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#1 Townhouse or detached: You will spend a lot more time and money than you think to keep up your yard in a detached home. You will likely have to paint the exterior every 10 years and if trees are near your gutters, you will be cleaning those 4 times a year. If you can't reach your gutters (taller homes) you will have to hire someone in the $100 range each time. You will need to have your home powerwashed once a year to preserve your paint job and prevent mold. You will have to buy a lot of outdoor equip to keep your yard trim and neat. You will spend nearly every weekend in the yard in spring and beginning of summer cutting, fertilizing, etc. In the fall you will be aerating and seeding your yard...if you don't do this yourself, you will be paying big bucks. If you don't care so much about the appearance of your yard, then you won't have to do the above.
In a townhome, you do share walls...so I personally would want an end unit. A townhouse would be nice in that you could spend your precious weekends on fun stuff instead of yard stuff. You won't have to worry about paying 6K every 10 years to paint the exterior and all the other things you should do.
A detached home: you have a little more privacy and is great for kids and pets if either of those are in your future.
#2. Don't buy a 10 year old home as a first time homebuyer. You will need to paint exterior around year 10 $6k, you will need a new water heater year 10 to 13 3K, You will need to replace wood rot that the painter will surely find $2k, you will need to replace appliances between year 10 to 13 3K, you might need new carpets at year 10 depending on prior owners, 5K for whole home or more. New HVAC on average at year 15 6K, and a new roof at 20 years 6K. As you see a 10 year old home will prove to be fairly expensive the first 10 to 15 yrs you own it.
#3 Buy a 3 to 6 year old home. A new home will not show builder flaws like a settled in 4 year old home will. The original buyers will have bought the blinds (expensive), appliances, fence, etc...many things they they and you want that can add up in a brand new home. Usually, the home will still show new. You shouldn't have a lot of "things" to spend on for at least 6 years to build back up some more savings.
#4 Buy a home you can live with for the next 6 years or more. If you choose a townhome with the thoughts of moving in about 6 years to a single home when you have kids, etc....then go ahead and buy a single family detached home. The interest rates will rise and could be mighty high in 6 to 10 yrs from now, and you will be weary of moving at that time because of that....don't settle for something cause you will get what you want in 6 years kind of thing.
#5 You budget is low for the area you are looking at. It sounds like you don't want to leave that area....in that case....you are looking at a townhouse (not KB by the way...they charge extra for carpet padding..ha ha)...basically what should come standard, KB will charge an arm and leg for.) If you are open to Apex or Holly springs, with the new 540 you could zip to work pretty fast to RTP I hear. If you are open to Apex, then you will be able to afford a single family detached home in your budget with yard and all and most important that's safe. Scotts Mill in apex has homes in your budget right now and is very near 540. So...you can get a townhome in RTP or a single family detached in Apex for example. I wouldn't go for a single family detached in RTP for 200,000. It would prob need a lot of work and may be in an unsafe area.
#6 If you are going for a single family detached, there is one great rule to go with:
Go for a less expensive home in a more expensive neighborhood. Don't buy the most expensive home in a less expensive neighborhood. In other words your safest bet would be to buy a 200,000 home in a neighborhood with $250,000 to $300,000 average price. If you buy a $200,000 home in a neighborhood of average prices of $150,000 to $180,000, you will have a tough time when you sale, plus any upgrades you want to do might price you out of the neighborhood.
Don't underestimate the cost of moving, so as mjohnson said, buy a home you can live in for 5-10 yrs, as opposed to 2-3. If you don't have children now, but plan to in the near future, you may want to consider a detached home.
Also, the townhouse option has a much greater risk for a lousy living experience if you have bad/loud neighbors. In a detached house you can close the doors/windows and escape, in a townhouse you may be sharing a wall with them.
I don't necessarily agree with buying a 3-6 yr old house over a 10 yr old house. The landscaping should be more well established in the 10 yr old house. During the cutting months, it stays daylight until past 8PM, you can cut grass during the week if you want your weekends free. For a starter home your yard isn't going to be that big - consider it 45 minutes of cross training.
The potential for mechanicals to fail can be used as a negotiating tool to drive the price down, plus the seller may have already replaced some of the items at ten years. Also, you can DIY things like paint/rotten wood/new floors (changing from carpet to hardwood). Learning how to do alot of these things properly yourself is one of the places where you can add value as a homeowner.
Older homes can be updated. There are a few cute houses well under 200k in Cary. Some have ugly kitchens, some do not. There is one on Heidinger Drive right now that is pretty nice and has been updated listed for $159,900. Personally, I prefer older established neighborhoods that have lots of trees and such. All I'm saying is don't automatically cross older houses off your list, you might sell yourself short, especially with a smaller budget like the one you have.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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I wouldn't rule anything out. We bought a 10-year old home, but the carpeting was replaced before they listed it, so we have new carpeting. There WAS wood rot on the trip of the house, but we wrote it into the contract that they'd pay for it. With new houses, the kitchen your wife likes might be an upgrade. It's possible with an older house that the previous owners had some upgrades done. With a low budget, it pays to look at everything. You never know what you will fall in love with.
