Clicky: Which would you rather have?

Echowysp · August 2010

I was driving down a dirt road in my town. I live in a typical suburb, but there are still a few nooks and crannies of more rural areas. I happened to notice that there were 3 new houses in a row that were huge. Then the rest of the block was the original homes from the 50s, small and sort of rundown/shabby with not the greatest landscaping and such. Obviously people bought the property because it was cheaper and built their dream homes.. but they just didn't fit in that neighborhood.

So, my question is... would you rather have a huge dream home in not such a dream neighborhood or a smaller, but lovely home in a dream neighborhood?

[Poll]

macchiatto · August 2010

Neighborhood! I wouldn't want to have to clean the huge house.

sunnyday016 · August 2010

I've probably asked you before (can't remember...?) but are you in the burbs of Detroit? What you described sounds like it! I'm in Jackson BTW.

Shayna0182 · August 2010

A home is what you make of it. Sure, a huge home would be nice, but I'd rather have my child grow up in a safe, nice neighborhood. Besides, you can fix up the inside or outside of any house and add nice landscaping.

Echowysp · August 2010

sunnyday016:
I've probably asked you before (can't remember...?) but are you in the burbs of Detroit? What you described sounds like it! I'm in Jackson BTW.

Yep! I'm out near Ann Arbor.

azzyberry · August 2010

Well, I'm the one that lives in my dream home in a neighborhood of tiny houses......but we're renting, we don't own it.

The neighborhood isn't a bad area, it's just that it's a really old neighborhood where all the homes were built in the 40's - 50's and are really tiny. Our house was built 1 1/2 years ago by an investment group who bought the property and built this huge house. I love this house and I wish we owned it. It is a b!tch to clean though.

Now if it was a bad/dangerous neighborhood...I would choose the smaller house in a good neighborhood.

sunnyday016 · August 2010

Echowysp:
sunnyday016:
I've probably asked you before (can't remember...?) but are you in the burbs of Detroit? What you described sounds like it! I'm in Jackson BTW.
Yep! I'm out near Ann Arbor.

Oh sweet. DH and I both grew up in Brighton.

ivs112 · August 2010

As long as the neighborhood is safe, I have no problem with it. Old shabby houses wouldn't bother me.

Echowysp · August 2010

sunnyday016:
Echowysp:
sunnyday016:
I've probably asked you before (can't remember...?) but are you in the burbs of Detroit? What you described sounds like it! I'm in Jackson BTW.
Yep! I'm out near Ann Arbor.
Oh sweet. DH and I both grew up in Brighton.

Small world. I took my prenatal class for ds there.

LTGirl · August 2010

Our house is really little, but our neighbourhood is awesome - we have a great park with tennis courts and a wading pool, a community centre with a swimming pool, a library, and lots of shops (bakeries, banks, green grocers, drug store, etc) all within a 10 minute walk. If we outgrow this house, I don't think we'll be able to afford something bigger in this neighbourhood, but I'd be so sad to leave it.

LynnJones · August 2010

Ugh this is such a pet peeve of mine. I live in an older neighborhood, so the houses are relatively smaller and older. Well this neighbor kitty corner from me knocked down his house and built a huge mansion. It just looks so odd in our neighborhood and it's like ok when you go to sell it, a buyer who can afford to buy that house is probably not going to be looking in this type of neighborhood. sorry for the rant.

Echowysp · August 2010

LynnJones:
Ugh this is such a pet peeve of mine. I live in an older neighborhood, so the houses are relatively smaller and older. Well this neighbor kitty corner from me knocked down his house and built a huge mansion. It just looks so odd in our neighborhood and it's like ok when you go to sell it, a buyer who can afford to buy that house is probably not going to be looking in this type of neighborhood. sorry for the rant.

Plus, it usually makes the other houses look sort of dumpier, even if they aren't.

~adamwife~ · August 2010

We're actually looking to downsize. Safety is really important to DH and I hate cleaning, so I'd definitely pick the safe neighborhood (although I'd rather not have neighbors and be out in the middle of the country).

LynnJones · August 2010

Echowysp:

LynnJones:
Ugh this is such a pet peeve of mine. I live in an older neighborhood, so the houses are relatively smaller and older. Well this neighbor kitty corner from me knocked down his house and built a huge mansion. It just looks so odd in our neighborhood and it's like ok when you go to sell it, a buyer who can afford to buy that house is probably not going to be looking in this type of neighborhood. sorry for the rant.

Plus, it usually makes the other houses look sort of dumpier, even if they aren't.

Yes it does. I'm glad we're not right next to it because our house would look like it's being eaten alive by the new house

erinjcianciolo · August 2010

right now i want the huge ass house in a neighborhood for the kids, but in a few years, we'll be doing the huge ass house in on some great land away from people.....

SparkFish · August 2010

I think a great neighborhood makes up for a small home every time. People often ask me how we live in a small condo in the city (rather than a house in the suburbs for the same price) and the answer is that we don't spend much time at home. There are 3 parks within 1/2 mile, a community center and indoor pool at one of the parks, a great library, loads of child-friendly restaurants, etc. I honestly can't imagine what I would do with DD if we lived in a huge house but had to get in the car every time we wanted to go somewhere else. But, I suppose it all depends on what you are used to.

