Jump to content

Menu

Would you rather have the perfect house or the perfect neighborhood?


J-rap
 Share

Recommended Posts

My dd had to make this decision recently, so it got me thinking.

 

I know it depends a little on how bad is the imperfect house or neighborhood.  But let's just say, for example, the perfect neighborhood is safe, walkable distance from everything you need -- parks, grocery store, library, coffeeshops, and the imperfect neighborhood is kind of a rough, older residential area not close to anything at all.

 

The perfect house is, well, perfect -- meets every single thing you ever wanted in a house, and the imperfect house is waaaay smaller (probably 1/4 the size of the perfect house) than anything you had ever even imagined, though you could make it work.  Or, you could say that the imperfect house is the size you want but run-down and needs a ton of work.  

Edited by J-rap
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well we picked the perfect neighborhood.  And we downsized to do so.  From about 3000 sq ft to about 2100 sq ft, with actually more storage.  The house needs work, however it has been livable the whole way and we are slowly getting things done. 

 

We've been here 12 years and I love Love LOVE the neighborhood.  It's walkable and close to everything.  If we're in the car more than 15-20 minutes, the whining begins.  ;)  I have no regrets.  And as an aside, I love my house.  I'd love a big chunk-o-money to have a bunch of things done at once, but it's a pretty darn nice historic home.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We just went through this decision. We picked the perfect neighborhood. It is central, walkable, close to the old high school, library, church, shopping, etc. Very few houses were available at our price point, so we feel incredibly lucky to have gotten it. Even though there are weird and unusual things about the house.

 

Sent from my LG-H345 using Tapatalk

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Location. I've lived in an area where the location was marginal when we moved there and was trending towards very undesirable when we left. After we moved, the neighborhood was rezoned to a dangerous high school. I was so grateful to leave before the rezoning so we could at least break even on our home sale.

 

I love our location now. The home isn't perfect, but safety and its proximity to library, schools, and stores make it highly desirable.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I recently made this choice, and I chose the neighborhood. My current house is much smaller than my previous house, has a terrible layout (tri-level — ugh!), and desperately needs updating (built in the 70s). However, the neighborhood is beyond perfect: a really quiet, safe, established neighborhood with lots of mature trees and well-kept houses, with quite a few kids DD's age. And it's right in the heart of a small city, super close to everything we need. Where we used to live, it was at least a 30 minute drive (each way, several times a day) to the kids' activities, so I'm really loving the fact that everything here is just 5-10 minutes away.

Edited by Corraleno
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My dd had to make this decision recently, so it got me thinking.

 

I know it depends a little on how bad is the imperfect house or neighborhood.  But let's just say, for example, the perfect neighborhood is safe, walkable distance from everything you need -- parks, grocery store, library, coffeeshops, and the imperfect neighborhood is kind of a rough, older residential area not close to anything at all.

 

The perfect house is, well, perfect -- meets every single thing you ever wanted in a house, and the imperfect house is waaaay smaller (probably 1/4 the size of the perfect house) than anything you had ever even imagined, though you could make it work.  Or, you could say that the imperfect house is the size you want but run-down and needs a ton of work.  

 

Do you have the money to put into the house? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do you have the money to put into the house? 

 

Hmmm...  Good question.  Since the examples I gave are kind of hypothetical, let's say no, not right now.  Because the neighborhood is so much nicer, the not-perfect home is just as expensive as the perfect home in the not-perfect neighborhood, and it's really all you can afford right now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It depends on my life stage.  With kids (old enough to navigate the block), the neighborhood is more important.  Without kids, house might be more important.

 

I have lived in my house for over 20 years, 9 of them with kids.  This is a nice location for a childless or empty nest person/couple, as long as you have a car.  With school-aged kids, it is a bummer that there aren't any amenities, and few other kids, within reasonable walking distance.  But this is only a short season in my life.  So I'll go with house over neighborhood in the long run.  (Of course assuming it's not patently unsafe.)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is the house perfect if you are trapped?

Trapped inside because neighbors are jerks or something.

Trapped for time because you have to plan on driving significant distance to get to anything.

Trapped with older kids completely dependent on you because there's nothing for them nearby

Trapped for more reasons...

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In most instances I would pick the perfect neighborhood over the perfect house, hands down.  The exception would be if the house had serious structural issues as well as serious plumbing/wiring issues since those could honestly end up being a huge albatross around someone's neck (unless you had unlimited financial resources).  In that case, though, I would keep looking since I wouldn't care for the perfect house located in a neighborhood that did not meet our needs, either.  

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well we picked the perfect neighborhood.  And we downsized to do so.  From about 3000 sq ft to about 2100 sq ft, with actually more storage.  The house needs work, however it has been livable the whole way and we are slowly getting things done. 

