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

[chocolatechip]

Location is SO important. I could have the biggest, most beautiful house, but if it was in the middle of a big ole' city I would not be happy. I like smaller towns. 

[Scarlett]

Neighbor hood no question.

[Julie Smith]

 

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.

 

 

That is an awful place. I would never want to live in a place like that. 

 

Sidewalk that lead somewhere, or more correctly everywhere. Skinny streets laid out in a grid, no dead ends. Lots of places in walking distance. Awww, perfection. 

[Bluegoat]

That is an awful place. I would never want to live in a place like that. 

 

Sidewalk that lead somewhere, or more correctly everywhere. Skinny streets laid out in a grid, no dead ends. Lots of places in walking distance. Awww, perfection. 

 

That's my preference, or really rural/village type of situations.

 

The streets that go nowhere on a suburban lawn thing seems like the worst of every location.

[FaithManor]

Location. Our neighborhood turned out to be a dud.

[BarbecueMom]

If the criteria is walkable or not, I'd take the perfect house in a less-walkable neighborhood. I would hate having a tiny kitchen that I cook every meal in with no room for a coffee maker, and also be walking distance from dozens of restaurants and coffee shops I'd never go to.

 

For safety, better neighborhood with an imperfect house.

Edited April 26, 2016 by BarbecueMom

[Pam in CT]

Sadie has a "what have you done a 180 on" thread...  :lol:

 

This issue is up there, in areas on which my thinking has significantly evolved.  Now, I'd strongly prefer a great neighborhood and especially walking access to library/groceries/amenities/restaurants.  So done with driving for every.stupid.thing.

[1GirlTwinBoys]

Neighborhood

[SproutMamaK]

Neighbourhood, and I'm the sort of person who stays holed up in my house 90% of the time. A place where I feel safe and have access to the things I need is worth feeling cramped, etc. There are a probably a few "imperfect" house things that would make me say "uh-uh, no way", but not many.

[The Girls' Mom]

Definitely neighborhood.  We have built the house we've planned for 25 years.  I'd happily give it up to move to a different neighborhood.  I miss sidewalks and the ability to walk or bike to places easily.  While the land is beautiful, the community is severely lacking.

[foxbridgeacademy]

perfect neighborhood (especially the walkability part) would be really hard to turn down,  but I could not live in a house that was 1/4th the size nor in a house that was run down UNLESS I had the $$ to fix it.  

[SproutMamaK]

Can I also just add that this thread has made me REALLY grateful for my house? We bought our house because it was a steal, and when we were buying we sort of assumed that anything we could afford would be in a crappy neighbourhood and we'd work our way up. Instead, we landed in our of the best areas around. The pool is across the street. The library is a 2 minute walk away. The best elementary school in town is 3 doors down. We have two playgrounds and a baseball diamond within a block. We overlook a river. The city's pargest park is 5 blocks away. We genuinely had NO idea what we were buying when we got this place as newlyweds, we just saw a fixer upper in our price range and jumped on it, but MAN did we ever luck out. (Although it was a heck of a fixer upper... 15 years in and we're STILL not finished. SO worth it, though!)

[EMS83]

For us, the perfect neighborhood would be the woods.  Or half of a mountainside...  So to a certain point, that.  Only if the compromises on housing were mild or moderate.  :D

 

Edited April 27, 2016 by CES2005

[Carrie12345]

That's actually a pretty tough one for me!

At this point, I'm used to being far away from everything.  My neighborhood isn't rough, but it's boring and not particularly friendly.  I guess, since I'm used to traveling, I would probably prefer to have the "perfect" house.  I could still do whatever I wanted, albeit with more effort, and then be happy and comfortable at my home base.  Vs. having everything at my fingertips, but being unsatisfied with the place I spent most of my time.

 

Of course, if we're talking putting kids in serious danger, I'd have to start my thought process all over.  Or I'd have to go back to owning big, scary dogs.

[RKWAcademy]

We just made this choice.  We chose the perfect neighborhood because our kids are young and that's why we want to leave our perfect house in an imperfect location.  We're building in just the right neighborhood but had to build a smaller house than ideal.

[J-rap]

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. 

 

The question in my original post was more hypothetical, expanding on my dd's situation.  