ElizC · August 2010

Echowysp:
Obviously people bought the property because it was cheaper and built their dream homes.. but they just didn't fit in that neighborhood.

Not sure what neighborhood or suburb you are talking about. Those types of lots don't always equal cheap. Dirt roads and what not can be a really desirable thing. Even if the other houses on the road are older, it isn't like you are going to build a new house to match the old stuff around you. I would hate driving down it everyday, but so would everyone else. Again it really depends on the community on the reasoning for a situation.

amber_tynan · August 2010

Well, I live in a medium-sized house next to a cul-de-sac (there's a path in the woods in our back yard where we end up on the cul-de-sac) and down the road there are million dollar homes, so I kind of feel like I have both worlds. I'm really happy here!

Echowysp · August 2010

ElizC:
Echowysp:
Obviously people bought the property because it was cheaper and built their dream homes.. but they just didn't fit in that neighborhood.

Not sure what neighborhood or suburb you are talking about. Those types of lots don't always equal cheap. Dirt roads and what not can be a really desirable thing. Even if the other houses on the road are older, it isn't like you are going to build a new house to match the old stuff around you. I would hate driving down it everyday, but so would everyone else. Again it really depends on the community on the reasoning for a situation.

Believe me, it's not a super neighborhood. The smaller homes were probably going for $95,000 and looked like they needed a lot of repair. The newer homes looked about 4,000 square feet, towering over these 900 square foot ranches.

But I know what you're talking about.

gumiberg · August 2010

i'm a runner and so i need two things: a really safe neighborhood and one by good running trails. i would live in a shack if it was on the backside of a mountain.

i also need to be by a grocery store and either a whole foods or trader joes (preferably both). many of my co-workers bought homes in the outskirts of town and they have to drive an hour just to get anywhere (including work!) There is no amount of house that would make it worth it to me.

ElizC · August 2010

Echowysp:
ElizC:
Echowysp:
Obviously people bought the property because it was cheaper and built their dream homes.. but they just didn't fit in that neighborhood.

Not sure what neighborhood or suburb you are talking about. Those types of lots don't always equal cheap. Dirt roads and what not can be a really desirable thing. Even if the other houses on the road are older, it isn't like you are going to build a new house to match the old stuff around you. I would hate driving down it everyday, but so would everyone else. Again it really depends on the community on the reasoning for a situation.
Believe me, it's not a super neighborhood. The smaller homes were probably going for $95,000 and looked like they needed a lot of repair. The newer homes looked about 4,000 square feet, towering over these 900 square foot ranches.
But I know what you're talking about.

The housing market here is super strange. We have been trying to find the right neighborhood and house for over year. There is always something wrong with whatever we find. I am just happy we have wait, because we would of bought the wrong thing pre DS. DH had his heart set on living on lake and I think I would have like 10 heart attacks a day if we did.

Echowysp · August 2010

ElizC:
Echowysp:
ElizC:
Echowysp:
Obviously people bought the property because it was cheaper and built their dream homes.. but they just didn't fit in that neighborhood.

Not sure what neighborhood or suburb you are talking about. Those types of lots don't always equal cheap. Dirt roads and what not can be a really desirable thing. Even if the other houses on the road are older, it isn't like you are going to build a new house to match the old stuff around you. I would hate driving down it everyday, but so would everyone else. Again it really depends on the community on the reasoning for a situation.
Believe me, it's not a super neighborhood. The smaller homes were probably going for $95,000 and looked like they needed a lot of repair. The newer homes looked about 4,000 square feet, towering over these 900 square foot ranches.
But I know what you're talking about.
The housing market here is super strange. We have been trying to find the right neighborhood and house for over year. There is always something wrong with whatever we find. I am just happy we have wait, because we would of bought the wrong thing pre DS. DH had his heart set on living on lake and I think I would have like 10 heart attacks a day if we did.

Oh yeah, I for sure couldn't handle that with them this age. I can barely stand that we don't have a fence. All the neighborhoods we look at aren't fence friendly (or have sidewalks) and it drives me crazy.

Cityplanner · August 2010

Those houses are called McMansions and I hate them. You see them in good neighborhoods also where people want bigger houses. They're so ridiculously out of scale with the old housing stock.

Sage Mommy · August 2010

You can add on to a house later, but you can't change the neighborhood w/o moving. the better neighborhood wins for me.

Symharmony · August 2010

I'm not a real estate agent, but I think buying a oversize house in an under size neighborhood could affect your resale value of the home and you might lose money when you try to sell.

RedBlueberry · August 2010

Sage Mommy:
You can add on to a house later, but you can't change the neighborhood w/o moving. the better neighborhood wins for me.

Yes, this exactly! Anyway, I grew up in huge houses and I hate them. I want a small cozy house and a great neighborhood

Want a personalized experience?

Clicky: Which would you rather have?

Re: Clicky: Which would you rather have?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards