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Pick a house

Pick a house

  • House 1

    Votes: 2 5.3%
  • House 2

    Votes: 5 13.2%
  • House 3

    Votes: 25 65.8%
  • Move in with loco and eat bacon

    Votes: 6 15.8%

  • Total voters
    38
  • Poll closed .

SPINTECK

Turbo Monkey
Oct 16, 2005
1,370
0
abc
House 3 is by far the best property for many reasons.
-simply bigger, cleaner, nicer
-more land
-lowest taxes of three and no association fee (looks like house 1 is cheaper, but it also looks like an association, which are nasty IMO. I know the playground looks desirable, but my kids hardly spend any time on playgrounds compared to the yard and woods, and my wife takes the kids to neutral playgrounds for play dates.So I can see how that would be a point, but IMO with 3 boys (6, 4 and 3) the playground is overated compared to the property and land)
-farther off the main road, closer to the state park and resevoir- JUST MAKE SURE THE KIDS CAN NOT ACCESS THE WATER EASILY) Placement near nature is valued by many. I stole my wife from the city and it is suprising how much she has taken to our acres near a state park (50 miles from philly). She actually thanked me one day.
- at today's low rate, 400 vs 350 is nothing in monthly payment. Plus, if you have an association fee with the 350 house, that money is going to absolutely nowhere when it could be going to equity and/or resale value. Paying more for less freedom, more rules and a smaller yard is a city mentality.
-you're still close enough to see family. i lived down the street from my family before I moved and see them just as much if not more. It's probably better the other spouse not to be right down the street anyway.
You'll be happy in whatever you choose. Good luck!
 

Konabumm

Konaboner
Jun 13, 2003
4,383
87
Hollywood, Maryland, United States
guess I should have read this first and simply said "I concur" ;)
Thanks for everything you wrote - couldn't agree more. With house three we are closer to family which is great for the kids. But the back yard is awesome - first thing my son said is we can make a mtb trail back here. So we are excited about that - not having an HOA is huge, I hate have assclows tell me what kind of shed I can put in my yard.

So we offered $385 - now are waiting for the counter
 

Konabumm

Konaboner
Jun 13, 2003
4,383
87
Hollywood, Maryland, United States
I'd choose #3 (actually looks VERY much like my house, but I have shutters on my windows ;) )
I'll be honest, we aren't to hot on not having shutters. I guess we just aren't use to it, but the windows are close together and it would look funny with shutters. So the plan is to make the yard look nice so you don't pay attention to not having shutters.
 

eric strt6

Resident Curmudgeon
Sep 8, 2001
23,188
13,448
directly above the center of the earth
# 3 has the best kitchen and the best garage for storing all the kids bikes and toys plus your bikes and toys.

good luck on the offer. we went through two months of hell before we finally got a great house [ok we got the email counter offer ( our price, longer rent back option if needed for current owner to find a place) at 3:30 this morning signed it and emailed it back] The market out here is nuts with places getting 10-20 offers most over asking price.
 

TreeSaw

Mama Monkey
Oct 30, 2003
17,669
1,847
Dancin' over rocks n' roots!
I'll be honest, we aren't to hot on not having shutters. I guess we just aren't use to it, but the windows are close together and it would look funny with shutters. So the plan is to make the yard look nice so you don't pay attention to not having shutters.
:D Just pickin' We have the same set-up with our colonial, but our garage is a 3 bay on the left and a single on the right with storage above. We put a nice tin roof on ours a couple of years ago and added a front porch (so no one was killed when the snow comes off). We too have a nice back yard; almost 12 acres and trails. Good luck!
 

Konabumm

Konaboner
Jun 13, 2003
4,383
87
Hollywood, Maryland, United States
@ eric strt6 we are getting lucky - the people in this house have already move cross country. If everything works out we will be closing on our house in the morning and this house in the afternoon then moving in.

@ treesaw sounds like an awesome house - do you have kids around for sid to play with? We have seen a few kids but not sure how many. We we like to add a little over hang for the front door. Maybe even a porch - guess we need to get the place first
 

VT Mtbkr

Monkey
Oct 3, 2003
403
0
Richmond, Virginia
I vote #3 too. More land and yard and your daughter will love the little playhouse.

