Agonizing over house decisions...

[LisaKinVA]

We purchased a piece of land a little over two years ago. It wasn't a spur of the moment decision -- and we really like the land.

 

However, it seems we are currently in the position of either putting a house we don't like on the land, or waiting 2 1/2 more years to build.

 

So, dh and I went "house hunting" yesterday to look at alternatives. I gave up having a dedicated "garage" awhile ago -- allowing my dh to take over the garage for his workshop (to save money by not building the workshop right away).

 

We are now really struggling with "which way" to go for a house. We've been living in about 1000 square feet for 8 years (not too bad when there were 4 of us... but with 7, "cramped" doesn't come close to a description.

 

Assuming the land isn't an issue (either we sell it, or we find something within our budget we can live in for the next few years until we can build a house we like).

 

At issue are two homes.

 

House #1 is on a beautiful piece of property, almost park-like with a huge pole barn, and a separate 30x30 workshop. The house is pretty-much in move-in ready condition -- but would not allow any room to grow. Every room in the house would be fully, and completely utilized. "Hopefully" we could remodel the house in about 5 years -- but it would be a massive renovation. There would be a little work before moving in, but nothing major. The children could easily ride their bikes, skate, run, play basketball, there are horses at the to properties adjacent to ours. It will sell for close to full asking price. House #1 is a little farther from everything we do. But, again, the lot is BEAUTIFUL.

 

House #2 is 12 years old, and a foreclosure. It would need new flooring and paint before ever moving in. Finished space is more than house #1, plus there is a full, unfinished, walk-out basement. There is no lot to speak of, but we are about a 3 minute walk from the park, pool, and tennis courts. There are sidewalks, and the area has a history of selling well maintained homes quickly. House #2 is listed at $80,000 less than house #1, and we could easily justify putting in an offer about $35,000 less than the listing price. House #2 is substantially closer to commuter lot, shopping, church, and swimming -- and about the same distance to scouting. It would be a temporary house -- it would be a "project" house (remodeling bathrooms, finishing the basement, adding a sunroom, remodeling the kitchen). It is also an "investment" property. In today's market making the changes I've mentioned -- which would cost about $30,000 total (not including our labor) -- would allow us to sell the house TODAY for $45,000 more than the actual list price.

 

Some notes: we are in the house a good part of the day. Between school and either cold wet weather, or hot muggy weather -- we are inside a LOT. We currently live on acreage, and the children have never really lived in a neighborhood with a pool, or around many other children. Prices in our area have stabilized, or actually risen slightly in the past year. This trend is very likely to continue.

 

This is still our "plan B" -- both of the actual homes may be sold before we could make a decision, so this is more hypothetical as in searching for a direction to look for homes.

 

If this were YOU, and YOU had to make this decision -- which would you choose.

[EJCMom]

I would choose house #2. In the situation you described, where weather makes it a rarity that the children are outside just playing in the yard, the finished inside and proximity to activities would be more important to me than having a large lot.

[AngieW in Texas]

Until we moved into our current house, we had always been on acreage and far away from everything. We have really enjoyed being in town. I wasn't sure we'd be able to deal with having neighbors that were actually next door instead of across the field, but it's been very nice.

 

After all the kids have gone to college, we will probably move to a 1-story house. My dh's knees are in bad shape. Unless all the kids are going to be elsewhere, I'd like to try to end up in one of the 1-story houses on our current street. I really like where we are.

[BeckyFL]

I voted for house #2. Besides the space, you'll have the opportunity to make money that you can put towards your house on the land. Can I also say that when reading your descriptions, I really had the feeling it's what YOU wanted deep down (or what you knew was best). You know how you end up writing about the one you really want just a little differently?

[Julie in CA]

Not sure I read your post correctly, but if so, I'd use the piece of land you already own and like. I'm not sure why the only options with that are to build a house you don't like, or wait 2 1/2 years. Is it in a location where there's a developer requiring a particular house plan? If not, I'd work closely with an architect to design a house with "phases" of construction. Pick the right plan, and design it in such a way that you're building what you want eventually, but only the most necessary parts of it right now. Perhaps you leave off a bedroom, but you make sure to do the grading for it while the machinery is there, and you make sure not to put the a/c unit outside the house on that side, kwim? Design the roofline in such a way that it's easy to tie in and add the rest later. Is that possible in your situation?

