Buying a new home in Argyle - effect of the size of the home. (Dallas: sale, real estate)

[ko92885]

I am single right now, but I decided to buy a home because I am tired of the rents being increased every few months.

I did some research and decided on Argyle since it is an upcoming community and a good ISD too.

But since I am single I was looking for only a 2500 sqft home.
However, one of friends is convinced that a 3000 sqft home (it would cost 100K more) would be better since it will appreciate more and also it is easier to rent it out or sell it.......if I ever get married and decide to move to a different place.

My question is, is he right?



1. Does a 2500 sq.ft appreciate in value less than a 3000 sqft home in the same community? If I decided to sell it I hope to get at least what I paid for it...or may be little more to adjust for the inflation.

2. Is it easier to rent out a 3000 sq.ft home vs a 2500 sq.ft home?


Any thoughts are appreciated.
Thank you.

[Parnassia]

I'd suggest how the different sized houses were laid out (number and style of functional rooms like bedrooms, bathrooms, office space, size of the kitchen or utility/laundry areas etc.) and what other amenities the properties offer would matter more than the square footage all by itself. For example, if those future buyers need 5 bedrooms but the larger place just offered bigger open living areas, empty air of a grander foyer, but only 3 bedrooms that might make a huge difference in how the place would work for them or what they'd be willing to pay for it.

You'll pay higher property taxes, insurance, and maintenance on a larger place too, so don't forget to figure that into your cost equation. Resale value is an unknown because its off in the future and subject to market trends and economy. It could tank. Property taxes, insurance, and maintenance might fluctuate too, but those costs will start immediately, and chances are they'll keep going up, not down. You might end up paying a lot more for that extra square footage than makes sense.

[Sunbather]

If this is for a primary home that you will live in, I do not recommend up sizing just to try and capture resale.

[Leonard123]

That sounds like an awful idea. Buy what suits YOU and YOU alone. You can't buy with that investment mindset because you don't know the future. Buy based on your current needs and goals.

Besides, you will spend more money maintaining that thing than you will get back in resale. Who is going to clean it and do all the yard work and repairs? 2,500 square feet is a lot of house for a family of four, let alone one person, and you are questioning getting even more?

Originally Posted by Sunbather

If this is for a primary home that you will live in, I do not recommend up sizing just to try and capture resale.

Correct, and even that's an understatement.

Your best investment both for the present and future resale is to get the cheapest, smallest one story house in the most expensive location, within reason. I strongly advise looking more in the 1500-2000 square foot range instead. 2,500 is gluttony for a family of four let alone one, unless you have a big family over or lots of big gatherings.

You can't go by schools either because the schools always change the same way design trends change.

[Rakin]

Hope you're not the type of person who enjoys driving into the big city or needs to commute.

[TeamLynn]

NEVER take the advice of a friend on real estate purchases.

There is a pretty straight line demand curve on rental prices...meaning the cheaper the rental the more demand there is. As prices go up, there is significantly less demand. So what your friend says is not true, even in the Argyle bubble.

Appreciation is dead right now. We'll be thankful if it gets back in 3-4% range.

There aren't probably a lot of single family 2500sqft houses in Argyle ISD, but there are some in Harvest. Remember in Harvest you also have that crazy PID tax of 1% in addition to your normal property taxes.

Also just like apartment rents, your house payment also goes up yearly...increased taxes, insurance, HOA fees just seem to never go down.

Argyle is certainly a nice place to live. Small town atmosphere. Small school system. Hope you work from home or don't have to commute too far.

[ko92885]

I currently live in North Irving near Coppell.

I considered, Prosper, Keller, Aubrey and Celina in addition to Argyle. Argyle seems to be the closest to the airport and also to where I currently live. So I sort of settled on that.

I didn't know about the PID at Harvest. Thank you for that @TeamLynn. The homes in Harvest are a little out of my price range, but there is a pre-owned home on sale (in Harvest Ph1) which I am going to check out....will ask about the PID.

[tmtex]

Originally Posted by TeamLynn

NEVER take the advice of a friend on real estate purchases.


Argyle is certainly a nice place to live. Small town atmosphere. Small school system. Hope you work from home or don't have to commute too far.

Its also growing fast. Actually that whole area is Argyle and west

[ChristieP]

As a single person, you’re going to be bored out of your mind in Argyle. That area is great for families, but there’s zero to do up there for singles other than church groups. It’s a long drive into Dallas and Fort Worth for any type of nightlife. I guess you could go scope out the college kid scene in Denton…

I agree with everyone else that there’s no point in making yourself “house poor” now for the potential resale value some time in the future.

[Wittgenstein's Ghost]

Larger homes only appreciate "more" in the sense that they are typically more expensive and thus have higher levels of absolute appreciation. In terms of percentage, which is what you should care about, I've never seen any evidence that smaller homes appreciate worse.

In fact, I can actually think of one mechanism by which smaller homes could see better appreciation. Appreciation, at least in real dollars, is largely driven by land value. Structures themselves are depreciating assets. Theoretically, a smaller house on the same lot has a value that is more largely composed of land value than the more expensive structure on the same lot. So, it at least seems possible to me that, over a very long timeline, a cheaper house on a comparable lot could possible appreciate better in terms of percentage.

Also ignore anyone who says you should buy in such and such school district for the appreciation. Appreciation is about new, unknown factors. Things that are already known today are priced in today.