Choosing a Neighborhood?

[Aloros]

So FI and I have been on the Great House Search for a while. Right now we''re renting in a beautiful, affluent neighborhood, and we thought we would buy here.

Honestly? There''s not much available in our price range. For a while there, in January, there were several that were close to our range, and we put offers on a couple of them. Both our offers were ignored, as other people had put in higher offers (can you believe it? What happened to a "buyer''s market"?). The number of available houses has really dropped here as the lower-priced houses are now getting snatched up. Now there is only one house available in our price range that is not on a busy street, and it is teeny teeny tiny and in need of some TLC.

Recently, we''ve been considering another neighborhood, which is vastly more affordable.

Neighborhood #1:
-better public schools
-nicer neighborhood
-less centrally located
-farther from work
-expensive houses, we''d have to pay ~50K above what we want to in order to afford a place here, so we''d have to stretch ourselves financially
-stepson likes the neighborhood and his best friend lives around the corner

Neighborhood #2:
-more centrally located - FI may have to get a job somewhere else - and the commute from here would be much more reasonable
-closer to work
-cheaper (we can afford a 4 bdr here no problem)
-high risk of flood (1/33 each year) until 2010, when the levees are fixed
-mandatory flood insurance (~$1,000/year)
-public schools not as good. The charter schools here are excellent, but are on a lottery basis, no guarantee of entry
-not quite as nice a neighborhood as #1
-stepson likes the way it looks but doesn''t want to move

How do you make a decision like this? We''re going to sit down tonight and try to weigh it out. And of course, there''s always the decision to wait, and to see what happens with prices. We''ve just been getting really frustrated with the prices in this neighborhood and how unaffordable everything is. Basically, if something falls into our price range, we can''t be picky about layout or amenities. We just have to try and grab it.

Thoughts?

 

[lyra]

I''d choose #1. Easier said than done, I know. We have virtually the same problem here. We want to live in this particular neighbourhood, but it''s basically defined by how much we can afford to pay at the time. When we do buy, we have to make a decision on the spot as houses go very fast in "that" neighbourhood, and in the rest of the city in general, but faster there. It''s hard. We will probably stay in the house we''re in for a couple more years instead. Can you stay where you are renting and still save some money?

 

[joflier]

Its a toughy, especially to stretch yourselves thin, financially speaking, but when I read the flood issues thing, I''d jump at #1. My parents live in a flood area. And though it doesn''t happen often, they have had some nightmares with that. Even when you have flood insurance, all the trauma and headaches that accompany that don''t seem worth the risk imho.

 

[rainydaze]

my understanding is that many sellers wait until spring to list their homes. that is when many buyers are seriously looking because of school - people with kids want to move in the summer so as not to disrupt the school year. also, houses look better in spring months (depending upon what part of the country you are in) and the weather is more conducive to open houses. so if there is no urgency to you moving, i would suggest waiting to see what comes up during the springtime.

personally i also think the market is still coming down and you might see more in your price range. again, depends upon the part of the country you are in, but where i am prices have been falling and still have a ways to go.

i know it is hard to be patient when you want to move and aren''t finding anything. my husband and i were looking to move to a specific town with a great school system. it is somewhat affluent. after six months of a search similar to yours, where anything in our range just didn''t appeal to us, we were about to change our focus to the next town over that also belonged to the same school system but was more affordable. we didn''t like the town as much as the first, but we didn''t feel like we were getting anywhere with the first town. then we got the call from our agent... a house was coming on that might fit. the day it came on we saw it, loved it, made an offer, our offer was accepted and that was that! it was well in our price range and had everything we were looking for, in our first-choice town. just sharing to give you some hope ... sometimes holding out if you aren''t pressed to move right away does pay off.

 

[crown1]

the flood is a deal breaker. i would not even consider it.

 

[DivaDiamond007]

I feel your pain, Aloros! My DH and I are renting a house right now that''s involved in an estate. We plan to buy the house in the future and if it wasn''t for the estate being involved there''s no way we could afford to live in our neighborhood. We''re holding out because of the excellent school district, high property values and all around good neighbors.

If I were you I''d go for neighborhood #1. The flooding is a dealbreaker for me. Start budgeting now so it''s easier adjusting once you''ve moved. Good luck!

Jess

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 2/29/2008 12:25:20 PM
Author: crown1
the flood is a deal breaker. i would not even consider it.

Yep, absolutely NO FLOOD ZONE!!! I live on high ground (thank goodness) in a town with a flood zone and the most recent flood devestated a few cities south and north of me. Businesses are ruined, family treasures destroyed, and roads blocked off for days. It''s misery. It takes years for residents to metally and financially recover.

 

[Aloros]

Thanks for all your advice!

My fiance has actually been asking around, and we''ve found...Neighborhood #3! It''s a slight bit cheaper than Neighborhood #1, has even BETTER schools, is centrally located, and is not in any flood-plain whatsoever (forgot to mention that Neighborhood #1 is in a 100-year flood-plain). It''s a fairly small area, so I''m not surprised that I missed it when scoping out places to live.

I took stepson and drove through it last night, and it looks very nice - not quite as idyllic as Neighborhood #1, but quiet with well-maintained yards. I found a bank-owned home that is newly listed, cheap cheap CHEAP. It''s in the middle of a remodel and needs some cosmetic fixes to complete it. We drove by it, peeked in the windows, and stepson really liked it! I think he''s still reluctant to move, but a big house with a big backyard might soften the blow a little.

I''ve called our realtor to let him know we''d like to take a look at houses in that neighborhood, and this house in particular. If everything checks out, and the fiance likes it, we''ll probably make an offer. The house I peeked at is significantly under-budget. Hurrah!

Yikes! Wish us luck!

 

[eks6426]

I read your this post about an hour ago and got interrupted before I could reply but I was thinking that there had to be a 3rd alternative. So, glad you were able to find it. Hope this house turns out to be the one for you!