Buying A House: C or D?

I mean, let's say there are two houses which we like about equally; should we buy the more expensive one?

which one is closer to work, is likely to develop more equity, needs more repair etc

and can you forsee yourself being in a situation where you couldn't afford the more costly one?

I guess just on proportional grounds I would expect the one that starts more expensive to develop more equity.
We're only looking in one neighborhood so everything is roughly the same distance to work.
Needs more repair, hard to know. The expensive one we saw has had more recent updates so might be lower-maintenance.
Work is stable enough that I see no prospect of getting caught unable to afford either one.
There is always a possibility though that family/work stuff might make us want to move cities -- could happen at any time -- don't really understand how this affects the project of buying a house

buy the one you like best if you can afford it but you need a cushion for repairs and the unforeseen

We looked at condos for a year and didn't like the inventory in our price range. So our plan has been to save for 4 more years, when we can hopefully afford the down payment on a house. So of course we finally found a reasonably priced condo that we like, but the seller will likely take another offer because our pre-approval was quickly thrown together on quicken. So we are losing our minds trying to get a more legit pre-approval from a local lender while an open house for the place is happening today. DuuuuuuuUUUUUUd (though I can only blame myself for this one).

I mean, let's say there are two houses which we like about equally; should we buy the more expensive one?

The fact that this is even a question is a great testament to the success of real estate brokers in obscuring the principal-agent problem.

You should always buy the cheapest house you like.

We bought our condo at the top of our range 7 1/2 years ago, and one of my assumptions was that the federal salary table gets an across-the-board increase of between 2-4% every year, so gradually the mortgage would fade into the rear view. Then the 2010 election led to 6 years of stagnant income for both of us, we had a kid in 2011, and now we've had to sell in order to move somewhere more affordable. It sucks.

imo after deciding to move cities 2 times in the last 4 years, & having to sell a house each time, I would recommend thinking pretty hard about how likely it is that you would want to sell in the, I dunno, 5? years after buying. Because selling, even when it goes well, is expensive (particularly wrt time but also money since you have to get it into "selling shape"). We sold our dumb great plains house 4 years ago in less than a week, but we'd worked hard for 4 months before that to get it ready. & this time, a year+ later it's still not sold, but we still have sunk silly money into fixing things per the inspection, like the furnace and hot water heater, even though they were still working fine for us. what a hassle! now we're renters again & even aside from having an owner who handles big repairs, I value our freedom to jump to a better place whenever we want. & I don't know about you, but I'm generally, as they say, "movable", if the situation sounds fun; I get antsy staying in one place very long (though I'm hoping this one will last b/c finally it's not a boring midwestern USA town)

maybe a rejection of our offer won't be so bad after all.

We somehow got the condo anyway because we had a flexible move-in date, and the seller liked the letter I wrote her. I guess I can thank our current landlord for not agreeing to offer us that year-long agreement I wanted a few months ago. Can also thank him for allowing us to live without power for 48 hours while he tried to get "his guy" to fix the master breaker. I am excited and terrified.

we keep finding these awesome houses all located on the same major blvd, this looks cool but it is also next a big apartment building so idk http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/15316-Clifton-Blvd-Lakewood-OH-44107/33493833_zpid/

sufjan what did you say in your letter? it occurred to us to maybe write one to "distinguish ourselves" in a multiple offer situation (which seems extremely likely for any house we want in the current market) but i don't really feel like writing one

kitchen is kind of ugly in that one though

so many ugly ass updated kitchens, nice to have things newer and sleeker but sometimes they don't really go with the rest of the house

also these multi-colored checkered backsplashes i keep seeing in every new kitchen already look like they are gonna be dated as fuck in about 2 years

this whole letter-to-seller thing is somewhat new to me but I guess whatever works, works

my grandfather's house is closing in a week or so after my parents and uncle spent time this year cleaning it out and doing some fix-ups and renovations to get it sale-worthy. my dad showed me the letter the buyer sent and my response was an internal "that's nice?" but since he grew up there, the sentimental nature of the thing might have meaning

Cleveland rocks, marcos.

My grandparents lived at the corner of their residential street and a semi-major four-lane artery in Memphis. An ambulance or fire truck would pass by every six hours or so. You'd hear every thump from the bass speakers. It was not easy making a left turn out of there.

