What kind of house do you live in?

Ceridwen21

Quiet morning at work and I'm bored. What kind of house do you currently live in?

MusicFanatic

Detached single, we just purchased it last month!  Our first real home, we rented for ages before it

Aprilbaby49

We live in a duplex but hope to buy a stand-alone house eventually

ArmyWife0623

single family house, with front and back yard, cant see any neighbors.... on the lake, and in the mountains! 

Nenetouti

Currently living in a appartment but we are building a house and are pretty excited about moving in our first home!

SCSmith2011

We built our dream house last year when the market in our area was still bottomed out and interest rates were low (although they've since gone lower). Of course that same market make selling our townhouse an adventure but in the end we sold and basically broke even on it. Not bad for only owning it for 3 years and new construction still going on in the same development.

It's funny because even though the floor plan we picked didn't have everything on my original wish list, there is absolutely nothing I would change about my house.

Pintobean39

Is it weird that I have never rented?  I have always bought the home that I lived in since I was 18.  I'm now living in my 4th home.  I do still own my 3rd home but it is rented and I'm only keeping it because my oldest son may move into it in the next couple of years.  I never understood renting because it always felt like throwing money away but things have changed so much since I bought my first home 21 years ago, I totally understand renting now.  The economy/real estate market has changed so much. 

ETA:  I feel like one of those old people sitting on their porch saying ...... "in my day we did ....."

Ceridwen21

Pintobean39 said:

Is it weird that I have never rented?  I have always bought the home that I lived in since I was 18.  I'm now living in my 4th home.  I do still own my 3rd home but it is rented and I'm only keeping it because my oldest son may move into it in the next couple of years.  I never understood renting because it always felt like throwing money away but things have changed so much since I bought my first home 21 years ago, I totally understand renting now.  The economy/real estate market has changed so much. 

ETA:  I feel like one of those old people sitting on their porch saying ...... "in my day we did ....."

DH has never rented, but he lived in a city with some dirt cheap condos when he was a student, so he's been on the property ladder since he was 20. 

hullabalou

We just bought our first home in August. It's a 3br2ba and it is pretty nice, just not extravagant. It feels like home. But in our area, a house like this is almost always under 100k. Anything above 500k is a mansion or sits on a LOT of land.

Also, I hate apartments, mainly because my aussie mix was HELL in an apartment, even with daily dog park trips.

wishiwaspreggo

DP and I bought our condo in our mid-20's.  We were too paranoid about what could go wrong with a stand alone house but we wanted a bigger place and we wanted to buy it so... we compromised and got our 3-level condo.  It's been perfect for just the two of us.  We'll probably sell when our first born is a toddler.  I guess we'll be moving again in 3-5 years.

I'd love a detached house now that I know how to be a homeowner.  But I just see no reason yet to move since we still have enough space.

All I know is, the next time we buy a house I want it to be the last.  Until we're at the age where we can no longer take care of ourselves without full-time assistance.  If we're lucky to live that long. 

That's a lofty goal - my mother thinks we can't do it.  But, that's my dream!  I already know exactly what I'm looking for.  It will be within my budget, especially after we sell.

MrsMac613

We live in a townhouse that we bought in April. We wanted a single family but in the area we wanted to live in those were wayyyyy out of our price range. So maybe in about 5 years we will get a single family. I really do love our house though.

janda426

We live in a 3bed/2.5 bath single family home in a development between all the old people neighborhoods ha. I love the town were in but I don't think well find a "forever home" in this area. We don't have a basement, or room for a 4th bedroom so it's a deal breaker for being our forever home.

It's a nice home and for what our price range was when we were looking, we got pretty lucky. We actually got outbid buy some crazy woman who kept going to attorney review on homes, having the home inspector come out cause she thought he was hot, then backing out of the deal. Weirdo

kwicks

We just bought in March, and always rented before that. But looking at pp prices in their area, I think we should have moved! In my area, you can't get a decent shoebox for 200k. At least not in a nice area. We were super lucky and bought at the right time for a 3/2, but houses down the street are going for 270k for a 2/1 at 900 square feet. Nuts!

I'm just kidding about moving, I love our house. But sometimes I miss renting when things go wrong!

Texasgurly0313

The base housing I live in is a townhome style with four units in each "block."

Pintobean39

slappalicious said:

Pintobean39 said:

Is it weird that I have never rented?  I have always bought the home that I lived in since I was 18.  I'm now living in my 4th home.  I do still own my 3rd home but it is rented and I'm only keeping it because my oldest son may move into it in the next couple of years.  I never understood renting because it always felt like throwing money away but things have changed so much since I bought my first home 21 years ago, I totally understand renting now.  The economy/real estate market has changed so much. 