Good luck with the offer and what's with the "we" thought you were seperated?
 

SPINTECK

Turbo Monkey
Oct 16, 2005
1,370
0
abc
and as always, the assclows come out from under the rocks to make a negative post. Great job :D
I didn't take the "smaller house" quote as really negative. That is how I thought until I realized three things:
1. Kids cost money and need room to develop and simply make life worth living.
2. Desirable areas, such as a DC suburb (probably number 1 or at least one of the most areas for realestate growth), cost money but will retain their value. My house is in philadelphia suburb horse country, in a great school district near a state park, yet close to two major road ways. Many people get scared of the bubbles in FL, AZ, CA, NV and other pockets, but truth is there are markets still increasing in value and your area is one of them.
3. At 40, what the hell was I waiting for. I saved and lived small for the first 40 years of my life, if I waited another 10 or 15 years what is the point. The kids would be grown and I wouldn't have the capability to enjoy the type of house I always wanted.

Good luck. I had to go 14k more than I wanted (364), but I don't regret it one bit (i pay 2115/month for mort/taxes/insurance after borrowing 320K, and my taxes are 5900/year- almost twice yours). So if it doesn't need anything major (septic, roof, mold, radon- even radon is only a $1200 fix) don't quibble over 5K- Just MO after watching nice properties sell. I was bored and I'm sure you know there are only 19 homes for sale there (low inventory) and 103 have sold, so it may not be a buyers market accorinding to zillow (http://www.zillow.com/homes/25808-WHISKEY-CREEK-Rd,-hollywood-md_rb/#/homes/for_sale/Hollywood-MD/11951_rid/38.39825,-76.504927,38.35034,-76.620626_rect/12_zm/1_rs/). If there is a true 5th bedroom it sounds like a fair deal.It's an exciting time isn't it!
 

SkaredShtles

Michael Bolton
Sep 21, 2003
65,379
12,533
In a van.... down by the river
<snip>
3. At 40, what the hell was I waiting for. I saved and lived small for the first 40 years of my life, if I waited another 10 or 15 years what is the point. The kids would be grown and I wouldn't have the capability to enjoy the type of house I always wanted.
See - I'm already looking forward to after the kids leave and I can go BACK to a small house. But the key is - a WELL DESIGNED small house.
 

ALEXIS_DH

Tirelessly Awesome
Jan 30, 2003
6,147
796
Lima, Peru, Peru

SPINTECK

Turbo Monkey
Oct 16, 2005
1,370
0
abc
That is on the action list - just need to hear back from the sellers, they are killing me.
Thought they have 24 to 48 hours usually to respond. I hated all those games and I tried to be straight forward in both buying and selling my house.

It always works out. I was in love with a place that we didn't get, only to find something much better at a better time. Relax, it's the weekend and your the buyer!
 

SPINTECK

Turbo Monkey
Oct 16, 2005
1,370
0
abc
All done, got the house for 398,000. Now it's a month of paperwork and other crap then move.
Congrats! Now let me tell you something I wish someone had warned me about. My last and 3rd house was financed through Wellsfargo (big and evil I know, but I trusted the mortgage person and already had accounts from the Wachovia conversion). My wife and I had credit ratings at 805 and 798 and no problems, yet Wells did not "clear to close" until noon the day of my freakin' settlement......and I was sweatin' it because I think the person would have kept our 30k deposit (it was an auction and they needed 10% down). The same thing happened to the person who bought our old house. So don't be suprised if the lending company doesn't hold onto that money until the last minute.

One more thing I learned, for I believe half a point, you can re-lockin at another rate if the rate at settlement is much better than the rate you previously lockedin at. This rule is not well known, but my mortgage broker told me that. Although I have a feeling the rate you get today (around 3.8 for 30 year, so your 15 year should be much lower) is probably only going to go up. They are based on the 10 year bond price, which is linked to whether the evil, privately owned federal reserve is buying bonds, giving them away by printing money or if the market is shaky and institutions flock to bonds.