First World Problems - NBR

bennikki · October 2012

DH and I have been house hunting for the last year with very little luck, and now we seem to have two houses to pick from. House #1 is a waterfront place, 4 bedrooms, 2 baths but needs a lot of updating. House #2 has a beautiful view of the water, but no access, 5 bedrooms, 4 baths, and totally updated. Both are in nice neighborhoods, unoccupied, so we could move asap, and both are on 2+ acres of property. Obviously lakefront property appreciates in value a lot faster than simply lake-view property, but when I say updating, I mean pretty much gutting the first floor (it's livable, but totally 80's). Also, they both have hot tubs, and again first world problem here, but we both hate hot tubs (I got a rash from one once, and I just get so grossed out by them now), and the sellers act like their doing us a favor by including it.

WWYD? Also, anyone in MN want a hot tub? I may have one on the market here pretty soon.

pistolpackinmomma · October 2012

Is the waterfront going to flood? The only waterfront I'm familiar with is riverfront and it floods. Also, W swears that houses along lakes are generally "vacation" homes and after a while the area seems to get run down. Being from the 80's my guess is worst case scenario you would be remodeling the bathrooms and kitchen. Most everything else can probably be covered up with paint and new carpet/flooring.

If they are in the same price range I personally would probably go with the waterview property since it has more bedrooms.

GraceyandTroy · October 2012

Wow, yep, FWP! But congrats on whichever house you choose. Personally, I would choose what's move-in ready because the cost of those updates could potentially make them not end-up happening for a long time. Plus the extra bedrooms and TWO extra baths would be a HUGE bonus!

Have fun deciding!

erkie · October 2012

For me, it'd be lake front. No contest. We bought our house looking straight out of the 70's and updated the kitchen and guest bath ourselves. Master bath still needs to be done. It has shared frontage on Lake Michigan and we knew it'd keep its value. Plus, we LOVE having a beach a short walk away. It'd be so awesome to actually be right on the water.

But, on the other hand, maybe you need the bigger house? I wouldn't want to have to clean 4 bathrooms unless I had to Wink

bearkatjen · October 2012

I would want lake front, DH wouldn't. Let me ask you this, how would you use the waterfront? Do you swim a lot, boat? Also, do you have the money to start renovating now, or would you have to wait on that?

MrsD626 · October 2012

That's a tough decision. Are the houses comparable other than lake front verses lake view? DH and I bought a house right out of the 70s, and I have loved updating it, but with baby coming, I'm not sure I would want to have to start from where we did 2 years ago. It's a lot of work and money (even doing things yourself is quite expensive). If you like the 2 houses the same other than the view, I would say to go with the move-in ready, but if you like the other one much more or would use the water a whole lot, go for the lake front (just knowing up front how even little updates are time consuming and expensive.) It's a difficult decision! I'm sure you will love whichever one you choose!

bennikki · October 2012

Thanks for the input ladies. I think we're leaning towards the lake front. We are not at risk for flooding, so that's out, and we love to fish and boat. A PP asked about lakeshore getting run down, but that doesn't happen where I'm at in MN. Usually what happens is someone snatches up a place like this, tears the whole thing down to build a McMansion that streatches from one side of the property to the other, so no one else can enjoy their view. As far as remodeling goes, we'd be gutting the kitchen, living room, dining room, and first floor bathroom. The second floor was completely remodeled by the previous owners. While I know remodeling is annoying, I'd like to have it all my taste rather than the other house which is totally done, but not totally in my taste. We wouldn't start the remodel until next fall probably. We're thinking we want to take down some walls and things like that, and we want to live in it for a while and see what we like and don't like before we make major floor plan decisions.

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