Opinion Poll: Buying a house

"Shaunesay" <mbentz RemoveThis @kc.rr.com> writes:

 > When you bought your first house, or if you are thinking of buying your
 > first house...
 >
 > Would you:
 > A.) Buy a used house intending to stay there just awhile and then move up

I know people that seem to like moving every couple of years.

 > B.) Buy a used house intending to stay there forever or at least for a long
 > time.

We choose B for what its worth. During my last layoff, I had to forgo several
interesting jobs in order to stay in the house (and have my wife keep her dream
job).

 > C.) Buy a smaller new house intending to stay there just awhile and then
 > move up

This used to be the way many newlyweds got into the housing market, upgrading
when the kids came. Unless you made a killing in the stock market or are
sponging off of daddy, most people can't afford the house of their dreams,
especially when starting out.

 > D.) Buy a larger new house intending to stay there forever or at least for a
 > long time

Most people don't have this option when starting out and man people never have
the option. Also whether you are going to want to stay in the same area
depends on things like job availability.

 > E.) Did you do something else than these options and what was it.
 >
 > Just curious... Scott and I are on house safari, and I was just interested
 > to see what others had done and why...
 >
 > At the moment I'm leaning towards the slightly more expensive new house that
 > I would be happy in for a long time, because I really don't like moving at
 > all, and so why not get the house I'll be happy with now, and not have to
 > move again? The problem is affording it, as both my father and Scotty got
 > to go through being laid off this last year, so we had a hard lesson in how
 > your life can change very suddenly. I guess the larger nicer house is sort
 > of also a plan for the future, as my father is older than my mother, and at
 > some point, perhaps one or both of them may need to live with us, not to
 > mention having kids, there would be plenty of room, etc. There are many
 > pros and cons to both ideas...

In terms of new house it depends on whether you mean new as in some builder
built a housing development are you are going to move in immediately, but it
was not made specifically for you, or new as in hiring contractors and such to
build a house to your specifications. Having contractors in our house as we
refurbished it a few years ago and watching my boss at my last job having to
deal with all of the issues with building a house, I'm not sure I would want to
go through it. It will always cost more money and take longer than the
estimates. On the other hand, most housing developments tend to be cookie
cutter builds, and are somewhat soulless.

--
Michael Meissner email: mrmnews RemoveThis @the-meissners.org <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.the-meissners.org" target="_blank">http://www.the-meissners.org</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Opinion Poll: Buying a house 

Posted and e-mailed.
On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 03:37:16 GMT, Shaunesay stomped through my
brain with:

 >B.) Buy a used house intending to stay there forever or at least for a long
 >time.

One of the things about new construction is "They don't build
them like they used to."

We specifically do NOT have a new house because we've been in
enough "new" houses to see that they are just not built well. At
least in our area. And you usually, within about 5 years, end up
having to do something to it anyways.

We bought a "used" house...it's about 80+ years old...brick twin
in town (what some would call a duplex). Sure, it's old...has
some troubles, but it's built well and sturdy.

However, even so, age isn't as much a factor as need. What do
you need in a house? We needed at least 3 bedrooms. We needed
someplace for kids to play. And we needed something close to my
office.

Sure, there were plenty of 3 bedroom places on the market, but
this house meets our needs, and not to excess.

Price aside, that's the most important thing to us, at least. As
I've mentioned in other threads it bothers me seeing these people
with 1.5 acres of ground that they never use, 4 bedrooms when
they only have 1 kid, 4 car garage when they only can drive 2 at
a time...we bought what we need. And for that matter, it's
pretty much what we'll always need. We made sure we bought
thinking about future expansion of family, plans for the future
(library in the attic, studio/office in the basement).

Sorry...I'm babbling...but we went through this just a little
under 3 years ago ourselves.

