mleighp1
04-25-2009, 11:14 AM
We made a decision about buying a home...drumroll please...lol
After looking at 9 homes, we've decided to stay put!!
We took both or our moms over to the house we really liked and they totally fell in love with it too, but it was our third visit to the house and each time that I go back, I see more and more areas that will need improvement.
So, we had a conctractor I know come over to the house and walk through and go over some rough numbers based on all the things we would do to remodel the house. We are looking at putting $250-$300K into that home to make it "perfect" and even then, there is one issue that we will never be able to fix.
After giving it a lot of thought and discussing it with our realtor, we came to the decision that it would not be wise to put that much money into that particular house because it will be hard to get our money back on that house based on the neighborhood. The realtor thinks we will only get fifty to sixty cents out of every dollar back when it comes to sell it. It just wasn't a smart move in the long term.
So then we decided that instead of looking for a home to fix up, we'd go for a more expensive home that is not in need of any remodel. Unfortunately we did not see even one home that we didn't want to make changes to. The one house the we felt was the closest to being perfect on the inside didn't have much of a yard and even though it was in a neighborhood not far from where currently live, we suddenly realized that we didnt' want to live that far from downtown.
Looking at all those houses taught us a lot about what we really want. We've come to realize that
Although we want a home that we can fix up, that I can design so that it is aesthetically how we want it and make the layout and function accomodate our lifestyle and needs, it is important for us that we remodel in an area of town where we will get most, if not all of the money back that we put into it.
2. We would like to live downtown because it has good energy, most of our friends live downtown, and we feel that is important to keep the downtown thriving and part of that means having people continuing to buy old houses downtown, fix them up, make them beautiful, maintain them, and help to maintain downtown a desirable place to live.
I grew up in a town that's downtown was not maintained and despite all of the efforts from the business owners, none of the homebuyers in town were buying downtown and fixing up because it was too risky with all of the old houses turned college rental. When I moved to Fort Collins, one the things I loved most about it was that it has such a nice downtown. I can see how important that downtown area is to this Town. Over the years, people have gradually been buying downtown and it is increasingly becoming nicer and nicer. Each year I see more and more homes that have been remodeled and Corey and I want to be a part of this commitment to keeping Old Town a vibrant part of this town.
4. We want a house with character. A lot of the homes downtown have a ton a character since most of the are older.
5. We want a home with mature landscape. The trees in Old Town are huge!
our realtor feels that we will get $1.20 back for every $1.00 we put into our home if we buy downtown. That is very appealing and makes remodeling even more appealing.
So we are going to wait for a home to come on the market that is located downtown and has the remodel potential to become the home of our dreams. It may be six months or it may take two or three years for the right home to come on the market and then another nine months to a year to complete the remodel, but we are not in a rush to leave our home. Corey really likes it now that I staged it for sale, lol. Plus that gives us time to set aside some major cash for the remodel. The type of remodel we are probably looking it would involve raising the roof, adding square footage, etc. so we're going to need some time to save up some bones.
This will take some patience, but we feel that its the best financial decision for our future and we also think it is the best choice for us in terms of creating a dream home.
So there ya go. Staying put. :)
After looking at 9 homes, we've decided to stay put!!
We took both or our moms over to the house we really liked and they totally fell in love with it too, but it was our third visit to the house and each time that I go back, I see more and more areas that will need improvement.
So, we had a conctractor I know come over to the house and walk through and go over some rough numbers based on all the things we would do to remodel the house. We are looking at putting $250-$300K into that home to make it "perfect" and even then, there is one issue that we will never be able to fix.
After giving it a lot of thought and discussing it with our realtor, we came to the decision that it would not be wise to put that much money into that particular house because it will be hard to get our money back on that house based on the neighborhood. The realtor thinks we will only get fifty to sixty cents out of every dollar back when it comes to sell it. It just wasn't a smart move in the long term.
So then we decided that instead of looking for a home to fix up, we'd go for a more expensive home that is not in need of any remodel. Unfortunately we did not see even one home that we didn't want to make changes to. The one house the we felt was the closest to being perfect on the inside didn't have much of a yard and even though it was in a neighborhood not far from where currently live, we suddenly realized that we didnt' want to live that far from downtown.
Looking at all those houses taught us a lot about what we really want. We've come to realize that
Although we want a home that we can fix up, that I can design so that it is aesthetically how we want it and make the layout and function accomodate our lifestyle and needs, it is important for us that we remodel in an area of town where we will get most, if not all of the money back that we put into it.
2. We would like to live downtown because it has good energy, most of our friends live downtown, and we feel that is important to keep the downtown thriving and part of that means having people continuing to buy old houses downtown, fix them up, make them beautiful, maintain them, and help to maintain downtown a desirable place to live.
I grew up in a town that's downtown was not maintained and despite all of the efforts from the business owners, none of the homebuyers in town were buying downtown and fixing up because it was too risky with all of the old houses turned college rental. When I moved to Fort Collins, one the things I loved most about it was that it has such a nice downtown. I can see how important that downtown area is to this Town. Over the years, people have gradually been buying downtown and it is increasingly becoming nicer and nicer. Each year I see more and more homes that have been remodeled and Corey and I want to be a part of this commitment to keeping Old Town a vibrant part of this town.
4. We want a house with character. A lot of the homes downtown have a ton a character since most of the are older.
5. We want a home with mature landscape. The trees in Old Town are huge!
our realtor feels that we will get $1.20 back for every $1.00 we put into our home if we buy downtown. That is very appealing and makes remodeling even more appealing.
So we are going to wait for a home to come on the market that is located downtown and has the remodel potential to become the home of our dreams. It may be six months or it may take two or three years for the right home to come on the market and then another nine months to a year to complete the remodel, but we are not in a rush to leave our home. Corey really likes it now that I staged it for sale, lol. Plus that gives us time to set aside some major cash for the remodel. The type of remodel we are probably looking it would involve raising the roof, adding square footage, etc. so we're going to need some time to save up some bones.
This will take some patience, but we feel that its the best financial decision for our future and we also think it is the best choice for us in terms of creating a dream home.
So there ya go. Staying put. :)