[CalicoKat]

I would move to property #1 because of the pole barn. It presents options for your space concerns.

[Michelle My Bell]

There is nothing like LOCATION! I would live in a smaller house that I could renovate any day to be on property I loved.

[Harriet Vane]

Not sure I read your post correctly, but if so, I'd use the piece of land you already own and like. I'm not sure why the only options with that are to build a house you don't like, or wait 2 1/2 years. Is it in a location where there's a developer requiring a particular house plan? If not, I'd work closely with an architect to design a house with "phases" of construction. Pick the right plan, and design it in such a way that you're building what you want eventually, but only the most necessary parts of it right now. Perhaps you leave off a bedroom, but you make sure to do the grading for it while the machinery is there, and you make sure not to put the a/c unit outside the house on that side, kwim? Design the roofline in such a way that it's easy to tie in and add the rest later. Is that possible in your situation?

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

[LisaKinVA]

Not sure I read your post correctly, but if so, I'd use the piece of land you already own and like. I'm not sure why the only options with that are to build a house you don't like, or wait 2 1/2 years. Is it in a location where there's a developer requiring a particular house plan? If not, I'd work closely with an architect to design a house with "phases" of construction. Pick the right plan, and design it in such a way that you're building what you want eventually, but only the most necessary parts of it right now. Perhaps you leave off a bedroom, but you make sure to do the grading for it while the machinery is there, and you make sure not to put the a/c unit outside the house on that side, kwim? Design the roofline in such a way that it's easy to tie in and add the rest later. Is that possible in your situation?

 

We've already spent $6,000 on house plans... two different sets. Supposedly, the builder/architect we used for set #1 was making sure the house would be in budget. But, after the plans were done, they came back and told us it would cost $200,000 more than they initially thought. We left them, and just chalked the money up to a learning experience.

 

Attempt #2, scaled the house way, way, way back. Got the house in for permitting, and wouldn't you know it... market crashes taking 2/3 our land equity with it. Yes. We can still build this house, but we need an additional $20,000 in cash to build (that would be the cash we put into the land in the first place).

 

Attempt #3, scaled the house down by another 1,000 square feet, lost most of the exterior "charm". Went for pretty much practicality. We're talking 2,600 square feet for 7 people. 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, a living room, a dining room and a nice, but not anything close to my "dream" kitchen (BUT, we have a garage, a bonus room over the garage and an unfinished basement). We are about $8,000 apart from the appraisal and where we "need" to be for the loan. It may be possible to build -- however, building costs are going up faster than home values. Waiting is only increasing that spread. We originally were going to owner-build. However, the banking mess of 2008 served to erase most OB financing. The *only* bank that has a reasonable construction-to-perm program "could" do an OB loan, but it would be at a much higher interest rate, and he couldn't recommend it. They will only do constr. to perm. with "known" builders (known, with good reputations for brining homes in on-time, on-budget, that appraise well.)

 

FWIW, it is not cheaper to build my house on my lot on anything other than a basement. The house site and slope make a slab MORE expensive, and a crawl space about $5,000 less than a basement. The basement is what gives our family flexibility. House #3 was designed by a builder's architect for economy. There are a LOT of sacrifices within the house, but if we decide we want to modify it in 10 years, it is easy to do.

[Denisemomof4]

I would move to property #1 because of the pole barn. It presents options for your space concerns.

 

:iagree: and more space for your kids to play.

 

IMO, pools and neighborhoods are nice, but living in the country with acreage and a barn are priceless. My dd10 has the richest life imaginable, all because she feels so blessed to have chickens and pigs. :lol: She is the most social of all my kids and she doesn't feel sad At All about not having friends nearby. It also helps that her favorite person to spend time with is me. :D I don't think this would be so if we lived around a bunch of kids that she had access to all the time.

