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How much value does a corner add?
H and I are looking at 2 townhouses on the same short street. The floor plan/sq. footage of the houses are identical. Maybe 5 houses on the street.
House 1 is on the corner adjacent to a quiet street. We love the yard, but it needs a lot of work and will likely have some section 1 problems in the deck. The backyard goes into a cul de sac, so we could watch hypothetical children play from the backyard. House 1 is bank owned, and has not had any inspections or anything done. On the market for ~150 days. Asking $441K. In contract at $461 about a month ago, but fell through due to financing.
House 2 is a regular sale. It is not on a corner, but is on the same street. The backyard is more "finished"--beautiful new-ish deck, but covers the majority of the yard. The rest of the yard is not as useable--on a hill-ish, so lots of plants. Not much room for kids to play. The house is move-in ready and has already had a pest inspection and the Section 1 repairs have been done. On the market ~75 days. Asking $475K. No previous offers.
I guess what I am asking is--would you go with the house where the location on the street is better, or where it is more move-in ready?
EDITED: I accidentally flipped the prices. Now they are correct (bank owned = cheaper, and had a previous offer at $461K)
Re: How much value does a corner add?
I know--H and I have been tossing and turning over this exact issue for days. I guess what I would ask is, does "location location location" apply to the neighborhood (which is stellar for either house), or even deeper into the exact spot on the street?
If it makes any difference, we'd like to be in this house for 10-15 years. Which makes me lean toward the better backyard/bank-owned.
IMO, in this case yes. You have a bigger and more usable backyard to work with as well as the corner location. Yes, it might require more upfront work but in the end it would be worth it.
This. Just keep in mind that house 1 is more expensive unless the bank comes down a lot based on no offers. It also requires more work so you need to ensure you have the funds to fix it up. I would pick location over "move-in ready", but not if I didn't have the money to get it in the condition I wanted.
I would go for the corner TH. Having rented interior THs in the past, I can say that I personally would NEVER buy one to live in. I always had great neighbors on one side and the other side neighbors were noisy and inconsiderate.
For a townhouse, I would definitely want an end unit.
However, our SFH is on a corner - it's a four way stop in our fairly quiet neighborhood, and I HATE IT because of the added noise from cars stopping at the stop signs. I can't imagine what living in a busy neighborhood would be like, this is just a lot busier than where I grew up so I'm not used to it.
s*it, I flipped the prices. Sorry friends. Here is how it actually is priced:
The bank-owned corner lot = $441K
The seller-owned middle lot = $475K.
The middle lot comes with some older appliances which we could live with for a little while (fridge, W/D), but would need to replace in a few years. The bank-owned corner lot has no fridge, no W/D.
In any event, I think all the advice I am hearing reaffirms what DH and I have been thinking--the bank owned will be our better bet, as long as we have the cash to make the section 1/necessary repairs to get it move-in ready.
We may make a low-ish offer on the bank-owned and see if they accept...no harm in making an offer, right?
Paint can be changed over time. Landscaping can be changed over time. The deck can be fixed over time. But you cannot change the location of your home nor the bones of your home (unless you invest mega bucks).
The home that has a better location and is more family friendly (cul de sac, quiet neighborhood, etc) is the higher valued home LONG TERM.
Short term ... yeah, you got plant some grass, put in some nice flowers, and invest a few hundred bucks in the deck. All of which don't have to be done tomorrow.
Move-in ready is always nice but your home is a long term event. Better to get the bones and location right first and worry about the rest later.
Now the downside IMO is that it is bank owned, and that would probably be enough for me to not get involved BUT that's simply me and shouldn't impact your decision.
thanks for the input...I agree that the bank-owned thing is a concern...we just had to walk away from a short sale due to a need for excessive repairs...it is always a possibility that the bank owned will have just as many...
It's worth as much as you are willing to pay extra for it. Does it have extra windows? That can be nice to get a cross breeze or more light as most townhomes only have window in the front and back.
Bank owned home may be a difficult sale. They tend to take forever, and typically are sold AS IS. SO you would have to front the cost of an inspection BEFORE you give your offer to consider all the things you would have to fix and work that into your offer.
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