We had similar problem finding our first home... We settled on the home we wanted with a longer commute... It was easier driving a little while longer to the home we wanted to really live in, than getting to the one we settled on more quickly after a day of work. Just another way to look at it. Good luck, we are looking at the area, too, but my husband would first need to get a job there, lol.
#1 Townhouse or detached: You will spend a lot more time and money than you think to keep up your yard in a detached home. You will likely have to paint the exterior every 10 years and if trees are near your gutters, you will be cleaning those 4 times a year. If you can't reach your gutters (taller homes) you will have to hire someone in the $100 range each time. You will need to have your home powerwashed once a year to preserve your paint job and prevent mold. You will have to buy a lot of outdoor equip to keep your yard trim and neat. You will spend nearly every weekend in the yard in spring and beginning of summer cutting, fertilizing, etc. In the fall you will be aerating and seeding your yard...if you don't do this yourself, you will be paying big bucks. If you don't care so much about the appearance of your yard, then you won't have to do the above.
In a townhome, you do share walls...so I personally would want an end unit. A townhouse would be nice in that you could spend your precious weekends on fun stuff instead of yard stuff. You won't have to worry about paying 6K every 10 years to paint the exterior and all the other things you should do.
A detached home: you have a little more privacy and is great for kids and pets if either of those are in your future.
#2. Don't buy a 10 year old home as a first time homebuyer. You will need to paint exterior around year 10 $6k, you will need a new water heater year 10 to 13 3K, You will need to replace wood rot that the painter will surely find $2k, you will need to replace appliances between year 10 to 13 3K, you might need new carpets at year 10 depending on prior owners, 5K for whole home or more. New HVAC on average at year 15 6K, and a new roof at 20 years 6K. As you see a 10 year old home will prove to be fairly expensive the first 10 to 15 yrs you own it.
#3 Buy a 3 to 6 year old home. A new home will not show builder flaws like a settled in 4 year old home will. The original buyers will have bought the blinds (expensive), appliances, fence, etc...many things they they and you want that can add up in a brand new home. Usually, the home will still show new. You shouldn't have a lot of "things" to spend on for at least 6 years to build back up some more savings.
#4 Buy a home you can live with for the next 6 years or more. If you choose a townhome with the thoughts of moving in about 6 years to a single home when you have kids, etc....then go ahead and buy a single family detached home. The interest rates will rise and could be mighty high in 6 to 10 yrs from now, and you will be weary of moving at that time because of that....don't settle for something cause you will get what you want in 6 years kind of thing.
#5 You budget is low for the area you are looking at. It sounds like you don't want to leave that area....in that case....you are looking at a townhouse (not KB by the way...they charge extra for carpet padding..ha ha)...basically what should come standard, KB will charge an arm and leg for.) If you are open to Apex or Holly springs, with the new 540 you could zip to work pretty fast to RTP I hear. If you are open to Apex, then you will be able to afford a single family detached home in your budget with yard and all and most important that's safe. Scotts Mill in apex has homes in your budget right now and is very near 540. So...you can get a townhome in RTP or a single family detached in Apex for example. I wouldn't go for a single family detached in RTP for 200,000. It would prob need a lot of work and may be in an unsafe area.
#6 If you are going for a single family detached, there is one great rule to go with:
Go for a less expensive home in a more expensive neighborhood. Don't buy the most expensive home in a less expensive neighborhood. In other words your safest bet would be to buy a 200,000 home in a neighborhood with $250,000 to $300,000 average price. If you buy a $200,000 home in a neighborhood of average prices of $150,000 to $180,000, you will have a tough time when you sale, plus any upgrades you want to do might price you out of the neighborhood.
Good luck!
Thanks for such a detailed response. Always helpful to hear from other`s experience. Could not reply and post back on this forum as have been busy with work.
We did see some more townehomes , one was from Pulte at Chappel hill road Morrisville , although a little expensive but location was just perfect.
Will meet Realtor today and we have not taken anything off from the list yet. Will def look into resale houses too but not too old, we dun wanna buy something and then fix it. Today also going to bank and see how much loan we can secure so we know where we stand.
Will keep all posted and thanks people for replying.
Many new homes are pure trash and will bleed maintenance in 5 years or so because of inferior materials.
Don't totally kiss off renting. When you rent, you get full maintenance and have much more flexibility to move if conditions like employment require relocation.
Wanting a brand new home for that price anywhere but in the most rural areas of Wake County is going to severely limit your options. What exactly is a "modern kitchen?"
I'm not a realtor, so I will say that some tract builders seem to be better than others. I guess if you're choosing between KB and Ryan, I'd say Ryan over KB... But, toss a coin? Because neither would be nicer tract than a Drees or M/I, for example.
Visit homes. Look at them being constructed. Pay attention to the finish detail. Are the walls straight?
Go visit sites from a variety of builders that are as close to your price range as possible. Even if some are a little over.
You really do need a realtor, because you should look at a few older, well-maintained homes.
You may discover that the price and quality are better on a resale in your price range.
We are looking now and there are plenty of older homes with redone kitchens, some of which out to shame the cookie cutter kitchen in brand new homes. We were the first owners of our home in 2008 and we love it, but if I were in your range I'd look for a smaller single family that has been updated.
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