ETA:  I feel like one of those old people sitting on their porch saying ...... "in my day we did ....."

I rented an apartment for 2 years right after college (2002 - 2004) before buying a townhome.  I liked not having to worry about yard maintenance and replacing or fixing things - to me that was well worth it.

Now I'm stuck with an empty townhome that if I sold it right now, I'd lose about $40K.    Owning does have its downside.  (Yes, I should just rent it out... that's entirely on me.  I just want to be rid of the thing.  I don't want to be a
landlord)


Being a landlord does suck!!! We have 2 rent houses. My husband has a house 10hrs away and we have a mgmt co taking care of it but my house is close and I take care of it. I had a young couple living in it once and they just disappeared. Skipped out on the rent and trashed the house. They literally unhooked the toilet and put it in the living room. I'm lucky right now because I have an awesome renter that treats my house as if it were their own and if there is a problem they just handle it. Regardless, if I could get rid of these houses tomorrow I would in a heartbeat!

LeadMitten

MrsRexManing said:

Just closed last month too! We sold our 10 year old cookie cutter colonial for a four square built in 1906. I'm in love. 

Ours was built between 1895-1909, the original paper work is conflicting. I love it sooooooo much! Especially my tin ceilings, to die for.

tlc35

We just bought what hopefully will be our forever home. Before that we were living in a condo and we need to get working on selling it.

EmeJay

Houses are very expensive where I live to and to afford a single-story with finished basement, we had to resort to move to the deep "tiny-ass town" suburbs.

Our house is under contract right now to be sold and we're looking to move at the beggining of 2014.

We'll still live far away from the city, and I'll do a little less long commute. You have to choose your priorities.

Pintobean39

andreab7412 said:

Its crazy how the housing market is so different based on region. We have a 4b4b two story with a finished basement. Its 5 years old and we paid 205k. It would easily be 500k in another state.

I use to live 45 min away from where I live now and that's about the avg for the houses there, but I could never find a job as an CPA. The job market sucked for anyone with a college education, unless you were in the medical field, there is a big hospital there. Most ppl including myself had to commute for work, and you could make so much more money not far down the road. Now that I live 45 min down the road where the job market is much better a house of that size cost around 350-400k.

themrsJRD

HisGirlFriday929 said:

We have a 1920s bungalow that I'm in love with.

We have a 1930's bungalow it was love at first sight. It's about 1400 square feet and was under 100k. Hard to fathom the housing prices in other areas. I don't know how we could adjust if we wanted to move to one of them.

EmeJay

In the city, a 2bdr/1bath 700 sq condo is about 300k

Thanks, but no thanks.

prncsz

I am definitely lucky DH purchased our home maybe 3 months into us dating so when we got married I just moved in although he tried to get me to move in several times before that . We love it nice 4 bed 2 bath but DH says eventually he would like for us to build one I think our house is perfect for us but we'll see.

ClaireHuxtable

We live in a two-story home - 5 bedrooms, 2.5 baths and framed out unfinished basement. It's our plan to finish it in 2014. We purchased right at the tail-end of the housing boom in 2008 and got a good deal.  We lost some value in 2010-2011, but have steadily gained it back.  Our home is a new build - you know, mini-McMansion style - nothing special. But for our next home, I would love a one-story Craftsman or a really nice ranch style home.  A fixer-upper we can customize.

themrsJRD

HisGirlFriday929 said:

themrsJRD said:

We have a 1920s bungalow that I'm in love with.

We have a 1930's bungalow it was love at first sight. It's about 1400 square feet and was under 100k. Hard to fathom the housing prices in other areas. I don't know how we could adjust if we wanted to move to one of them.

In order to afford it, we have to live about an hour from Chicago.  However, I ADORE our little town.  It's right on the river & we have parades for everything.  It's a very supportive community.  Also, there are at least 7 bars within walking distance of my house.

That's awesome! We love our town too, and it happens to be our hometown. It's a great community. Jealous of having bars close by, but we are hoping that is remedied soon as someone is building a nice house a few blocks away and it looks close to completion. The city parade route also either goes right in front of our house or just two blocks away so that's fun. Small towns are the best

mmb248

We live in a basic 2 story in a nice, but not fancy, neighborhood with a 1/4 of an acre in an amazing school district.  If we moved 10 minutes away to a different school district, we could have a custom house with 500 more square feet on 2+ acres.  But, hey, our mythical children will attend public schools that are better than most of the private schools around here.

