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Tell Me About Your House
When was it built? What's the style? Is it big enough for you? Too big/too small? What do you wish it had that it doesn't? What's superfluous?
Is it in good repair? Does it take a lot of upkeep or is it pretty solidly built, down to the details?
Are you happy with it? Would you like to move? If so, why?
How much does the neighborhood affect your feelings about the house?
Etc. etc. etc. blah de blah.
We came close this weekend to putting an offer down on a house. It's the perfect house in many ways but not the style I like, in a neighborhood I'm not crazy about. So I got cold feet at the last minute and now I can't stop thinking about it.
Is it in good repair? Does it take a lot of upkeep or is it pretty solidly built, down to the details?
Are you happy with it? Would you like to move? If so, why?
How much does the neighborhood affect your feelings about the house?
Etc. etc. etc. blah de blah.
We came close this weekend to putting an offer down on a house. It's the perfect house in many ways but not the style I like, in a neighborhood I'm not crazy about. So I got cold feet at the last minute and now I can't stop thinking about it.
Tags: Kathy's neuroses, home, house
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by StitchyWench on -
You've seen my house, so I guess I won't describe it in too much detail. I live in a fairly conservative (for Portland) neighborhood in the burbs. It can really suck at times, but mostly it is nice. My neighbors who would seem to have nothing in common with me (many are conservative or in other ways just very different), yet they are all wonderful, kind people and we genuinely get along and respect each other just as we are.
I don't mesh well with some of the other parents at the kids school, but I don't really care. The teachers are nice, the staff responds when I need them to, and the kids have really thrived at their school. Although we live in a high income zip code, my specific neighborhood is very diverse economically and ethnically diverse, too. It is nice in a place like Oregon where such a neighborhood can be hard to come by.
I have friends who live in my same general area but a more segregated part of the neighborhood where there is not as much diversity in thought, and income - that can be a difficult place to raise well-grounded open minded kids. I think as my kids have grown and I've become more connected with my community, I've cared less about my actual home and more about the place we live. It would be hard to move, even though there would be a lot of reasons I would like to live elsewhere (closer to the city).
The Oracle said:Thanks, DGB, that's a good point. It's just that we're not finding the house -- perfect style and neighborhood and size and in our price range. Those we do find in that vein need a lot of repair. I mean like MAJOR stuff, more than we can afford. So I'm feeling like maybe we need to change our expectations. It's just: Which expectations do we change? What do we compromise?
The neighborhood where this house is, is perfectly fine. It has a low crime rate, a park around the corner, seems family-friendly, etc. It just seems more conservative and suburban than I was hoping for. I feel like I'd always feel out of place there. But maybe that's more my projection than anything else. I dunno.
Plus, the house is on a busy street and, though it's well-policed for speeders, I'm afraid I'd lay awake nights worrying that a car would crash into the kids' bedrooms. Because, really, that's what I'd do.
Daddy Geek Boy said:Oracle...somebody once told me that whatever bugs you about the house before you buy it will be the same things that always bug you. It wasn't the perfect house if you didn't like the style and the neighborhood.
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Permalink Reply by Boring User Name on -
I have no time to read everyone else's answers as we are prepping our house to sell it, but we are hoping to sell our two-bedroom, two-bath condo on the third floor with no garage. In exchange, we want three bedrooms, a garage in one of 5 school districts in the city. I need a kitchen that opens into the living space, but we are willing to knock out walls to make it happen. Pretty much everything else is negotiable.
Yeah, so the school district thing is really driving our search, which annoys the hell out of me...
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Permalink Reply by The Oracle on -
D'oh! Awesome, awesome house in our price range in our neighborhood of choice just came on and off the market before I could blink. A bidding war, in this economy!
I shouldn't be too frustrated, though -- the people who bought our house in L.A. had apparently been looking for a YEAR before they walked into our place, declared it perfect and wrote up an offer. So I guess if we're still living with my parents come September, I'll start to get frustrated then.
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Permalink Reply by TeacherJ on -
This happened to me last week with a condo. I'm consoling myself by telling myself I must have really good taste, if everybody's after what I like!
I hope you find a great house soon!
The Oracle said:D'oh! Awesome, awesome house in our price range in our neighborhood of choice just came on and off the market before I could blink. A bidding war, in this economy!
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Permalink Reply by Alan on -
That can't happen.
The Oracle said:I guess if we're still living with my parents come September, I'll start to get frustrated then.
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Permalink Reply by Tracy on -
We are renters -- I refuse to buy a house until I want to settle down ie: when we can happily move to upstate New York or something in a big ole' farmhouse withing the commute.
So, we live in a fairly urban town outside of Manhattan. Eclectic mix of crunchy type of families, yuppies, heavy Spanish population and old Italian families that have been here forever and are fairly conservative but love to bring over cookies [ie my neighbor]. It's pretty safe but we did get our windows smashed within a week of living here - just the urban life I guess.
We are lucky to have a whole house, but the price makes some people faint in the knees, myself included. We have a backyard and it's fenced and small but does the job and there's 4 bedrooms, a stand up walk in shower and HUGE tub [YAY] and a laundry room on the second floor which I love because the bedrooms are there ie: I don't have to walk far to get clean stuff.
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Permalink Reply by The Oracle on
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Well...for those of you playing at home, we put in an offer on the one I'm not so hot on. It's okay, though. If they accept our offer, we'll actually have a little extra cash for things like beer each month. Oh, and health insurance.
It's all trade-offs. We could have stretched ourselves financially to get a little less house in a little better location. But we would always have been working for the house. This way (fingers crossed), I can stay home half-time with the kids, get my career back on track and go out to eat once in a while.
Plus, we're going to have lots of fun doing upgrades like a new bathroom, a porch and a deck. I'm really looking forward to that. And there's a big backyard and a huge daylight basement that's just begging for things like a dart board, a pool table and a wet bar. It will be a great house for kids and grown-ups and parties.
Wish us luck! And thanks for all your insight! I loved hearing about everyone's houses.
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Permalink Reply by Chuck on -
good luck. I hated the ups and downs of looking for and buying a house. I am glad that part is over.
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