Tristaan
--
Beware Spam Trap!: "us" is an "ogre"
*******************************************************
Ogre-Monk, ICQ# 14668166, AIM TristaanOgre
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Assistant Librarian/Orangutan, Pedant Target,
Chief Brute, Husband of Amethyst, Father of Charis and Talia
Co-Owner of The Ogre, the Elf, The Imp, and The Urchin
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Keyboard Martyr, Keeper of the ABML Cookbook
PGP Public Key available
*******************************************************
Lord, lift me up with tender care.
Will You wash me clean in the palm of Your hands?
Lord, hold me close so I can thrive
When You touch me, that's when I know I'm alive.
--"Thrive" by The Newsboys
*******************************************************
"What is a Mennonite?"
Answers at <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.thirdway.com/" target="_blank">http://www.thirdway.com/</a>
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 >> Stay informed about: Opinion Poll: Buying a house 

Posted and e-mailed.
On 16 Feb 2004 08:06:59 -0500, Michael Meissner stomped through
my brain with:

 >In terms of new house it depends on whether you mean new as in some builder
 >built a housing development are you are going to move in immediately, but it
 >was not made specifically for you, or new as in hiring contractors and such to
 >build a house to your specifications. Having contractors in our house as we
 >refurbished it a few years ago and watching my boss at my last job having to
 >deal with all of the issues with building a house, I'm not sure I would want to
 >go through it. It will always cost more money and take longer than the
 >estimates. On the other hand, most housing developments tend to be cookie
 >cutter builds, and are somewhat soulless.

That and watching the developments go up in our area...let me
describe the outside walls as I saw them go up.

2X4 studs. Plywood over that on the outside (drywall on the
inside with no noticeable insulation going in). Some Tyvek
wrap/foam board going over the plywood. Siding right on top of
the wrap. So, in total, the outside walls are no more than 4
iches thick and not much of it is to protect you from the
elements.

Our house has plaster over plaster and lathe over studs with
blown-in insulation on red-brick exterior... 6 inch thick (if
not a bit thicker) walls with plenty between us and the outside.

Tristaan

--
Beware Spam Trap!: "us" is an "ogre"
*******************************************************
Ogre-Monk, ICQ# 14668166, AIM TristaanOgre
God of Grilled-SPAM™ and Summer, Disciple of Babble
Assistant Librarian/Orangutan, Pedant Target,
Chief Brute, Husband of Amethyst, Father of Charis and Talia
Co-Owner of The Ogre, the Elf, The Imp, and The Urchin
Violinist for the ABML out-of-practice-musicians band
Keyboard Martyr, Keeper of the ABML Cookbook
PGP Public Key available
*******************************************************
Lord, lift me up with tender care.
Will You wash me clean in the palm of Your hands?
Lord, hold me close so I can thrive
When You touch me, that's when I know I'm alive.
--"Thrive" by The Newsboys
*******************************************************
"What is a Mennonite?"
Answers at <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.thirdway.com/" target="_blank">http://www.thirdway.com/</a>
*******************************************************<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Opinion Poll: Buying a house 

Shaunesay wrote:
 > When you bought your first house, or if you are thinking of
buying your
 > first house...
 >
 > Would you:
 > B.) Buy a used house intending to stay there forever or at
least for a long
 > time.

That's what I did. Then we proceeded to repair/replace/renovate
every room over a period of several years.

I think that's why DH wanted to move - there was nothing left to
renovate! <g>

Lived there for 21 years so I guess that qualifies as a long
time.

Now we're in repair/replace/renovate mode again with the new
house.

Which is really an older house (built in 1947) but it's new to
us!

--
Purrt the ghatta
Smitten Kitten
Part-time gryphon
Disciple to the Goddess of Chocolate
Owner of a full Pedant's licenc/se
Goddess of Impertinence
Snikkrish the Tearer
Carpe Bean<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Opinion Poll: Buying a house 

"Shaunesay" <mbentz DeleteThis @kc.rr.com> writes:

 >When you bought your first house, or if you are thinking of buying your
 >first house...

 >Would you:
 >B.) Buy a used house intending to stay there forever or at least for a long
 >time.

I've owned two houses (not counting the family house in New Orleans
that my sister and I jointly own, and that she occupies). Both
were purchased with long-term plans; the previous one was sold because
I moved out of the area, and I've been in the second house for over
twenty years.

