Our Ideal Location

Welcome back to House Hunters, day three. If you’re just joining in, you can read the original post here and yesterday’s post about “Our Ideal House” here.

This house is an example of a typical home in our ideal location. We love our current neighborhood because we’re near the city, but it has a suburban feel to it. It’s safe, friendly and walkable. There is a great community playground and some wonderful local restaurants right up the street. We are close to just about everything, and our commutes are reasonable (25-35 min. on average).

The neighborhood is a combination of post-WWII bungalows and new infill homes. This home is 1,100 square feet. It features 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, hardwood floors and an updated kitchen.

The local elementary school is just a few blocks away. It’s not a bad school, but it’s in a terrible school district. It would be an option, but most likely we would choose private school.

We have three main concerns about buying a home in our ideal neighborhood:

1. Size – This home is approximately the same size as our current apartment. We are concerned that we would outgrow this home very quickly. In fact, it it not uncommon to see a nursery photo when a neighborhood bungalow is put up for sale – this seems to confirm that.
2. Price – The list price for this home is $85,000 more yesterday’s “Our Ideal Home.” Enough said.
3. Neighborhood Stability – Home prices haven’t “bottomed out” in the neighborhood yet. We live in a popular area, and many young couples bought these bungalows at the height of the real estate boom. Now, these homes are being listed for reduced-but-still-inflated prices as the homeowners try to avoid financial disaster. In addition, there are a lot of McMansions being built in the neighborhood as infill homes, which also affect the price of these bungalows.

A combination of house size, price and neighborhood stability make us wary about purchasing a home in our favorite neighborhood. Most likely, we will choose to purchase a home elsewhere. Tomorrow we’ll take a look at our first “compromise” location.