But I'll tell ya, my grand dad never got bored watching the very active world go by his house. At least he didn't live near a stop light like these folks in one of my hometown's nicer neighborhoods:

http://i.imgur.com/ku0vamd.jpg

sufjan what did you say in your letter? it occurred to us to maybe write one to "distinguish ourselves" in a multiple offer situation (which seems extremely likely for any house we want in the current market) but i don't really feel like writing one

― marcos, Monday, August 29, 2016 10:51 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, I'm not sure that a letter does much. It could be a trick where the realtor suggests that you write a letter, you get the place, and then the realtor can say "The seller loved the letter!" The letter seemed important for us because we were the first offer, but we also had a ridiculous-looking pre-approval from Quicken in which they even misspelled our name. So the letter was an opportunity to explain that we weren't actually going to use Quicken and that we were serious about buying the place. I also got a sense of who the seller was from her realtor, and I did try to appeal to that person a little bit. But as I said, I'm not sure that the letter really made any difference.

those multi-colored tile back splashes are dated NOW. It's like exposed ductwork in 2005

lol, you're right on there.

what will be the next dated house feature?

- subway tiles
- dark wood flooring
- white-on-white handleless kitchens

Dark wood is already dated!

yes that was a reach. potfiller taps also dated.

belfast sinks?

stainless steel appliances

I think the dated stuff isn't there until it is, once it appears, it immediately makes itself into a signal of a particular time in home remodeling. Black refrigerators.

Stuff like stainless steel appliances have been around for over a decade and doesn't date the remodel really.

I can't wait for front-loading washers to die, though.

in a tiny laundry room like mine, front loading washers are the only option. I couldn't be happier with it.

I'd still have Belfast sinks and Metro tiles. Still into slate floors in kitchens and bathrooms.

place we are trying to buy has many of these dated items. we are purchasing a renovation museum, really.

we will add to the kitchen exhibit for posterity.

front-loading washers are less of a trend and more of an energy and water efficiency thing, right?

yeah, you use a fraction of the water. the downside is that running a load is painfully slow compared to a toploader

dark wood is not necessarily dated! i've been in tons of older homes that have had dark stains and it looks classic. hardwood in general doesn't really get dated imo

stainless steel has been around for ever, too. i just went to an open house and it had brand new stainless steel appliances everywhere except the oven, which was from the 60s or 70s probably, but it matched up pretty well with the other appliances:
http://photos3.zillowstatic.com/p_f/ISecasml1kwxfq0000000000.jpg
http://photos2.zillowstatic.com/p_f/ISyv2fljqzmu5v0000000000.jpg
http://photos3.zillowstatic.com/p_f/ISqllgo1rhtlou0000000000.jpg

haha maybe i am corny but like belfast sinks

subway tiles can look okay unless you choose tacky colors in which case they are already dated

certain kinds of granite countertops look dated already

shiny handles on dark wood cabinets

ark wood is not necessarily dated! i've been in tons of older homes that have had dark stains and it looks classic. hardwood in general doesn't really get dated imo

― marcos, Tuesday, August 30, 2016 11:37 AM (seven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

when i say this i mean hardwood flooring

You're welcome to guess what I think is the most dated part of those photos.

the chalkboard surely?

Yes, that would be correct.

I've posted these around here already. I'm sure there's more.

http://i.imgur.com/yp7IkCr.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/lGxucgj.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/NmT5hLR.jpg

lol

also from a cook's perspective hanging spices right above the stove is a terrible idea, the heat will ruin those spices

kitchen design choices that show nobody actually cooks

in my house, that's called "putting the mail on top of the burners."

I would never use my stovetop for storage *quickly shuffles all the junk off the stove*

yea the heat will make your oils rancid too

If indeed stood still in those moments, then are we actually in an alternate universe where it kept going?

If, let's say, time stood still when Rebecca and Jonathan got married, then it must have restarted at some point so that Landon could be born, right? Etc.

A true asshole could just go in there and spin the clock a whole bunch of times and kill poor Logan.

OR TURN IT BACKWARDS so they'd never been born? Or just invalidate the marriage to make the boys illegitimate.

The mind reels.

mmkay

lol at the handles literally in the middle of the cupboard doors. why do people do this??

haha i didnt even notice that

to show you have such good upper body strength you don't need the extra leverage of having the handle at the edge

we didn't make the offer on that expensive house btw and i'm feeling good about it, thx ilx