It's not that I don't glance through the for-sale listings from time
to time, and there are some things that I would like that can't
as a matter of practicality be done to the house I'm in, but the
hassles of moving and the loss of being part of a wonderful
neighborhood make it very unlikely that I'll leave the house unless
something major event occurs (like a tree falling through my bedroom --
it almost happened last fall; three huge trees, each longer than the
house, fell into the back yard).

Joe Morris<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Opinion Poll: Buying a house 

On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 10:44:44 -0500, Tristaan <tristaanus RemoveThis @yahoo.com>
wrote:

 >Price aside, that's the most important thing to us, at least. As
 >I've mentioned in other threads it bothers me seeing these people
 >with 1.5 acres of ground that they never use, 4 bedrooms when
 >they only have 1 kid, 4 car garage when they only can drive 2 at
 >a time...we bought what we need. And for that matter, it's
 >pretty much what we'll always need. We made sure we bought
 >thinking about future expansion of family, plans for the future
 >(library in the attic, studio/office in the basement).
 >
 >Sorry...I'm babbling...but we went through this just a little
 >under 3 years ago ourselves.
 >
 >Tristaan

Harrumph!!!

Our current house has 6 bedrooms (if you count the former "office"
downstairs). Three people, two dogs, three cats & two guinea pigs.
We need the room. (The house was built in '63, so the rooms aren't
huge)

The bedrooms are used:

1 - master bedroom.
2 - child's bedroom.
3 - home office (mine)
4 - sewing room (overflowing...)
5 - reading room - most of the books/guest bedroom A
6 - quiet reading room (the one downstairs) - no windows (not really
usable as a bedroom - it's a wierd sort of room)
(Guest bedroom B is downstairs, the game room, which is also Library
B)
(this is house #8... and will remain usable for the rest of our life
- when the other bedroom opens up, this wing (#2,3) can become a
workshop)

..... Bruce the elder
.... thwapping the ogre with a large salmon, which he takes out of the
non-existent freezer (one of the things still to be upgraded -
preferably before the sewing machines take up all the remaining wall
space).

Oh yes, in answer to the opinion poll - buy what you can use, but
don't make yourself too house-poor - the upkeep is a nuisance, old or
new house.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Opinion Poll: Buying a house 

Posted and e-mailed.
On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 15:41:07 -0500, Bruce Glassford stomped
through my brain with:

 >The bedrooms are used:
 >
 >1 - master bedroom.
 >2 - child's bedroom.
 >3 - home office (mine)
 >4 - sewing room (overflowing...)
 >5 - reading room - most of the books/guest bedroom A
 >6 - quiet reading room (the one downstairs) - no windows (not really
 >usable as a bedroom - it's a wierd sort of room)
 >(Guest bedroom B is downstairs, the game room, which is also Library
 >B)
 > (this is house #8... and will remain usable for the rest of our life
 >- when the other bedroom opens up, this wing (#2,3) can become a
 >workshop)

See, the difference between you and the yuppie larvae running
around the western end of Montgomery County, PA, is that the
yuppie larvae DON'T USE THE ROOMS!

Seriously, they don't...they've got these HUGE houses, they are
never home, the rooms sit empty...

 >.... Bruce the elder
 >... thwapping the ogre with a large salmon, which he takes out of the
 >non-existent freezer (one of the things still to be upgraded -
 >preferably before the sewing machines take up all the remaining wall
 >space).

Heheheh...

 >Oh yes, in answer to the opinion poll - buy what you can use, but
 >don't make yourself too house-poor - the upkeep is a nuisance, old or
 >new house.

Amen...the other half of our duplex was definitely a handy-man's
dream...no way we could buy something like that... #1...no time
to do the fix ups... #2... not enough money to do the fix ups...

