Going to take a second look at the Beautiful Gunderson, the house Kevin slightly prefers, and which will be much less work. Here's hoping I decide I love it. That would potentially (if they come down a good chunk from their asking price) make our decision and lives much simpler.
Just to clarify, both this house and the Mad Hatter would end up (we think) about the same in initial cost, but the Mad Hatter would eat up another $5-$10K annually in taxes and maintenance, so that's why the luxuries and such might need to be cut to afford it.
J and I bought a house that was move in ready. It had all of these wonderful features we loved and couldn’t live without. The greenbelt with a pond immediately behind our home, a school just a 2 minute walk away, brand new carpeting throughout and a bar/counter making the kitchen part of the living room.
After 10 years of no development, within 2 years of us buying, the greenbelt turned into a dust bowl when developers ripped out the pond and built new houses in our greenbelt. That’s when the mice came in (over 20).
The pond also meant our house was on some crazy water thing that caused the beautiful Brazilian cherry wood floors we installed to buckle within a couple months and have to be ripped out a year later.
We pulled out the counter – it was totally non functional and after tear out, we realized the previous owner did a shoddy job installing it.
Our son went to a private school so the elementary school was of no consequence. And the sidewalks? We walked on them far less than we should have. Like, um….5x/year maybe?
The perfect move-in ready house was a constant project. J is very handy, so we didn’t have to pay for labor. Most of those projects were finally done the week we moved out! We sold it for $5 LESS than we paid for it 7 years later.
I want you to have the home of your dreams because I want you to be happy. But I don’t want you to be stressed out and having to hire people to do repairs all the time. I want you to find a home you can comfortably afford, including the unplanned rainy day stuff, and still have money to buy your books, go to dinner or coffee shops, and do the things that enrich your life on a daily basis.