What house to buy?

House #1: 750 sq feet, no garage, .21 acres, good neighborhood, close to my work, has 2 car workshop, older home but in good condition $107k could be worth $120k

House #2: 3200ish sq feet, 1900ish sq feet space to live in (upstairs, its a rambler), the rest is in the basement which is cement and framed in, not finished at all, .61 acres (hard to find around here, awesome yard), older home, 2 car garage, needs quite a bit of work but in decent condition, great neighborhood (its a block from my parents house). $187k on the end of a short sale

Hmmmm, hard to say without actually viewing the properties.
One is $80,000 more than the other...I guess you have to weigh up which one is going to benefit you most in the long run, and what it is going to really cost you in the long run....eg. mortgage interest etc etc.

I guess No.2 would be my choice if I could afford it, as the "unfinished" portion of the house can be done by myself.......so I guess you have to work out the additional costs of doing that using builders if you are not capable of finishing the home off yourself.

On the other hand........would $80,000 put toward House No.1 bring it up to the standard you would want in the end ?????

I guess you will have to do a little maths.

House #1 belongs to my fiance, he paid $135k for it when the market was high, I'd buy it to get the $8k credit and to lower the interest rates. I think it could sell for $120k but I could buy it for what he owes ($107k). It's a nice house just very small and he wants a garage. There's not enough room with the lot to put $80k into it to add on and it wouldn't add $80k worth of value I don't think.

In house #2 he could do a lot of the needed work, wouldn't have to hire anyone I don't think. We've thought about putting a basement apartment in it. We would have to purchase it together but we can still get the $8k credit if we buy it before we're married. I have a good down payment I'd be willing to use for this house. He wants to keep house #1 if we buy house #2 and rent it out but we really couldn't rent it for much more than the payment.

Well, then sounds like House No.2 might be the better option.
But do keep in mind, that if you keep House No.1, and rent it out, the rent receivable could be classified as income, and taxed accordingly. I'm not sure if your taxation laws allow for rent received becoming untaxable if the entire amount goes to pay the mortgage on that house.
We have a system here in Australia called "Negative Gearing", which does allow that. Best check that with a lawyer or your taxation office first. You don't want to be faced with a great big tax bill each year.

I would go with #2 if you can afford it. The other is a pretty small house and lot, and you would outgrow it in no time. I'd keep looking for a while tho - you might find something else that would suit you.

I'd either go with house #2 or keep looking IF you're planning on having kids. Of corse if you're not planning on kids then this won't be an issue. But if you are house #2 will be a lot more comfortable. Even if you're not planning on having kids for several years you can be paying down the mortgage and fixing up the house in the meantime.

Yeah, and the extra land would be more suitable for your pets.

Depends, does either have a husky-safe fence?

House #2 - more living space, still affordable, more acreage. It seems like number 1 is a little small. Plus there's more room for a certain few dogs ;)

I was thinking house #2 because of the dogs... until I read that your fiance already owns #1. I'd hold onto #1, do the repairs you want and enjoy it.

We have a large house for just us and the animals. It was perfect for us when we had the 3 kids here, but now its only us and way too big. There are days I wish we had a much smaller house like #1 :D

I would say #1 because it could be tough to sell/rent the house out in this economy. Plus, it sounds as though you would both benefit from him selling it to you. And a 3200 sq foot home sounds like it would be very expensive to heat/cool. But, 750 sq feet is pretty small, especially with several dogs, so I guess you just need to weigh pros and cons. Good luck! :)

Well considering that we have a rental that has been empty for a year I am not sure about the renting option...your area could be different.

I like more space personally but if your not a pack rat like me option 1 would be fine.

will you be okay if house number 1 is empty for a long period of time?

My first thought was about your dogs. House #1 seems too small for everyone to have some space.

I therefore vote for house #2 - or suggest you keep looking. You could also live in house #1 after you are married - see how it works out - and then go house shopping.

Thanks for the replies and input guys, its helpful. :)

I would not want to start married life with two housepayments (been there, done that...lol...and when house #2 didn't sell, we had to rent and it was just a pain). Why don't you just start in his small home and then consider moving after you've got some time as a couple under your belt? Marriage is a big enough adjustment without taking on a big renovation at the same time. Just my two cents! :)

I would probably go with no.2 . I'm a bit claustrophobic and no. 1 sounds like it would be pretty crowded if the dogs all come inside. If the market is healthy enough that you're sure you can rent no.1 you could have your cake and eat it too. Seems no 2 has more advantages and you might need all the room if you decide to hve kids later on. Besides the fact that it's lots of fun fixing the downstairs by yourselves.

