When purchasing a house do you think it is more important to have the perfect house or the perfect location? Explain.
Perfect house, because that's where you'll be living, sleeping, eating, entertaining guests... Location can be wonderful or awful but you are not living on the streets, so you don't "see" it often as much as your house.
We went with perfect house. We had a location in mind that we both absolutely loved but the house that we wanted was around 200k cheaper in a different area. After a lot of sleepless nights, we decided to compromise on the area and get a perfect house that didn't need anything.
Perfect location. You can always remodel, add-on, but you can't change your location.
I can work on the house, but I can't change where it is :)
This might come down to different poster's DIY comfort levels. :D
Perfect location, i'm always thinking about my future family. Will be kids be safe playing outside? Is there a lot of traffic? Like others said, I can always remodel.
Perfect location - you can always fix up the house!
Location. You can change the house. You don't always have the option of chnaging school districts, neighboors, and the general vibe of the neighborhood.
You can always fix the house up to be the 'perfect house.' You can never make your location any better (unless you move)!
I will say location but still kind of confused about perfect house. My first house we are currently living is not in a perfect location either but not a perfect house also. I have high expectations So i want a better house in a better location..Hows that? so I am excited to go house hunting after new year..That will be my dream home for the 2nd time until i get bored of it..
I think it depends on what you mean by compromising on location. I say perfect house, because we plan to move a bit further away from work to get the size house we want. I don't mind having a longer commute as I know this house will be big enough to raise a growing family in, has great schools, and has a much more neighborhood feel than areas near my office. However, if I had to sacrifice safety of my children, school districts, or their happiness in any way to get the perfect house I would then say location is more important.
I say location, because to me the perfect house in a bad location isn't the perfect house. Houses can be fixed or changed, you're stuck with the location.
Definitely location. As PP have stated, you canaways work on your house. School districts, safety, and community are things you will be stuck with.
Traffic, schools, proximity to work, restaurants, shopping etc is way more important to me than the actual house. I can remodel, etc. You can't create an ideal neighborhood out of thin air, though!
Perfect location, definitely, provided that there was room to add on to the house (addition), or the changes needed were just upgraded type things.
I mean, I wouldn't buy a dump in the perfect location. But an ok and easily upgradable house in the perfect location - definitely!
Location, location, location, that's where most of the value of your house comes from, it dictates what school district your children go to, it can completely change your lifestyle, and you can always add on, renovate, etc later, location is BEYOND the most important factor!
defintely location. my fiance, his dad, my dad, my brother, and my uncles can build/fix just about anything. my FFIL owns his own carpentry company, and can get supplies for dirt cheap. so for us, we really are only looking for houses in the school district we want because we can turn the house into everything we want for practically nothing.
Location! In the Bay Area, you can get a newly built gorgeous house but not in a really good area or invest that money in a great location but a so so home. In ten years, the house in the better location will definitely hold up its value better for investment purposes.
Location. Don't buy in the wrong location thinking your have 5 years before you have to sell to get into the good school district. Do it now - plus it works much better for resale value.
It has to be a mix of both. keep in mind some townships have codes/restrictions, so it's not like you will ALWAYS be able to do what you want in a perfect location. You should check on this prior to purchasing a home.
For example, in my parents' neighborhood which is all ranch homes, they recently created an ordinance that you cannot build up more than 40% of the house- as in the second floor addition cannot exceed the 40% of the first floor's area. There go many a peoples dreams to expand in a great location.
So you see location is not always the answer.
Perfect location. That's something you can't change. You can always uodate the house later on.
I think it has to be a compromise of both factors. If you pick the perfect location but could not possibly fall in love with the house even with time, how to be happy living in it?
For us, we found that perfect house but it would require us having to pay $500+ mello-roos in additional every month for the next 30years. That's a lot, really. This would also be a huge deterent should we have to sell the house in the future.
So we found the next best one that boast a better location for us, without having to pay crazy high mello-roos.
A safe bet would be to pick the best house you could afford in the preferred neighbourhood especially if you are planning to have kids as the ratings of the school is so important- it affects your child's education and the value of your property too.
Agreed with PP. You can change a lot more about a building than you can change about where it is, even if you're renting. Location is #1 most important thing.
Perfect house! We have the perfect location now but it's not getting any bigger.
We just bought a house and struggled with the same issue. We found two perfect houses, one that was our dream house in a sketchy (not necessarily a bad neighborhood, but not a family friendly neighborhood either) and one in a fantastic location in a fantastic school district, but the house wasn't our dream house (even though it was a beautiful house).
it was so hard to make the decision, but we eventually agreed that the location was more important. we would be in this house for a good amount of time and would like to raise our kids in that house and neighborhood. However, if we weren't thinking of having kids in the near future we would have gone with the other house.
You have to think about, "Is this the place that I want to raise my kids", "How is the school district comparable to the others in the surrounding area?"
Education is important for children if you plan on staying in that area. You can make your home your "own" after a few years..remodel, paint...etc. I say location.
Just something to think about....
@sn2bmrsmntgmry: Mmm...perfect location. I would hate a house in the suburbs personally, and it would drive me mad to live somewhere I hated. Plus, a house or flat can always be remodeled.
Location trumps all. You can always pretty up a less than ideal house, but you're stuck with location which has the biggest impact on future value.
Perfect location. You can change a house. Heck, you can knock the entire house down and rebuild but you can't fix the location.
Good house and perfect location. You can always make changes to the house and not the neighbor. I learned my lesson.
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