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House #1 or House #2--WWYD
Which house would you buy:
1. In a high end country club, lots of amenities (restaurant, tennis courts, resort pool, lap pool, gym), guard gated, very close to freeway, top school district. Home is on a golf course where DH would play if we moved in (he plays golf 2 times a week, so he'd use it). Nice sized yard for Vegas (about 1/2 an acre), pool and grass. Former owner was an interior designer so inside is fully upgraded, but some is a bit over the top for me (especially some of the faux painting). About 40 minutes from my mom, where other house is about 10. Home is a tract home in a neighborhood where houses are pretty close to one another (this one is about as far away as you can get because it's on the end in a pie shape separated by a rarely used easement). We've been looking at custom homes so this one is MUCH different. We really wanted a custom home. Home needs a bit of work (landscaping, carpet removed in about 1500 sq. ft of home). House is just the size we need--no more, no less. Lots of owners our age so kids for my kids to play with. Costs considerably less than house #2. HOA is ridiculously strict, not sure how strict #2's HOA is.
2. In a very unique neighborhood with horse stables and riding trails (we don't have a horse and don't ride, but it's still neat), guard gated, inside is gorgeous, doesn't need any work, yard could use a bit of updating but not necessary, not in the best school district but not the worst, no community amenities, neighbors tend to be much older than us (so not as many kids for our LOs), neighborhood does do events on certain holidays that are geared towards kids (decorate barn for Halloween, etc). The entire neighborhood is custom homes, this home is brick (rare for Vegas) and on about 3/4 an acre with its own pool and tennis court. House is about 1500 square feet more than we really need or wanted. The home is about 10 minutes from the freeway but centrally located in town. Well within our budget but more than house #1 (like six figures more).
HOA fees are about the same in both neighborhoods. Both are close to work for DH and me. FWIW, we can afford private school and my understanding is our school district is open enrollment, so we aren't TOO concerned with school quality.
House 2 is extremely unique and high quality, I'm just not as sure about the neighborhood. I guess it comes down to whether I'm willing to sacrifice the uniqueness of a custom home for a highly upscale neighborhood with features and amenities that I know our family would use. Figured I'd see what you ladies would do. We plan to put an offer in next weekend.
Re: House #1 or House #2--WWYD
I personally don't like tract style neighborhoods so #1 would automatically be out for me, eventhough the rest of the neighborhood, the amenities, and the size of the home, etc sounds great.
I personally like #1. It has amenities you say you will use and is in the top school district, which is always good for resale, I assume. The only downside for me would be the strict HOA and being so far from my mother -- but it would depend how often I saw her. If she watched LO every day, for example, that would not work.
Hi, I'm totally new to this board and I tend to post on the knot more (getting married in Sept but looking for a house now).
I'm a horse person... and if you don't particularly care for horses, I don't know if I would move into a horse community. You might struggle to fit in and get use to things about being around horses (like the smells etc).
Sounds like the neighborhood that house #1 is in is great. I grew up in a neighborhood without many kids so I would agree that its nice that your kids will have others to play with!
House 1.
I'm curious why it's a requirement that a home be custom. Non-custom homes can have all the same features. And what's your definition of "custom?" That there not be another home like it anywhere in the world? Or that it just not look like its neighbors? I know Vegas has hundreds of thousands of ugly, identical stucco homes (a friend is buying there and I was stunned at just how awful most homes were, inside and out - who's building these things!?), but you can get a different look simply by chatting with an architect, a designer, and a landscape designer. Most people just generally don't have the wherewithal to do that.
I think your requirement for a non-custom homes is blinding you to the really, really obvious decision here. House 1 is perfect for you in every way. And you can use the 6 figure savings to modify it to meet your preferences.
My Pinterest
The Googlesites Paint Bio
Thinking of doing cosmetic updates to a dated home? These were our costs.
It doesn't have to be a custom necessarily. But our biggest requirement is a large yard (over 1/2 acre) and that seems to only be available in Vegas with custom homes. We like some privacy and space between houses as well. As I'm sure you're friend found, the houses here are right on top of one another unless you can find a nice custom home on it's own lot or a home on the outskirts of town (where we won't live). So our options are to either live in a neighborhood and sacrifice the yard size or buy custom. In this case we've found a rather large lot in a community--something rare. But the neighboring houses are still close together and the space feels kinda cramped.