 

We've been here 12 years and I love Love LOVE the neighborhood.  It's walkable and close to everything.  If we're in the car more than 15-20 minutes, the whining begins.  ;)  I have no regrets.  And as an aside, I love my house.  I'd love a big chunk-o-money to have a bunch of things done at once, but it's a pretty darn nice historic home.

 

Because of a few posts you've made that I recall, I know you are in my state, and may very well be in the perfect neighborhood that my dd chose.  :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a much easier theoretical question though.

 

When we last moved into this city, we looked at a few places in a better location.  One we decided against because I was sure I could not back the car into the driveway without hitting something, and backing out would have caused a serious accident.  I don't really regret that house.

 

The other was in the perfect location - easy walking distance to everything including dh's office, and in my favorite area of the city.  Also one I felt connected to as my great-grandparents lived there when I was a child.  At that time it was inexpensive, but when we were looking prices were going up.  The house itself had been used as flats and needed a fair bit of cosmetic work.  There was a hole in a bedroom wall, gross carpet in one bedroom, the bathrooms were a little yucky.  Livable though.

 

We decided against that because my dh was working off-shore six months a year and we thought that it could be the end of our marriage - we had three small kids, things were stressed as it was.

 

In the end we went with a compromise, not a perfect location but good, in a small post war house with a big yard, where I can walk to many things and it is a short drive to others.

 

I totally regret that now.  The prices there are even higher, there aren't many fixer-uppers, and it is still my favorite part of town.  I miss being able to walk to the library and coffee shops, and really, a few years in a dump is not a big deal, in hind-sight.  But it was a very rational decision.

 

Now we are expecting, and depending on the sex staying here may eventually be tricky.  But larger places in our price range are in non-walkable suburbs.  I don't know what we would do - maybe renovate I guess.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another vote for neighborhood, but your ideal of a perfect neighborhood doesn't match mine.

 

We love ours (rural, with great neighbors) or I'd go for a beachfront condo on a walkable beach (at least 2nd floor up).

 

When we bought here we bought for the neighborhood.  Hubby asked me if I wanted to see the inside of the house again and I truthfully told him, "Who cares what the inside of the house looks like?  We'll get used to it.  We'll never get this setting again."

 

Almost 20 years later I've no regrets.  All of us easily got used to the house - even with it's single incredibly small bathroom upstairs...  :coolgleamA:   (That's the main thing I would change if I were to put money for non-necessities into this place, but I doubt we ever will.  We raised 3 boys here just fine.)

Edited by creekland
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We choose neighborhood. Actually living in a basement condo in order to live with a train stop in front, and a state park out back.

 

However, the neighborhood preference has changed for us due to changes in life circumstances. So, again choosing neighborhood, we are now renovating a rundown house next door to my brother-in-law. They have been there 20 years, and we already know their neighbors.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Neighborhood.  House can be worked on hopefully over time.   Neighborhood cannot be fixed that easily.  Plus an OK house in a wonderful neighborhood will sell better than a fab house in a bad neighborhood.  Just look at some of the old mansions in downtown Detroit that are going to rot. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In her case (and her dh), it was actually an apartment and not a home, but was still a very tough decision.

Perfect neighborhood. We aren't homebodies so we can deal with an imperfect home.

 

Our parents, hubby and I have always picked apartments with elevators because we loathe stairs and yard work. Walkability and availability of public transport is another consideration. Where we stay now has most essentials within 10 mins walking distance, other than walking further for a general practitioner. The light rail station is a short walk away and the light rail goes to a state university.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd probably keep looking for a good enough house in a pretty good neighborhood. I had a house I hated in a neighborhood I loved and it was not fun. Neighborhoods can change- sometimes they get better; sometimes worse. We were house hunting recently and saw a few so perfect houses that I would have loved to pick up and put somewhere. We saw neighborhoods that would have been perfect but the houses would have made daily life difficult. We didn't choose either of them. We picked a house that had a lot of great features but some things we don't like. We picked a neighborhood that is really nice, but not exactly what either of us would consider our dream neighborhood. We are very satisfied with our choice. It's all about balancing the pros and cons. 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are currently house hunting and having a hard time finding either one...  We are a military family, moving back to an area that we have lived at before, which is both great and frustrating.  Since we have lived there before, we know where we want to live and we have friends who can look at houses for us, which is awesome!  But, it also really limits us.  If we had never lived there before, most of the things that are important to me at this time wouldn't be so important (our kids are in school and we want them to be able to attend school with their friends from when we lived there before.  We move so much that having the chance to go to school with old friends is a huge bonus!)  We are also trying to live back in the same ward (Mormon congregation).  And the ven diagram of both middle school and ward is really small.  Add in our price range and house wishes and we are really limited for both buying and renting.  