Tristaan (grabbing the salmon and tossing it across the room to
the feline denizens...)
--
Beware Spam Trap!: "us" is an "ogre"
*******************************************************
Ogre-Monk, ICQ# 14668166, AIM TristaanOgre
God of Grilled-SPAM™ and Summer, Disciple of Babble
Assistant Librarian/Orangutan, Pedant Target,
Chief Brute, Husband of Amethyst, Father of Charis and Talia
Co-Owner of The Ogre, the Elf, The Imp, and The Urchin
Violinist for the ABML out-of-practice-musicians band
Keyboard Martyr, Keeper of the ABML Cookbook
PGP Public Key available
*******************************************************
Lord, lift me up with tender care.
Will You wash me clean in the palm of Your hands?
Lord, hold me close so I can thrive
When You touch me, that's when I know I'm alive.
--"Thrive" by The Newsboys
*******************************************************
"What is a Mennonite?"
Answers at <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.thirdway.com/" target="_blank">http://www.thirdway.com/</a>
*******************************************************<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Opinion Poll: Buying a house 

On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 16:11:20 -0500, Tristaan <tristaanus DeleteThis @yahoo.com>
wrote:

 >Posted and e-mailed.
 > On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 15:41:07 -0500, Bruce Glassford stomped
 >through my brain with:
 >
  >>The bedrooms are used:
  >>
  >>1 - master bedroom.
  >>2 - child's bedroom.
  >>3 - home office (mine)
  >>4 - sewing room (overflowing...)
  >>5 - reading room - most of the books/guest bedroom A
  >>6 - quiet reading room (the one downstairs) - no windows (not really
  >>usable as a bedroom - it's a wierd sort of room)
  >>(Guest bedroom B is downstairs, the game room, which is also Library
  >>B)
  >> (this is house #8... and will remain usable for the rest of our life
  >>- when the other bedroom opens up, this wing (#2,3) can become a
  >>workshop)
 >
 >See, the difference between you and the yuppie larvae running
 >around the western end of Montgomery County, PA, is that the
 >yuppie larvae DON'T USE THE ROOMS!

Sounds like lower western Montgomery County Maryland (aka Potomac) -
home of the 20,000 square foot house with two occupants (no pets -
might scratch the floor).... oh yea, and a library full of books
(hardcover, packed tightly together in size order... and uncut pages).

..... Bruce<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Opinion Poll: Buying a house 

Posted and e-mailed.
On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 17:04:22 -0500, Bruce Glassford stomped
through my brain with:

 >Sounds like lower western Montgomery County Maryland (aka Potomac) -
 >home of the 20,000 square foot house with two occupants (no pets -
 >might scratch the floor).... oh yea, and a library full of books
 >(hardcover, packed tightly together in size order... and uncut pages).

Heh, yeah....sounds about right...

Tristaan
--
Beware Spam Trap!: "us" is an "ogre"
*******************************************************
Ogre-Monk, ICQ# 14668166, AIM TristaanOgre
God of Grilled-SPAM™ and Summer, Disciple of Babble
Assistant Librarian/Orangutan, Pedant Target,
Chief Brute, Husband of Amethyst, Father of Charis and Talia
Co-Owner of The Ogre, the Elf, The Imp, and The Urchin
Violinist for the ABML out-of-practice-musicians band
Keyboard Martyr, Keeper of the ABML Cookbook
PGP Public Key available
*******************************************************
Lord, lift me up with tender care.
Will You wash me clean in the palm of Your hands?
Lord, hold me close so I can thrive
When You touch me, that's when I know I'm alive.
--"Thrive" by The Newsboys
*******************************************************
"What is a Mennonite?"
Answers at <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.thirdway.com/" target="_blank">http://www.thirdway.com/</a>
*******************************************************<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Opinion Poll: Buying a house 

In a land and time much like our own, "Shaunesay"
<mbentz DeleteThis @kc.rr.com> awoke and said:

 >When you bought your first house, or if you are thinking of buying your
 >first house...
 >
 >Would you:
 >A.) Buy a used house intending to stay there just awhile and then move up
 >B.) Buy a used house intending to stay there forever or at least for a long
 >time.
 >C.) Buy a smaller new house intending to stay there just awhile and then
 >move up
 >D.) Buy a larger new house intending to stay there forever or at least for a
 >long time
 >E.) Did you do something else than these options and what was it.
 >


Jesse and I are going through a similar thing with towhouses. .
We have to decide between a bigger, less expensive place in a
quiet neightborhood near stores and restaurants that's a tad
further away from his office, and a little older over a newer,
more expensive place in a busier neighborhood that's a little
closer to his office, but it's also has small rooms and a tiny
balcony/patio area.


