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Old 02-24-2009, 11:55 AM
 
88 posts, read 302,159 times
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Did you buy a starter home or your "dream" home? This will be our 1st home. I'm thinking something that we really like, that's affordable, nice with good schools. But, I must admit I like home that have all the upgrades! We will probably be in the home for about five years (husband is military) or longer. Please give me your opinions.
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Old 02-24-2009, 12:02 PM
 
18,149 posts, read 25,356,417 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by VA DIVA View Post
Did you buy a starter home or your "dream" home? This will be our 1st home. I'm thinking something that we really like, that's affordable, nice with good schools. But, I must admit I like home that have all the upgrades! We will probably be in the home for about five years (husband is military) or longer. Please give me your opinions.
What area are you interested in?
I'm buying one right now in the Schertz/Cibolo area, if you are looking in that area, you can PM and I can tell you all about it.
People should start building my house in a couple of weeks. (I'm going crazy, because I'm ready to pack and move)
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Old 02-24-2009, 12:10 PM
 
Location: South Side
3,770 posts, read 8,304,785 times
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I think the best advice I ever got was to get a house that not only could I afford the payments but also afford to put furniture in.

I have been in truly breathtaking homes with all the upgrades, but were completely unfurnished because the owners were so house poor they couldnt afford to buy anything to even sit on! A marble kitchen island is beautiful, but having to stand around it to eat off it....not so fun.
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Old 02-24-2009, 12:15 PM
 
1,366 posts, read 4,494,742 times
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if you are not planning on staying in the house for more than 5yrs why would you want to build your dream home --- then you will fall in love with it just to sell it and have to give it up...

i would buy a nice starter home with maybe a few upgrades but i would not go all out --- i would wait until you are settled and ready to buy your forever home before you build your dream...
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Old 02-24-2009, 12:39 PM
 
4,145 posts, read 10,441,746 times
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Originally Posted by perticusrex View Post
I think the best advice I ever got was to get a house that not only could I afford the payments but also afford to put furniture in.

I have been in truly breathtaking homes with all the upgrades, but were completely unfurnished because the owners were so house poor they couldnt afford to buy anything to even sit on! A marble kitchen island is beautiful, but having to stand around it to eat off it....not so fun.
Excellent advice. I help a lot of first time buyers and I always hear that they want their dream home, but the reality is you're going to move. A lot. Most people will move 7 times in their lifetime.

Save the dream home for another time. You can get a great starter home, keep money in your pocket and have enough to actually enjoy your life.

Besides, there is no "perfect" home. In every house you move into, you'll wish it had something more. I've got clients in multi million dollar homes that say the homes aren't perfect.
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Old 02-24-2009, 01:00 PM
djw
 
951 posts, read 2,838,226 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by VA DIVA View Post
Did you buy a starter home or your "dream" home? This will be our 1st home. I'm thinking something that we really like, that's affordable, nice with good schools. But, I must admit I like home that have all the upgrades! We will probably be in the home for about five years (husband is military) or longer. Please give me your opinions.
Get something you can afford but don't personalize the upgrades to the point that you can't sell it in five years. Go with the basics if you build. Ask your realtor what upgrades "sell" a house.
The same goes for buying used then doing some fix-ups. Don't get crazy with the tile and carpet colors or you'll have a hard time selling it down the road.
If you are a military family and the active duty member is going to deploy or go TAD often, you want a home that is sound and not going to be costly to repair or require lots of maintenance - of course ANYONE would want that. Just a military spouse really needs that kind of house!

How old are you're kids? Will you be at Lackland?
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Old 02-24-2009, 02:20 PM
 
88 posts, read 302,159 times
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How old are you're kids? Will you be at Lackland?[/quote]

DJW,

My kids are 6 and soon turning 4! My husband is stationed at Lackland and we are currently renting a home in the WestCreek area. Thanks everyone for the advice!
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Old 02-24-2009, 03:08 PM
 
132 posts, read 287,147 times
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I'm also in the process of building my first home in the Cibolo/Schertz area. With a lot of the incentives and low interest rates you can definitely afford a lot more, but as stated, we went with some upgrades we thought would help us sell down the road, but also bring some enjoyment to use while there without making us house poor.
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Old 02-24-2009, 04:35 PM
 
Location: San Antonio
2,216 posts, read 4,547,978 times
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moving in five years....go with what is affordable. The dream home should come when you are not planning on a future move. With the way the economy is it makes more sense to get what you can pay and look at resale if you know a move is in the near future.
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Old 02-24-2009, 04:37 PM
 
18,149 posts, read 25,356,417 times
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Don't buy new if you are moving pretty soon,
you won't be able to sell your house if the builder is still building houses in your community.

If you decide to buy new, here's my advice:
Start low and humble because it always goes up.

I'm like an old man that lived through the Depression = I don't spend money at all.

I talked to a Realtor and he showed me about 10 new houses, he kept on insisting in new houses (when I was looking for fixer-uppers) all of them more expensive than what I was looking for.
I told him I liked one that was abou $7000 about my price range and he just told me the reasons why he thought it wasn't good enough. I ditched him.

I found some new houses in my price range for a fixer-upper.
1st house that they showed me was at the top of my price range,
then they showed me "one a little bigger" ($7000 more) I felt in love with it.

We added the most basic things: $1500 for a bigger lot facing west (want the shade in my backyard), porch, 1st floor bathroom, besides that... only $1500 in options (pre-plumb, prewire for car garage, etc)
If I get a 5% interest rate when we close, my house is gonna be $17000 higher than the price range I had set.
That's not counting for all the things I still have to buy: lawnmower, weedeater, etc.
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