 

In her situation though, it was really just an apartment and not a home.  But the apartment she wanted was a big, gorgeous apartment with lovely hardwood floors, build-in buffet, mahogany woodwork throughout, big storage room, in a great building about 100 years old.  The neighborhood was run-down, and is known for crime.  Several homes have been boarded up.  The only nearby park was full of graffiti and and is known to attract some gang activity.  Driving up and down the neighborhood, there were a lot unsavory looking young men just hanging around in the streets, day and night.  (Not that looking unsavory makes you unsavory, but just explaining the general vibe).  My dd leaves for work before sunrise, and will have to park her car in the street a block or two away.  She has a dog that she'll want to walk every day, and she also jogs alone every day.  There is nothing to walk to except the park, which doesn't feel safe.  She is married so her dh will be there, but she does a lot of things alone too.

 

The other apartment is very adorable actually, but about the size of a tiny dorm room with a tiny living room slapped on.  No storage space so the only place to store their bikes will be on hooks on their living room ceiling.  But the neighborhood is very charming, safe, lots of little parks, trails, coffeeshops, shops, post office, library, etc. within about 6 blocks.  She and her dh are very outdoorsy and will want to be outside a lot, taking walks, so it's really perfect.

 

They couldn't wait for the perfect situation to come along, because they had already been waiting for four months and they just felt it was time to leave their current, temporary quarters with generous family members who had offered them a place to stay while they were job and apartment-hunting (they had just moved there from out of the country).  Plus, the market is tight.  Nothing seemed to be opening up in their price range that would accept a dog.

 

But you're right, decisions like this would definitely be case by case.  Lot of things to weigh in!

[BigMamaBird]

Unless either were very extreme, I'd prefer the perfect neighborhood.  You can always fix up a house, but if your area is riddled with crime or even if you have one jerk of a neighbor, there's nothing much you can do about it.

[Bluegoat]

Unless either were very extreme, I'd prefer the perfect neighborhood.  You can always fix up a house, but if your area is riddled with crime or even if you have one jerk of a neighbor, there's nothing much you can do about it.

 

Jerk neighbours though seem to turn up in every kind of neighbourhood, and often you don't know until you are moved in and see them in action.

 

I would avaoid a place with a known jerk neighbour, but I doubt in most cases that will be a significant issue when making a decision to move in. 

[AimeeM]

Perfect neighborhood. And I say that as someone who recently traded in the perfect neighborhood for the perfect house - and I would rather have my neighborhood back.

 

We moved from a small 1500 square foot home, in a picture perfect neighborhood (great neighbors where everyone knows you and likes you; everyone helps everyone; children ride their bikes and play with each other, etc), to a large new home in a beautiful neighborhood (aesthetically beautiful - but nobody knows us, doesn't seem to care to, and I miss my old neighbors terribly).

[Outdoorsy Type]

In that instance I would absolutely choose the smaller apartment.

[Guest]

Can I also just add that this thread has made me REALLY grateful for my house? We bought our house because it was a steal, and when we were buying we sort of assumed that anything we could afford would be in a crappy neighbourhood and we'd work our way up. Instead, we landed in our of the best areas around. The pool is across the street. The library is a 2 minute walk away. The best elementary school in town is 3 doors down. We have two playgrounds and a baseball diamond within a block. We overlook a river. The city's pargest park is 5 blocks away. We genuinely had NO idea what we were buying when we got this place as newlyweds, we just saw a fixer upper in our price range and jumped on it, but MAN did we ever luck out. (Although it was a heck of a fixer upper... 15 years in and we're STILL not finished. SO worth it, though!)

We didn't really know how excellent our location was when we bought it either. The house was charming and within tour budget but was going to sell very quickly. The neighborhood wasn't great but felt much more private than every other street around it, and we didn't realize we were in the heart of our community with great access to *everything*.

 

Unfortunately we have grown fast and the house is tight, and we covet space more than walking to coffee or the park. Our *personalities and preferences* are what make this less than ideal. In that sense location is somewhat subjective - we have what many buyers want but it's not the right fit for us. This will benefit us greatly whenever we sell down the road though.

 

Last night I drove to an area that has property for sale - wanted to see if my can could manage it in winter or if I had to cross the neighborhood off the list. The entire drive up to the properties I was thinking how utterly perfect it was. How much I loved every single thing about the location. Hundreds of miles of trails. Ten minute access to the center of Anchorage. Wildlife, views, roads that are potholed but definitely not too steep for my vehicle to manage in all but the worst ice storm. Heck, even my favorite existing house on the MLS - the one I adore inside and out - was up in that neighborhood. That feeling of adoration and rightness for an area has never been so strong in my *life*.

 

I just wish we could buy the land now and build. So badly. But unless something changes it's not to time. At least I know anything that pops up on the MLS in that area is a great choice for us. Than does help!

[kubiac]

Neighborhood. Infrastructure is harder to build than houses.

[Runningmom80]

neighborhood!