We'd pick B for the same reasons that we will, in all
probability, go for the less expensive townhouse. Older houses
*usually* have larger rooms, and with a CA king-sized bed and 3
zillion bookcases, that's important to us. We also like to put
as much as we can into savings. The older place also has a real
gas furnace, over the usual (for here) baseboard electric heat,
and we both think that is a better way to heat a place. It also
has a LOT of counter space. The new place has an extra bathroom
and a w/d in it, but in the end, more space and money win out
over luxuries. Other people would disagree. It's all about
what's more important to you.

New houses in developments also usually come with Homeowners
Associations. *shudder* I've seen some with extraodinarily
stupid rules- from not allowing dog runs, pools, sheds, etc. to
having rules mandating not only the exact paint you can use on
your house- color AND brand- but also how often you have to
repaint. My in-laws have just recently moved into a new house
that they built, and it's taken them almost _5 years_ to agree on
a houseplan, find a contractor, find a new contractor when that
one backed out right before construction was to start because he
could make more money helping to build a new WalMart, and so on
and so forth. (They eventually gave up on a traditionaly built
house and ended up with a factory-built one. They were in that
one about 6 months after making that decision)


 >
 >Shaunesay
 >(Who has looked at about 30 houses this weekend)
 >
 >

I agree with John in that's too many houses in such a short time.
We've only been looking at 5-6 places a day, and even with notes
and pictures, we're having a hard time remembering which place
had which feature that we liked or disliked.


******************************************************************************************************************************************
Kat
Beloved of Jesse
High Priestess of Kink
Cloudkeeper in Training

"The next time you think you have an excuse why God can't use you, consider the following:
Noah was a drunkard, Abraham was too old, Isaac was a daydreamer, Jacob was a liar,
Leah was ugly, Joseph was abused, Moses was a murderer, Gideon was afraid, Samson had
long hair, Rahab was a prostitute, Timothy was too young, David had an illicit affair,
Elijah was suicidal, Isaiah preached naked, Job was bankrupt, John the Baptist ran around
in a loin cloth, Peter was hot-tempered, John was self-righteous.

The disciples fell asleep while praying, Martha fretted about everything, Mary Magadalene
was demon-possessed, the boy with the fish and five rolls of bread was too obscure,
the Samaritan woman was divorced more than once, Zacchaeus was too small, Paul was too religious,
and Lazarus was dead.

No more excuses!"
--Author unknown<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Opinion Poll: Buying a house 

Posted and e-mailed.
On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 18:54:57 GMT, Kat Hein stomped through my
brain with:

 >I agree with John in that's too many houses in such a short time.
 >We've only been looking at 5-6 places a day, and even with notes
 >and pictures, we're having a hard time remembering which place
 >had which feature that we liked or disliked.

In our experience? Get a realtor. It doesn't cost you a penny to
get with a realtor and have them help you look for a house...they
make all their money when they actually make the sale (they split
commission between the seller's realtor and the buyer's realtor).

For that matter, if you get a GOOD realtor, they will work with
you. We went with a local guy...practically a one man
organization with some support staff. He hooked us up with a
mortgage company to get pre-approved so we knew our price range.
We then gave the realtor a list of "needs" and "would be nice to
haves". Taking all that, along with the area in which we said we
wanted to live, he came up with a set of 6-7 listings and we
spent a Saturday going around looking at the houses.

Saved us a LOT of legwork because he had access to all the
listings from all the realtors and could easily sort and filter
the listings to find houses that matched what we wanted and could
afford.