[FriedClams]

I'd pick A. Land over a park any day. But I daydream about getting 30 aces and letting my kids camp in the yard, run free, have chickens...

[Kalypso]

I would go for #1 if I absolutely had to chooe between the two homes. We are inside a great deal here when it is hot, but my kids have to have space outdoors to play where I don't have to worry about them.

[elfgivas]

our call was to go with land we loved; houses can be altered. my dh bought this house without ever going inside. he had fun with a sledge hammer and chain saw, and now the house with a dozen little rooms has one great room, one sunroom, and 4 bedrooms, with a kitchen and 2 bathrooms.

 

and as an aside, we do 6 people in 2100 square feet, with two bathrooms. i think that is enough space, and we can afford to heat and cool it.

 

i think you will need to decide how much you want to build vs. just move now. and how important location is vs. beauty/peace.

 

cindy's porch has a saying "shop at home first", so given that you own land, i'd be tempted in that direction.

 

good luck!

ann

[Denisemomof4]

We've already spent $6,000 on house plans... two different sets. Supposedly, the builder/architect we used for set #1 was making sure the house would be in budget. But, after the plans were done, they came back and told us it would cost $200,000 more than they initially thought. We left them, and just chalked the money up to a learning experience.

 

Attempt #2, scaled the house way, way, way back. Got the house in for permitting, and wouldn't you know it... market crashes taking 2/3 our land equity with it. Yes. We can still build this house, but we need an additional $20,000 in cash to build (that would be the cash we put into the land in the first place).

 

Attempt #3, scaled the house down by another 1,000 square feet, lost most of the exterior "charm". Went for pretty much practicality. We're talking 2,600 square feet for 7 people. 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, a living room, a dining room and a nice, but not anything close to my "dream" kitchen (BUT, we have a garage, a bonus room over the garage and an unfinished basement). We are about $8,000 apart from the appraisal and where we "need" to be for the loan. It may be possible to build -- however, building costs are going up faster than home values. Waiting is only increasing that spread. We originally were going to owner-build. However, the banking mess of 2008 served to erase most OB financing. The *only* bank that has a reasonable construction-to-perm program "could" do an OB loan, but it would be at a much higher interest rate, and he couldn't recommend it. They will only do constr. to perm. with "known" builders (known, with good reputations for brining homes in on-time, on-budget, that appraise well.)

 

FWIW, it is not cheaper to build my house on my lot on anything other than a basement. The house site and slope make a slab MORE expensive, and a crawl space about $5,000 less than a basement. The basement is what gives our family flexibility. House #3 was designed by a builder's architect for economy. There are a LOT of sacrifices within the house, but if we decide we want to modify it in 10 years, it is easy to do.

 

it sounds like you'd really need to be careful here. Cost overruns are common when building.

 

Have you at least checked into modular homes? I was shocked to learn I was in one recently. They've come a LONG way. They are far nicer now on the outside, and the inside possiblities are limitless. It's worth looking at anyway...

 

It sounds like there's an awful lot of sacrifice going on for the house above. Do you think you'l REALLY be happy????

[LisaKinVA]

I would move to property #1 because of the pole barn. It presents options for your space concerns.

 

Well, the things we have to store (hand-me-downs, Christmas tree, books that don't fit on the book shelves, snow clothes, etc.) don't do well in a pole barn that provides only minimal relief from extreme weather. Well... we could get rid of the Christmas tree -- there is no place in the house to put it up anyhow. But storing clothes in the pole barn wouldn't do.

 

The pole barn is fine for the bikes, the riding mower, wood, stuff waiting for the dump... the kids' swing set :D

[RoughCollie]

I'd take House #2. I'd fix it up and sell it when I was ready in 2.5 years to build on the land.

[LisaKinVA]

it sounds like you'd really need to be careful here. Cost overruns are common when building.

 

Have you at least checked into modular homes? I was shocked to learn I was in one recently. They've come a LONG way. They are far nicer now on the outside, and the inside possiblities are limitless. It's worth looking at anyway...

 

It sounds like there's an awful lot of sacrifice going on for the house above. Do you think you'l REALLY be happy????

