Settling in Madison (First Home) (McFarland, Windsor: mortgage, student loans, first time home buyer)

[JoshB]

Securities Law,
This link is great for all properties in City of Madison.
City Assessor - Property Lookup - City of Madison, Wisconsin

This link is for everything in Dane County, any municipality, village et cetera.
http://accessdane.co.dane.wi.us/html/parcelsearch.asp

The top link is more detailed with details of square footage, year built, sales history. The bottom one is more basic but still provides great details. Naturally I'm nosy so I thought I'd share these.

[SecuritiesLaw]

Haha, ok just got back from a couple of viewings over lunch. I now understand why our realtor was showing us places in SW Madison.

The locations under $300k in the West side neighborhoods mentioned, let's say, needed a bit of work. While there are some great opportunities to get into great neighborhoods for someone with a lot of cash on hand, I just don't think we want to sink that much into our property right off the bat. We'll see what else comes up in those areas, but I think I see where our realtor was going with that.

Any secondary suggestions to the neighborhoods mentioned earlier where we wouldn't have to immediately start fixing the entire place up (for under $300k)?

Oh, and thanks for the new links to play with Josh. Had the first one, will definitely make use of all the good stuff everyone is sending though. I love research!

[ranger17]

Originally Posted by SecuritiesLaw

Haha, ok just got back from a couple of viewings over lunch. I now understand why our realtor was showing us places in SW Madison.

The locations under $300k in the West side neighborhoods mentioned, let's say, needed a bit of work. While there are some great opportunities to get into great neighborhoods for someone with a lot of cash on hand, I just don't think we want to sink that much into our property right off the bat. We'll see what else comes up in those areas, but I think I see where our realtor was going with that.

Any secondary suggestions to the neighborhoods mentioned earlier where we wouldn't have to immediately start fixing the entire place up (for under $300k)?

Oh, and thanks for the new links to play with Josh. Had the first one, will definitely make use of all the good stuff everyone is sending though. I love research!

the above issue can be common, that's why we built in 01 (in a Madison burb) over grabbing a slightly lower priced home that was 15-20 yrs old and at some point going to need $$$. Actually the same issue we ran into when we moved to SC, but that doesnt mean building is always the best option. And frankly, even with tax benefits, if i'm paying $4-6k for taxes i better like the house i'm in. That's why we've built our last 2 homes, but building can be a whole other set of concerns and things to monitor/worry about...

[SecuritiesLaw]

We got some quotes on buying a lot and building after you brought up that idea. We just won't be able to get near as much for the money that we are looking to spend as we can buying an existing home in the market right now. The next time that may be a scenario that we'll have to look into more closely.

Taking a look at some more places this weekend. We found an area we quite like the surroundings of down near the Ice Age Trail. It appears that we can get a newer home down there, in a nice area (neighborhoods all look well kept + parks + trail), and it almost has a country feel to the properties (lots), while still only being a 15 minute drive from downtown. Will have to see how the guts of the houses look upon viewing. We've been disappointed before once stepping inside!

[ranger17]

Originally Posted by SecuritiesLaw

Will have to see how the guts of the houses look upon viewing. We've been disappointed before once stepping inside!

we ran into that when we first moved down here, and had to find a home to rent right away..... it's amazing how many we saw that online looked great, and in person seemed destined to be on a home improvement show instead lol

[Ragnar]

Glad you looked into building. It's definitely worth a consideration somewhere along the line, especially since you don't have a major desire to live downtown or near the urban cores of Madison.

The one major thing I'm sacrificing by building is lot size. Lots on existing homes tend to be larger and my lot is smaller than I would have liked. However, it's certainly more than adequate, close to parks and open space and the yard will be easier to maintain.

I'm sure you will find something that works for you. Many of the homes in the area around Ice Age Falls are built by Veridian, or one of the companies that merged to become Veridian (Midland Builders). These areas probably have a modest HOA, like $15/mo. or something similar to help maintain appearance. For me that's a plus, but YMMV.

Keep us updated!

[Megan1967]

Just be sure you know what the HOA dues are. I live in a Don Simon neighborhood and mine are $175 per year, due at the end of the year. Not everyone who buys in this neighborhood has been informed of this from their seller which strikes me as weird because I thought you were legally obligated to disclose such things. We have common "outlots" that have to be cleared of snow, maintained and insured. Our dues go toward these services.

[SecuritiesLaw]

I will make sure to check when we see some places this weekend Megan, thank you! Personally, I would be perfectly ok with an extra $14/mo, given some of the dues that we found in the middleton, and old sauk neighborhoods.

[ranger17]

Originally Posted by SecuritiesLaw

I will make sure to check when we see some places this weekend Megan, thank you! Personally, I would be perfectly ok with an extra $14/mo, given some of the dues that we found in the middleton, and old sauk neighborhoods.

when we were in Deforest, no HOA or dues so we were spoiled. Came down here, and some 'hoods wanted $1500 and higher per year, especially if they had a pool (and I'm not talking just hi-end locations lol). I'm sure the pools were the big cause, as we ended up in a lake 'hood w/ no pool but with tennis courts and lake access and our dues here are only $257 per year. A steal if you can think of it like that.

Of course no one follows the guidelines anyway here concerning boats in drives, dogs barking too much, etc...

[SecuritiesLaw]

Originally Posted by ranger17

Of course no one follows the guidelines anyway here concerning boats in drives, dogs barking too much, etc...

So neighborhood dogs just have "accidents" when they get too noisy at night?