Heck, the house we ended up buying was so new on the market it
didn't even have the "For Sale" sign up yet...we were the first
couple to bid on it.

Tristaan
--
Beware Spam Trap!: "us" is an "ogre"
*******************************************************
Ogre-Monk, ICQ# 14668166, AIM TristaanOgre
God of Grilled-SPAM™ and Summer, Disciple of Babble
Assistant Librarian/Orangutan, Pedant Target,
Chief Brute, Husband of Amethyst, Father of Charis and Talia
Co-Owner of The Ogre, the Elf, The Imp, and The Urchin
Violinist for the ABML out-of-practice-musicians band
Keyboard Martyr, Keeper of the ABML Cookbook
PGP Public Key available
*******************************************************
Lord, lift me up with tender care.
Will You wash me clean in the palm of Your hands?
Lord, hold me close so I can thrive
When You touch me, that's when I know I'm alive.
--"Thrive" by The Newsboys
*******************************************************
"What is a Mennonite?"
Answers at <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.thirdway.com/" target="_blank">http://www.thirdway.com/</a>
*******************************************************<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Opinion Poll: Buying a house 

On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 17:04:22 -0500, Bruce Glassford
<bruce.DeleteThis@benchite.net> scribbled:

 >On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 16:11:20 -0500, Tristaan <tristaanus.DeleteThis@yahoo.com>
 >wrote:
<snip>
  >>See, the difference between you and the yuppie larvae running
  >>around the western end of Montgomery County, PA, is that the
  >>yuppie larvae DON'T USE THE ROOMS!
 >
 >Sounds like lower western Montgomery County Maryland (aka Potomac) -
 >home of the 20,000 square foot house with two occupants (no pets -
 >might scratch the floor).... oh yea, and a library full of books
 >(hardcover, packed tightly together in size order... and uncut pages).

Ex-squeeze-me?

TWENTY thousand? Not two thousand? For two people?

(I've heard of people who organize books in a library by size. I
believe someone doing that was a clue in a murder mystery I read once.
Horrible, horrible, horrible thing to do to a library.)

Megan
Keeper of the FAQ: <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://home.earthlink.net/~m_thomas3/abml/" target="_blank">http://home.earthlink.net/~m_thomas3/abml/</a>
Acolyte of the God of Grilled SPAM<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Opinion Poll: Buying a house 

"Tristaan" <tristaanus.DeleteThis@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:um4230h67o2edg4cjqfk4nqgakopiiasne@4ax.com...

  > >I agree with John in that's too many houses in such a short time.
  > >We've only been looking at 5-6 places a day, and even with notes
  > >and pictures, we're having a hard time remembering which place
  > >had which feature that we liked or disliked.

Well, I need to amend that... yes we went to that many houses, except that
we went through two sets of them twice, because we took my grandparents back
to look, so that was probably an unfair statement! We'll cut that figure
down say 19 or so, cause we looked at 10 on Saturday, and then we looked at
11 different ones on Sunday, and then went back to the two new sets, but
didn't go through all of them as we had ruled a few out that we DID NOT
like. I'm definitely feeling it in my legs today!

 >
 > In our experience? Get a realtor. It doesn't cost you a penny to
 > get with a realtor and have them help you look for a house...they
 > make all their money when they actually make the sale (they split
 > commission between the seller's realtor and the buyer's realtor).

Yes, we have that, and she's very nice. She was with us Saturday, not
Sunday, and so I told her about the ones we found Sunday and she's going to
check them out and then we'll do another walk through next weekend and
discuss what we liked and didn't like, so she has a better idea of what we
want. The problem is, what we want is still shifting as we look at new
things, so... Anyway, then maybe she will know of some others to show us.
So really I'm not trying to be hasty, we were just in the mood to go
looking! and we are pre-approved and all that, for WAY more than I think is
feasible! And so we're looking in a lower range than that... So I haven't
completely lost my mind yet! I'm afraid I am suffering from new house
glamour though...

Shaunesay
(everything was just so sparkly and new and bright!)<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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