 

While there is sacrifice -- we've worked with the design to make it easier to renovate. Facade changes are comparatively easy to make (mostly, we're talking adding stone, a big shed-roof dormer to the bonus room). I can easily convert the Bonus Room (aka school room) into a 4th bedroom/3rd bath, I can easily put a sunroom on the back, and/or a Master Sitting Room. While the stairs aren't my preference, they will do. We can add a nice large workshop for my dh easily as well...

 

It's not my dream home, but it has a nice sized laundry area. It has a dining room large enough for my family to sit comfortably. It has a kitchen with a bar area that will seat 6... and if I really want to put in my "dream kitchen" we could.

 

I would be happy with the house. It's not perfect. But, it meets all of our needs, and has a few of our "wants." The lot is covered in trees, with a perfect spot for a tree-house. It is quiet. The street is a culdesac -- so the kids could ride their bikes and skate. There is a nice yard in front and in back for play and garden. We can't see our neighbors from the house (although, the house next door is vacant right now... so not much to see there anyhow).

 

It is very lovely. I have figured out how we would live there -- I know where everything would go (present and future). There is space to put in a private living quarters so if my parents or dh parents have to move in -- they could have their own apartment, with private entrance and carport.

 

In sum... YES, I could be VERY happy there :D

[LazyDazy]

If I understand correctly you are choosing house 1 as a "forever" house or house 2 as a temporary place until you could make your dream house happen on your land, right? If that's the case, I would go with house 1. I say this from experience in that you never feel completely settled in the "for now" house which makes living in the moment more difficult. Plus I am finding that my kids would much rather share rooms if they could just be "home" now. (In our case the kids love our land and wonder why we can't just be there now! To the extent of deciding we could camp on the land until a house - any house is ready). Just our experience after deciding to go with the temporary option.

[LisaKinVA]

If I understand correctly you are choosing house 1 as a "forever" house or house 2 as a temporary place until you could make your dream house happen on your land, right? If that's the case, I would go with house 1.

 

Well, more like "forever lot" -- the house, not even close. There is no easy way to renovate the house, without tearing down the family room (which would be our dining room), and moving every piece of plumbing on the main floor. Truly, we'd almost be tearing the whole thing down and starting over... which means we'll have to live somewhere during the reconstruction. :tongue_smilie:

 

Our current house plan does have the children sharing rooms -- but they aren't 9x10 rooms, they are 12x15 with nice closet space (the listing says this house's bedrooms are 10x11, but the 11' assumes the closet floor space is part of the bedroom :tongue_smilie:)

 

The house on that lot would be like living in our current space, but with nicer finishing (carpet, vs. concrete... 10 ft. of kitchen counter vs. 6 (although I wouldn't have to carry food up and down stairs from the working stove/oven) a private bathroom for dh and I vs. 1 bathroom for 7... the MBR size and closet space is about what we have now, meaning, I still can't open my dresser drawers, unless I lie down on the bed, or stand to the side.) I'm just not sure I can take another long stretch of dealing with being so cramped. Our whole family could not sit down to watch a movie together. DH says it will only be 5 years -- but we were only supposed to be here for two. Costs to build what they are now (not to mention heading higher), I have a feeling we'd be "stuck" with that house for ten or more years. To be honest, the thought of moving into the house makes me want to cry. But the thought of the land makes me very, very happy.

 

I have moved kicking and screaming 21 times in my 41.5 years. While I've lived here for 8 years, I have never felt "at home" or "settled" in the least. I have no desire to fix up a house I want to tear down (seems like a waste), so I sincerely doubt I'd feel "at home" there ... ever.

[TechWife]

I'd take House #2. I'd fix it up and sell it when I was ready in 2.5 years to build on the land.

:iagree::iagree:

[Scuff]

I voted for #2, but really, I'd just keep looking. Thingsdon't always go as planned. You don't want to be stuck in #2. And #1 doesn't sound like a great option, either. The lack of space might just drive you crazy.