We would keep looking but we've ooked for years and finally found two houses we like, for different reasons.
I've been trying to make decisions based on long-term payback. A subdivision with a more strict HOA is probably going to be better maintained 10-15 years down the road, but you need to be a willing participant as well. Not everyone is okay with being told how to maintain their yard and chastised for leaving garbage cans by the curb.
The first house DH built was similar to what you described- custom houses, big lots, horses. Unfortunately the neighbors didn't maintain at the level we did and it affected the resale value. The last two houses we've built have been based on neighborhood, schools and amenities. They are proving to have been good decisions for us.
All great points. Just to follow up--
House 1 is stunning and extremely unique. Great craftsmanship by a quality builder. It definitely doesn't look like a stucco block or in any way similar to the one you posted. The best feature is the yard. Here's the pool at night: http://www.paragonpoolslv.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=39052538 Ignore the weird white grecian thing, that's not there any more.
Re: pools, you can't really find a house here without a pool. It's really rare. A pool is pretty much a requirement for us, but we have a pool now and our kids will grow up around pools so I'm not too worried. Plus we have a pool gate and window/door guards and we put them in swim lessons starting at 6 months.
Most people would find that the square footage is illogical in both houses, but we want that size because it's what we are used to. Our old house was 3700 sq. ft and we sold it and still have all of the stuff. House #1 is 4500 square feet. House #2 is just over 6000 square feet-much, much more than we want but all very useful space (1800 sq. ft is a basement, for example).
Not sure about jogging on the horse trail, that would be neat. I'm a marathon runner, so places to run are important! Both houses have nice surrounding areas to run, but #1 gets the edge because there are actually running trails just outside of the guard gate.
Nothing has really retained its value in Vegas, but of the two, #1 has done much better in that regard. The problem is that there aren't a lot of comps for #2 since it's custom in a small neighborhood, vs. #1 which is in a larger neighborhood with lots of comps. So it's hard to say re: resale. But this is our forever house, barring any unforseen circumstances.
I know you can't tell from this post, but DH is leaning towards #1 and I'm leaning towards #2. Until I read the posts here and in my xp on MM which have pushed me more in the direction of #1.
#1
Better neighborhood for your kids, better schools, amenities you'll use, house size appropriate for you, and a huge cost savings.
Remember, the cost savings is not just on the cheaper purchase price ... your utilities will be cheaper without paying to heat/cool 1500 extra sq. feet of space you don't need, you won't have the upkeep costs of the pool/tennis court since you can use the neighborhood amenities, probably get discounted country club membership at house #1. The savings will more than cover the cost of updating paint and other cosmetic things in the house.
I don't see the draw of horse stables if you're not horse people. And I think the distance from your mom is reasonable for both houses. In fact, I think I would rather not be 10 minutes from my mom, 40 minutes would be more comfortable. :-) I love her dearly, but if she was 10 minutes away she would be at my house every day and that would be too much.
Mr. Sammy Dog
Number 2 would personally be too much house for me, and number 1 would be entirely sufficient. Obviously, people differ with this. I've seen people on this board with 1200-1500 square foot houses for a family of 4-5, which is too small for me. Whatever floats your boat. What are the bedroom/bathroom numbers on these? More bathrooms = more toilets to clean. More guest rooms/offices = more furniture to dust. Even if you hire help, that's a higher cost, since in my experience most cleaning services charge based on number of bedrooms/bathrooms and/or square footage.
I agree with you about custom homes. I personally adore old homes and BRAVA SBP for the post about Victorian architecture. All craftsman style homes look the same? There are plenty in my neighborhood, all built by different people at slightly different times. They are not the same materials, layouts, and colors as each other, the way you find homes built by sub-division developers from the mid-twentieth century on.
However, having a walkable neighborhood with great neighbors and good resale value (like... having neighbors without 2 feet of weeds in their yard thanks to the HOA) is very, very appealing. For your family now, I'd probably go with 1. Also, when your children are grown if you are still there, the neighbors will be around your age so you'll have those people to keep you company.
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