Trade Offs

Sigh… a toughie! I am not a risk taker, so I would probably opt to just take the new house in the less-than-desirable city. But, the market is your oyster! It seems like you have plenty of time to look, and there still seems to be tons of houses on the market, so you should be picky! You never know what will come along… in a city you love more! You have the upper hand now as the buyer, so keep on looking!

One crappy thing about buying an older place is that if you buy something older, you’ll no doubt run into huge expenses… and if you’re unlucky, right after you move in and have just spent your entire life savings on your down payment. (What??? We need a new roof/water heater/plumbing??? But we don’t havveeeeee $15K right now… nor will we in… years!) We got slammed with a (quite small) assessment right after we moved into our condo.. it was under $3K, but we LITERALLY did NOT have the money… we had to work out a payment plan with our HOA! So older places come with lots of yucky fun surprises, that, if you’re able to put down your down payment and still have a nice chunk of change left for incidental expenses, then you’re fine. But as a first time buyer, every penny we had went into our down payment (my husband even sold his car!) and we had nothing left for remodels, etc, for a couple years.

I’m so excited to hear you’re buying a place Kelly! Keep us posted on your endeavors!

(and the city that you hate BETTER not be Berkeley… it’s actually quite nice here if you close your eyes and squint!)

Re: your comment about the city-that-shall-not-be-named… I had my suspicions that that is what it was (as we felt the same!) Its one of those cities that is awesome to live next to (everyone needs a big mall, and all the great chain staples), but with great neigborhoods with so much more character nearby, it’s hard to commit to ‘Orange County suburbia’ (we call it Irvine of the north) in the heart of surrounding unique cities. I totally feel you.

Keep looking Kels! There is absolutely NO rush to buy right this second. You will find your dream home! There are a lot of recent remodels that are almost as good as new. My girlfriend just bought in the Oakland Hills, the house is so quaint on the outside, but the inside is completely gutted and modern! It’s fantastic!

It’s out there… you will find it… but it’s good to know that there’s a place you can go to be able to live on one income and in a brand new place! If you head over to my side of town, we should play!!! Not that you are that far away now… haha. It’s funny how I act like one bridge is this huge barrier that I can’t pass through too much Lazy!

UGH I SO feel you on the housing trade-off debate! We would very much love to stay in the city we are now (Annapolis), in the downtown area especially… and with the great (buyers) market right now, we could just barely swing it! Unfortunately that would mean being on the maxxed-out end of budgeting, having to cut back on vacations, and all but eliminating any possibility of me being able to cut back my hours and be a stay-at-home momma in a few years…

So let me know when you figure out the magical answer! We’ve looked at some great big, new, fabulous houses in areas we just don’t really want to live in as well… is it worth it?!?!?

We own a 2 bedroom condo that has brought more headache than I want to admit. It was built in the mid 1980′s and it seems like everything needs to be repaired. I wish we would have done more research before we bought this place.

As a condo owner, I would highly suggest against owning an older condo as your first home unless you have enough cash flow on hand to “hope for the best but expect the worst”….the monthly HOA fees will increase to upkeep and maintain the property. You might get hit with a one time assessment that can easily cost over $3000+. Ask to look at the financials and see how many assessment fees and HOA increases the owners have had in the last 5-7 years. Also see when the roof and other essentials were replaced. I feel like it’s money wasted on maintaining such a small place. As a crafting and office supply junkie, I don’t have enough space to store all my goodies. The good thing about our place is it’s central location so when we do sell, we’re hoping to make a small profit. So be sure to look at the location also.

New developments are really attractive but renovating an older place can be fun and rewarding also. Good luck to you and hope you find your magical place soon.

I found your blog through WB a while back and saved you as my favorites to “steal” some of your crafty ideas. You are very talented!

I had the dilemma of finding a 2br condo. I grew up in SF and wanted to stay in SF, but realistically I just could not afford it. The realization came after searching for a place for over 6 months. Initially I wasn’t open to searching in the eastbay, but did so anyway. Prices were much more reasonable and I like the floor plans much better (not cramped, more closet space). I ended up purchasing a condo in Oakland (Rockridge) that was older so I got to remodel my kitchen, bathrooms, and paint the walls to my liking. It was such a headache, but it was worth it.
I can totally understand your situation, buy new or old, and location. I purchased a place that I could comfortably afford (I’m in my twenties so it wasn’t much).

I like SF, but I love Oakland even more. =)

Good luck!