[LisaKinVA]

Well, I've sat and thought about what everyone has said -- and while I love the outdoor space from #1 -- the thought of moving into the house makes me want to cry. I cry enough right now -- moving into a house with the hope that we can one day afford the massive remodel it would take for us to be comfortable there long term is just more than I can handle. I've been getting by, and making due for 8 long years. We waited for the local market to crash -- it did -- and now that we are ready to move, I don't want to move into something that feels "barely live-able."

 

Maybe it's a bit selfish -- but I'm tired of crawling over the bed to get to my dresser! I hate putting away my clothes, because it is too difficult to get them out. I just get more and more depressed thinking about it -- and the lot just is not enough to take away the daily pain of living in the house.

 

So, option #2 (or other) is where we will head. Something with enough space for all of us to live comfortably -- even if it's in town. Because, you know -- I don't mind dragging the kids to and from activities when they are 10-15 minutes away. I want a place where my kids can have friends over -- and there is room in the house for them. I want a place that we could at least accommodate my family when they come to visit (did I mention I have 21 nieces and nephews?). A place I can cook without having to run up and downstairs to the garage to get special pans. A place that has a place for "me" to work on my projects without storing them in storage bins in the garage.

 

Yes... I suppose the house is all about me after all :D

 

DH gets his workshop regardless. I am without a garage, regardless -- but at least with #2, we have space for the Christmas tree! ;D

Edited September 21, 2010 by LisaK in VA

[LND1218]

There are a ton of foreclosures and cheap houses in your area. I know I have been looking there. I would go for #2, keep looking or start building.

 

If I loved the land I had, I wouldn't let it go. If getting #2 means letting it go, I would either keep looking or build.

[Alenee]

:iagree: and more space for your kids to play.

 

IMO, pools and neighborhoods are nice, but living in the country with acreage and a barn are priceless. My dd10 has the richest life imaginable, all because she feels so blessed to have chickens and pigs. :lol: She is the most social of all my kids and she doesn't feel sad At All about not having friends nearby. It also helps that her favorite person to spend time with is me. :D I don't think this would be so if we lived around a bunch of kids that she had access to all the time.

 

:iagree: I have very social children but nothing can match my 11yo reading a book under the plum tree; or watching my 2 younger girls go racing from the top of the driveway down the slope and across the yard; or their tendency to make believe they're living "back then", running around outside with long dresses and baskets on their arms, pretending to be Laura Ingalls. :)

 

The neighborhoods sound so great for social 'stuff' but in reality, we found that great neighbors that you would spend lots of time with are not the norm and where we live, there are HOA's that make it difficult to have any freedom on your own postage stamp. :glare: I also have friends with large families who get by just fine in smaller square foot homes. There's a country song from at least ten years ago, I think it was by Reba McIntyre, about living in a small home where they bumped into eachother all the time but they also couldn't escape eachother...they had to deal with one another and that made them closer. Very mushy but I love the sentiment and lived it growing up.

[Prairie~Phlox]

Good for you, not everyone is meant for the country. I love having a house in town, with a small lot and little maintenance. I grew up on a farm and know the hard work that it takes and though it was an experience, I just enjoy not having to do much. Maybe I've gotten lazy over the years, I don't know. Everyone has to do what's best for THEIR family.

 

Phlox

[Scarlett]

Well, I've sat and thought about what everyone has said -- and while I love the outdoor space from #1 -- the thought of moving into the house makes me want to cry.

So, option #2 (or other) is where we will head. Something with enough space for all of us to live comfortably -- even if it's in town. Because, you know -- I don't mind dragging the kids to and from activities when they are 10-15 minutes away. I want a place where my kids can have friends over -- and there is room in the house for them. I want a place that we could at least accommodate my family when they come to visit (did I mention I have 21 nieces and nephews?). A place I can cook without having to run up and downstairs to the garage to get special pans. A place that has a place for "me" to work on my projects without storing them in storage bins in the garage.

 

Yes... I suppose the house is all about me after all :D

 

DH gets his workshop regardless. I am without a garage, regardless -- but at least with #2, we have space for the Christmas tree! ;D

 

So there is your answer! This board is priceless as a sounding um...board. :D