If we moved to H's hometown, we could have a house our size on 50 acres of land.  If we moved to my hometown, we could have one of the nicest houses in the fanciest neighborhood.  We are really country come to town, er, suburbia.

angeltennis3

DH and I bought our house about 2 1/2 years ago. We got a great deal because it was a fixer-upper, but mostly cosmetic stuff (new flooring, new counters, new appliances, all that jazz). It's been a slow process but I really do love it. It's a 4 bedroom 2 1/2 bath house, and it has an unfinished basement we are going to start finishing over the holidays.

My selling point was the backyard. It has stunning landscaping that would have cost us a TON of money and work that we probably wouldn't have been willing to put in.

The only downside is it is a bit of a commute for me to get to work (about an hour) which stinks...when we (hopefully) have a baby, I'll probably quit my job after maternity leave and find something closer.

snooks721

Single family home

divinemsbee

We live in base housing, but also in a single family home. We lucked up at the very last minute moving onto base. Thought we would be in the townhomes (2 to a unit) and ended up in what used to be the upper officers' homes when the base was first built. It was built around 1929, original hardwood on most of the house, there was a maid's quarter's added to the back at one point, and the kitchen has been redone somewhat (and added central air and heat, bless them), but it retains a lot of the original fixtures (cast iron tubs). It's around 3000 sqf,, 3 beds (technically the maid's room counts as one, but we use it as an office), 3 full baths, which is way more than we need right now, there's one bedroom we just closed off. This is a really small base that has some of the most beautiful housing, and the lots are a decent size, so you're not right on top of the neighbors. I'll be sad to leave here. We won't buy until H is out of the military, but that's us. Unless we end up in a place where we know we'll want to come back to. We have way too many friends who are trying to rent out or sell houses that they bought here, and it just looks like a pain to have to do that for the next 15-20 years. We may end up buying and moving back to my hometown because we could get a lot of house for the money and be there for family. Right now we just put some money away and have a lot of dream house conversations. I also am 99% sure that when we finally do buy, we will want that to be our forever home.

soccer4us2013

We own a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom 2500 sq ft split level, built in 1979. Bought it last summer, was a short sale & we got a killer deal on it...! I love our house...we're slowly renovating it, one room at a time

Smallllmin

We live in a very small apartment in a mansion on the campus of a high school.
And we are so fortunate that we have no rent b/c of DH's job.

AmyC925

We built a bi-level 3 bed/2.5 bath.I love it because I'm afraid of basements and its beautiful. Eventually we will sell for more land. If we end up never having kids, we'll end up downsizing a bit too.

GirlOnTheBeach

We just bought a 1977 3 bed 2 bath house in a nice neighborhood this past summer. It's our first house and we love it! It's 2100sqft and we got it on a short sale. Houses here can be pretty cheap (ours was $86,000) and often need a little work, so we are just doing a little here and there. :-)

MrsM507

Technically a 3 bedroom (could be 4 but one is an office) 1 bath, apartment. My parents own a 2 family home. They live downstairs and we live upstairs. We planned on buying after we had DD but with her health issues, it made more sense to stay. (Partially because I can see the emergency room entrance of our local hospital from DDs bedroom and partially because the emotional support from my parents is huge.) we do pay rent - they took out a loan to have the roof redone and it goes towards things like that. It's nice - we have a huge yard with a small above ground and no annoying neighbors. I'd say it more like owning our apartment than renting because it's not like we need permission to do anything, inside or outside. Not where I thought I would be, but It really works for us.

TeeJ526

DarcyHermione said:

dorothyzbornak97 said:

After having lived in apartments and duplexes for years, I have to say that not having anyone living on the other side of any of my walls is an unbelievably wonderful thing. 

This is what I can't wait for. I'm looking forward to having a yard and not having neighbors yell at each other below me at 3 in the morning.

I've always lived in a house. I think I'm glad I've never had to experience neighbors below or above me.

Ineedmorecoffee

2 bed 2 bath apartment. In the process of saving up to buy a house.

heatherjean81

Detached Single Family... a very small one, when kids come along we might need a bigger house!  

lisamarie84

We live in a 3 bed/2 bath house on 1 acre. It's actually the house that DH grew up in. We'd both really like a more modern house on a bigger piece of property, but for now, this works for us.

lesleyn21

We live in the country on 1.5a of land. I miss having a house right next to me. I like having neighbors.

TammyDoubleB

4 bedroom/2 bath single family home with a finished basement.

Lizbeth2462

We are in a detached single family home, DH owned it before I met him so when things got "serious" with us I moved in. It's pretty standard colonial-style, built in '02, 4 bdrm 2.5 bath. I like it but don't know if it will be our forever home... It would be nice to eventually pick out something together that we both love!