What type of home is worth buying? Bigger lot or more house?

[hellaslover]

well...i like big lots and this is why. i was raised in greece and our house back home had a huge yard (most homes do), i feel like i can't breath if the house doesn't have a back yard. I like to go out and walk, run, bbq, play with my dog, play soccer etc and i want my yard to be big enough for that (i will probably not end up doing any of those but i wanna know that i can). I don't wanna be stuck inside 4 walls and know that's the only space i have. i agree a big house is nice but it needs to have a lot too so you go somewhere to escape and to breathe fresh air. It's like having a private park and i like the idea of that.

As far as yard work is concerned..what kind of maintainance does it need if it's in the back? i understand you have to keep your front yard nice and clean and mowed every month or so but if it's in the back i don't mind it looking like a jungle

So i guess people have different opinions on this and it's fine, but the question is do homes with large lot have more value? probably yes, but does the value go higher the bigger the lot is? I predict Rocklin to get overpopulated someday and the homes that are gonna start building will have very small lot so there's more room for new homes (it's already starting to look like this with new homes), wouldn't big lots be in demand later on?
And about the pool...isn't a pool a good thing? the pool in this house is at the very end of the lot built higher than the ground, you can't even see the pool from the house unless you climb the stairs, so even if i had the pool empty year round it's not a bad sight so it doesn't bother me. And are you guys saying the house is old? it's only built in 1980...it's that still pretty new? i mean it's not a car..
About the size of the house, it's big enough to fit my parents, my older brother and me and my gf (3 beds, my bro will have one, my parents one and me and my gf one, and each room will have it's own bathroom). I'm planning on moving out either way so size doesn't really matter, my brother will move out too eventually
so the house will be large enough for my parents.
Do you guys still think it's not a good idea to buy a house like this?

p.s we haven't looked at the house yet, it may look really old but we did see a couple houses one built in 1987 and one in 1990 and they looked brand new that we thought they were built a few years back.
So if the house is in good shape and the rooms are big etc. would you say it's a good buy? or rather buy a newly built bigger house with small yard?


If any of you has the time go to the century 21 website and search in rocklin,Ca for a 3bd 2bath house 300k-300k price range. 2 results will come up it's the second house with the 13500 lot. tell me what you guys think

[DMenscha]

It doesn't appear that a lot of the back yard is usable and a bit hard to tell what the steps lead to, but if you like it, go for it.

My earlier post about bigger lots assumed that there would be usable area in a comparison of smaller vs larger lots.

I also think the property is poorly marketed which is good for you the buyer.

[hellaslover]

Dmenscha
What do you mean the property is not usable? What makes a property usable? I'm guessing the stairs lead to the pool by looking at the pictures but i will know for sure when i go look at the house, probably monday. And what do you mean it's poorly marketed? Do you think this house is not worth buying? I'm not too excited about the house (age and size) but the lot size got me..
i see you 're a real estate broker so you probably know a little more than me and the rest of us in here..

[DMenscha]

Originally Posted by hellaslover

Dmenscha
What do you mean the property is not usable? What makes a property usable? I'm guessing the stairs lead to the pool by looking at the pictures but i will know for sure when i go look at the house, probably monday. And what do you mean it's poorly marketed? Do you think this house is not worth buying? I'm not too excited about the house (age and size) but the lot size got me..
i see you 're a real estate broker so you probably know a little more than me and the rest of us in here..

Oh the steps lead up to a pool? I didn't notice that as I was focused on the question of lot size.

The question of usability is a good one and has several factors. On the home in question, the steep part where the stairs are isn't usable (other than for landscaping) so it's utility is lessened. So if you had a 13000 sf lot and 3000 sf wasn't usable, you would only have a 10000 sf lot.

On a larger scale in my area we speak in acres. So a 5 acre parcel that is steep and really only has room to place a house on is worth less than a 5 acre parcel that is flat and can be used for a variety of purposes. The flat 5 acres is worth much more because of it's utility.

As for being a broker, I know what I know and I know what I don't know. My opinion is just as valuable as yours and probably less But thanks for the compliment

[wburg]

hellaslover: Check and find out if the house is within a homeowner's association boundaries. Often an HOA will have rules about the condition of your backyard, as well as your front yard, and can fine you if you don't keep your backyard in acceptable condition. Plus, in a dry summer climate like California, untended dry grass can become a huge fire hazard, not to mention making your big backyard a lot harder to move around in.

Ever hear about the three rules of real estate? Location, location, and location. Where is the property in relation to wherever else you might like to go? Is the property on a hillside, in a floodplain, on top of a toxic waste dump?

I prefer houses that are at least 80 years old, so in my mind a 20-30 year old house isn't old--although a lot of houses built in the 1980s are pieces of junk because they were so poorly built out of poor materials (the phrase "they don't build 'em like they used to" applies to houses. After WWII they went downhill rapidly.) But if you find a house of that era that has been maintained, that might not be so bad.