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What does your first home look like?
My husband and I have a Real Estate business in South Florida and I just wanted to get this question out there to get an idea of how South Florida newlyweds think about purchasing their first home.
When we were married in 2006, we possibly thought too small and bought a two bedroom condo. Now we have a two year old and are thinking of baby number two. The good thing is that we almost have the condo paid off. Once we pay it off, we will have some extra income to do things we like to do: travel, even work less. The bad thing is that if we have both a boy and a girl, we will probably have to get creative and convert the garage into a third bedroom (even though it is already an office)!
My question is what are you and your spouse looking for in your first home? Or what did you look for if you already bought it? Do you try to stretch your budget to the max and maybe cause a little more stress or do you buy something smaller and make it work? Even if you have loads of money to spend, could buying something smaller or simpler allow you to work less, spend time with your spouse, travel more, or just sleep better?
I would love to hear your thoughts!
Re: What does your first home look like?
we got really lucky and got a 4 bedroom, 1.5 bath cape style home that was in foreclosure. The bank had done a bunch of work before reselling it like new oil tank, new roof, new carpet in upstairs bedrooms and refinished the wood flooring on the first floor.
We would have only been able to afford a smaller fixer upper if we didn't fall into this deal.
I bought my first house when I was single. I had no intention of buying, but the deal pretty much fell in my lap and it was dirt cheap because it was a family home. It was a 900 sq ft town home with an unfinished basement, multiple layers of wallpaper that had been painted over, wood floors that hadn't been refinished since the house was built in 1954, and the original metal kitchen cabinets that had pretty much rusted out. None of that mattered. It was mine, and that was all I cared about. I had no standards. LOL
Now, almost 10 years later, we just purchased our forever home, and our standards were high. But again, it was about "the bones" of the house. We were not looking for granite, we didn't need the house to be shiny and new, etc. We were looking for location, lot, a good floorplan, and adequate size to meet our needs and goals. All of the rest are details that I would probably change anyway because I am very particular about things.
We only spent an amount that we could afford to pay on one salary. We've seen friends and family lose their jobs and sometimes lose their homes because of illness and/or long-term unemployment. We didn't want that to happen to us, so we chose peace of mind over a fully loaded McMansion. Because we spent less in an area known for its pricey homes, it was much harder to find a house in our preferred location. It took us 18 months to find and finally close on a house. It was worth the wait, but it sucked in the mean time.
I don't see any reason to leave. 3 bedrooms is plenty big enough. I don't plan on having children so I don't see myself ever outgrowing it. It is a 50's ranch so I can have fun decorating and getting furniture to go for the Atomic Ranch look.
After 31 cycles and two losses, we've been blessed with a healthy baby girl!
Congrats to both of my amazing TTC Buddies, tdmd09 and sb2006!!
Life of Amberley
We just closed on our first home last week. It's a 4 br/2 ba two-story built in the 60s. We couldn't afford new construction in our city, but that is something we hope to afford for our next home (10 or so years down the road).
The price was on the higher end of our range but not at the very top. We looked at a lot of houses for about $20,000 less but we just weren't finding what we wanted. This house is 2100 sq feet with a fenced in yard (great for future puppies!) and on a nice, quiet street. I knew I wanted a tree in our yard and we have two! The inside is fairly updated; we just had cosmetic changes to make like paint, changing out switch plates, etc. The yard isn't great though so we have a lot of landscaping work to do next spring, as well as hopefully adding on to the patio.
It came down to getting a house that we could grow into (with stuff; we don't plan on having children) without feeling too huge for us and still being something we could keep up with cleaning realistically. It was in the area we wanted and all the major things in the house were newer (roof in '09, newer A/C, carpeting, furnace, etc). Many cheaper houses we saw had either sinking decks, old/bad roofs, old appliances, etc. that we would have had to pay to replace soon. The only big expense we foresee HAVING to make in the near future is putting in new windows room by room.
H and I wanted something in a nice neighborhood, good school district and at least 3 bedrooms. Because of the market, we were able to buy a home on the exclusive Davis Islands in Tampa, FL. However it was a complete gut job....it was an ugly 1940's 3/1 with 1 car detached garage. We paid for the entire renovation cash (200k) so we could keep our mortgage low. We transformed to house into a modern South Beach style home, white stucco, 4 bedroom 2 bathrooms. the entire house was gutted, all the way down to the wooden beams. It's now a very open floor plan with a huge kitchen and it's all uniquely us
We got to pick everything. Originally, we did not think this would be our "forever" home, but now that it's re-done and we are completely in love with it we might make it for the long haul. There is still room where we could continue to add on if we so wished. Also, we never want to leave this neighborhood and if we wanted to stay on the island but move into a larger home that's modern like ours, we would be looking at houses that are in the 700-900k range.....not a mortgage we would want to get into anytime soon!
We had a must have list and a wish list. We also had a strict budget we wouldn't go over. We also wouldn't look at houses over our max budget.
Must haves: 3-4 bedrooms, 2-3 bathrooms separate dining room, large kitchen preferably with an eat in kitchen, 2 car attached garage, no HOA fees, a decent yard, his and her sinks in master bath and garden tub in master bath.
Wish list: 2nd floor laundry, front porch, deck, finished basement, fireplace, minimal work, mainly brick house, fenced in large yard, pantry and walk in closets.
We got a great deal on our house and go everything in our must haves and everything in our wish list except: 2nd floor laundry, finished basement, and fenced in yard. Our house is very large and too big for us currently but we have an office, guest bedroom, and now we are starting a nursery so we are growing into it.
We will be buying our first home this Nov./Dec.. We've been married 7.5 years but we didn't want to buy until we got settled in our careers. Our first home will probably be our forever home. We want something big enough for our family (which will be done growing this January), but something that still fits us when we're old empty nesters.
A great neighborhood, good schools, and short commute have been the top considerations.
House wise, we want a one story home with 4 bedrooms (but we will settle for three if the rooms are large), 2 full baths, room for a piano, brick all around, and a backyard large enough for a covered patio, vegetable garden, and swing set. We're pretty flexible on everything else.
We're looking for something no more than 25% of our take home pay. We have a max that we will spend, but not a minimum.
We've already chosen our neighborhood, so it's just a matter of waiting until we're closer to the end of our lease and seeing what's available.
Thanks! We already have someone we're working with and we really like him. I have not heard of Dave Ramsey. I'll have to check out his book.