 

We are going for neighborhood over house, but that is assuming there are actual houses available in the neighborhood we want.  It is tricky when you don't have time to watch for just the right one to pop up.  I'm sure it will all work out, and we have a back up plan so we are not feeling any panic, but since I'm house hunting now, I can see that there are other perfectly nice neighborhoods out there with the perfect house (just wrong for this stage in our life...)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Depends. I prefer a perfect house because I detest neighbors. So if the imperfect neighborhood were still tolerable and not dangerous I'd deal. If the house were decent and the neighborhood was perfect I'd also deal with that. Reality isn't usually one being excellent and the other being crap, but some shade of gray in between.

 

In our case right now we have a fantastic location with a decent neighborhood (it's improved in recent years with the drug house burning down and the hovel next to our home finally being ripped out and replaced), and the house is nice but old and small. These things are harder long term because we are tight on space and there are never ending projects that drain our money. Yet the house is structurally sound (mostly cosmetic issues) and the neighborhood is livable, it just happens to have people in it.

 

Now that I type these things up I sound like a curmudgeon :rofl:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My dd was just asking me why we moved into our house (she was too little to remember before the move). And I have to say that I would NOT move back to the house we were in for anything. It was tiny, didn't have a/c, didn't have a dishwasher, 2 square feet of counter space, the layout was horrible. Of course, we were renting, so we couldn't make huge changes. Now I live in an almost perfect house in an almost perfect neighborhood (for me- lots of people could find things to be unhappy abut here.) Only about 8 blocks away from where we rented before. I just don't think I could be happy with the kitchen I had before, even in a perfect location.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My dd had to make this decision recently, so it got me thinking.

 

I know it depends a little on how bad is the imperfect house or neighborhood.  But let's just say, for example, the perfect neighborhood is safe, walkable distance from everything you need -- parks, grocery store, library, coffeeshops, and the imperfect neighborhood is kind of a rough, older residential area not close to anything at all.

 

The perfect house is, well, perfect -- meets every single thing you ever wanted in a house, and the imperfect house is waaaay smaller (probably 1/4 the size of the perfect house) than anything you had ever even imagined, though you could make it work.  Or, you could say that the imperfect house is the size you want but run-down and needs a ton of work.  

 

What is the weather like in that area?  What is the transportation situation? 

 

Will your dd be living alone?

 

And what exactly is the situation with the imperfect house.  Is it just way smaller or is it run down needing a lot of work?  Or both?

 

I think this really is a case by case basis thing where different factors are going to matter depending on the situation. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Location, definitely location. Would never find a perfect house in a location I didn't care for...probably we wouldn't have looked at it to begin with (if we knew beforehand that the area wouldn't work as well). When buying a house we did most of our research online (we had 1 older child, 2 toddlers and a baby...the idea of house shopping with them was daunting), so we did mostly online. Never found a good home in a bad location, because those just didn't make "the list" for us to go see. Long story short, LOCATION :)

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

For buying? Neighborhood, no question. Particularly in terms of selling if needed--if you are paying interest on this thing, it had better appreciate at least to keep up with the interest so you aren't underwater (in normal conditions, we all got screwed during the recession), and what will appreciate is NOT the floor plan but the neighborhood.

 

However if we are talking about renting it really depends.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd want the neighborhood. Houses can be torn down or redone to become 'perfect' but a neighborhood can't, at least not by my family and money alone.

 

Exactly.

 

I live in a house that fits many of our criteria... but it is not the perfect neighborhood.  We didn't figure that out until after we'd moved in..it definitely fit some of the "perfect neighborhood" checkpoints.

 

Anyway, I'm so unhappy and my son is so lonely.  I'm ready to move.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Location - like the others have stated. Just moved dd into a town home (mortgage from Bank of Mom and Dad). Had seen many lovely little houses - some with redone, great kitchens (dd is working ft and also studying at the local cc to get her certificate in pastry making) online BUT each of them was in either an unsafe area or unsafe and on a busy road, so we didn't even ask to go in and see them. Think resale value - if a neighborhood puts you off, it will put off potential buyers when you want to move on.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would much rather live in a good neighborhood where lots of stuff was walkable then live in a big house in a run down neighborhood.

 

I think this is interesting though, because it kind of puts out there what a few people seem to mean when they say "bad neighbourhood" as being run down.  That is true for some, but for others run down is probably not so important.

 

Friends of mine are about to move to what I would consider a horrible neighbourhood - but it isn't run down and is actually rather expensive.  It is just a bunch of houses on streets that go nowhere with no sidewalks - my idea of Hell.  You have to drive everywhere and the main road connecting it is a hellish commute.

 

I'd much rather live in many run-down neighbourhoods in our city than that one.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Location.

 

Prior to this house we lived in a townhouse next to a drug dealer. Seriously, we suspected it for some time, and then one day he went off to jail and then prison. There was an article in the local paper. A friend moved in and seemed to take over his business, although we were never 100% sure. There was a lot of traffic back-and-forth at odd hours. Scary people hanging around, and also random crime.

 

We love our current neighborhood. We have some land, but are 5 minutes from a grocery store and 15 minutes from doctors, the library, a hardware store, etc.

 

Perfect!

Edited by G5052
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...