750 sf is really small. I'd vote for #2

My vote is for house #2 or to keep on looking. Good luck with whatever you decide.:)

When i was your age I THOUGHT I needed a large house especially one with a basement. House #2 is basically what I have now. Now that I'm old and retired I wish I had house #1 because a large house is a lot of work to maintain, not to mention cost of heating and cooling.

Since your are young I say go for it and buy house #2 and keep house # 1 for rental. Unless the tax laws are different in Utah you can come out ahead because the interest and property taxes are deductible on at least your federal tax return. if you rent for the payment you can claim a net loss also.

House #2! My house is just under 1000 sf- finished. It is too small for us, I think. I want a larger house to have an official 'office'/guest room. Plus, more cats. :)

BUT, I love the house payment on a small house, and the heating/air charges, the yard...etc.

Well we have an offer in on house #2. :eek: Someone else has an offer in too, so what will be will be, not going any higher. The house has great potential if the basement was finished and some cosmetic work done on the upstairs it would definitely be worth considerably more...just for the fact of the yard alone. It's huge, fenced on all but one side, has pine trees, garden, 3 sheds, cement pad, covered patio. It's more than we need but its a good deal. :o We'll see.

Congratulations. Fingers and paws crossed in the hopes that you get it.

IMO you made a good decision. House #1 is so small, as is the parcel it is on. Might be fine for a single, but after a year or so as a couple, you would most likely find it very cramped, and you might not be in a position to find something more suitable.

Good luck!

Catching this rather late in the game.. but I'd go for #2 as well. We currently live in 1492 sq ft townhouse.. two people, 3 dogs.. Its enough space for us, but it'd be wonderful to have a basement of that size! We don't even have one.. much less that large.

I hope your offer goes well.. I know short sales can drag on and on!

Good luck, Amy! :) I'd go with house #2, if it falls through, I'd keep looking for that perfect house.

Well they accepted our offer. :eek: It's still not for sure, we'll see what happens. This is scary and exciting at the same time. :p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wolf_Q

Well they accepted our offer. :eek:
It's still not for sure, we'll see what happens. :p

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:eek:

Well now ... TWO Houses, huh?
Congrats!

Back to the Wedding Plans. ;)

:love:

Congrats!!!:D I hope that everything will go smoothly. I'm asuming that you'll also be getting a home inspection done so hopefully that will go well too. Do you have any pictures of the house yet?

Soooo...I bought Corby's house, the 800 sq ft house (at least that's what the records say, not 750 as we thought). Got the tax credit to buy it, got a better interest rate than he had. We're doing well here, its small, but we're okay, Corby really wants a two car garage though. ;) I just can't seem to think its worth adding a two car garage to this tiny house when we could buy a bigger house with one for not much more than it would cost to add it.

Well we just looked on the net and the other house is back up again. I do not believe it was ever sold, lots of offers, all the offers have fallen through or something. It's right by my parents house so I've seen it a lot, it looks abandoned. I just called a few weeks ago and she said there was an offer in for about $10k less than what we were going to pay. Well now its up for almost $30k than what we were going to pay. :eek: Ahh what do we do? With the tax credit we're supposed to live in this house for 3 years. It makes me wonder why nobody will buy it though. It does need a lot of work, but it seemed to be a structurally sound house. The entire basement is not finished and the upstairs only has 2 bedrooms (but there's a huge "great room" you could easily put a bedroom in). I don't know if that's enough reason for people to not buy it or if there's something else. The yard is huge, I think I just want it for the yard ha ha. Corby is worried about the economy if its going to get even worse. Help me. :o

but in this economy unless you have unlimited dollars, i would stay where you are in your little house.....and watch the world go by for awhile.....that three years you mentioned sounds like a good while time-frame to me.....

If you are supposed to be in your current home for 3 years, I'd really read the fine print.

My HUD contract says I must live in my home for at least a year. Stiff penalties if I try to sell it or lease it out before a year is up.

Good luck!!