to break in. Paul has nagged the landlord to get that window fixed (energy efficiency, anyone?) but it hasn't happened. Our kitchen facet is split and CONSTANTLY leaks (also my worse nightmare) and two years ago we called the landlord to fix it and he said, "Oh, I've ordered the parts to repair that, they should be in any day now", and two years later? NADA. The last two winters, the furnace constantly has issues and whenever the landlord comes to repair it, he gets random shit from surplus and "fixes" the problem for... maybe 2 months. I'm all for being frugal, but this is getting ridiculous. Oh and of course, "all repairs must be done by the landlord." GRRRR! Do I just have renters frustrations? Is that what is motivating me? It's frustrating because our rent is inexpensive, especially for what we have. It's just in a shitty location with a terrible landlord. Anyways, back to the imaginary dreams of a new house.
First of all, do you really want a home? Why not a townhouse or condo?
Ideally, I would like my own house vs. being boxed in near neighbors with potentially thin walls. Since Paul usually has some friends over with band things every once in awhile, not having to worry about being bothersome to a buildingmate would be ideal. If Paul and I were to live in a condo/townhouse, we would most likely need a dedicated practice room rented elsewhere. That's extra $$$. I am not opposed to getting a nice condo since reselling the place would be simple. We've also considered getting a manufactured home. It would be the fraction of the price, we'd actually have something to our name, but unless bought new the resell wouldn't be as high.
How long do I want to be in this house?
a) For the rest of my life? b) Five - ten years.
If I were to get a house now, I'd probably say 5-10 years. A house that we could afford now, would probably be smaller and might not accommodate children, etc. I am thinking maybe 3 bd, 2 ba. That way Paul could have his room, I could have my room, and then a shared sleeping room. I could accomplish this by a manufactured home, or a single family house. Since I will probably be in this house for 5-10 years, a condo/townhouse would be ideal since those are usually young couples and starter homes. If I could afford it, the rest of my life in a gorgeous place... but eh not likely.
Desired features:
Move in ready - maybe a few things that need fixing up
3+ bd, 2+ ba
Mostly up-to-date kitchen
brick exterior
2 car garage (attached or unattached)
a large backyard
hard wood floors
fenced
a (functional) fireplace - optional
central air - gas or electric
kitchen and laundry/mud room separate
nice neighborhood/neighbors
non-busy street
newish roof