All this tedious house hunting has paid off! After visiting another 14 houses this weekend, Jonathan and I have finally narrowed it down to two homes. Only problem is that he prefers one while I prefer the other. Of course it would happen that way, wouldn't it?! We really can't go wrong with either of the houses; it's just that they're so different. Oh, and ironically, they're the exact same price.
The first one is an updated rancher with a fabulous backyard built in 1956. It has three bedrooms and two full bathrooms, but also has a finished basement with an additional room that could qualify as a bedroom if we install a window. The house is completely renovated on the inside and though there is some work we would want to do, it's not necessary at all. The only thing keeping us from being completely sold on this house is the street. Though it's in a wonderful neighborhood, it sits on a busy thru street. There is on street parking, but I really don't love the traffic driving by. Jon doesn't mind it and feels that since it has such a gorgeous fenced backyard (the lot is 1/3 acre), we wouldn't even notice it. This house is Jon's first pick.
The second house is a classic colonial built in 1961. It has five bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms and sits on 0.41 acres. It's on a cul-de-sac and get this: it's adjacent to the water! Adjacent as in the house next door (and a few of the other houses on the cul-de-sac) have direct water access. Completely awesome. However, imagine a house in the Hollywood Hills and how they have no backyard as they sit into the hills. That's how this house is. We could do some retention walls and build a little bit more yard, but there wouldn't be a lot of it. This house also needs a lot of updating. The kitchen would be a total gut job and we would completely renovate the master bathroom and cut a little into one of the spare bedrooms to get more space. As it stands, Jon's shoulders are too broad to even fit through the bathroom door straight on! However, the entire house, minus the kitchen and basement, has gorgeous original hardwood floors that have been covered by delightfully ugly shag carpet straight out of the 70's. It's going to take some major work and elbow grease, but this house will be a total gem. Obviously, this is my first pick.
They're both in the same great neighborhood, a neighborhood that is arguably one of the best in our county. It has Blue Ribbon schools and the type of "feel" that we've been looking for. As an added bonus, it's only about five minutes from my parents and 20 minutes from work. Basically, we want to end up in this neighborhood whether it happens with either of these houses or not. Now we just need to pick one and quickly before someone else makes an offer! We keep going back and forth but just can't seem to come to a consensus. We are so torn! Any advice for us?
Edited to Add:
Just a little clarification...we think we can get the cul-de-sac colonial for about $35k less than the asking price because a) it's been on the market for 130 days and b) it's a deeded property, which means the owners received it in a will and have zero money tied to it.
It's also helpful to mention that our realtor's husband is a general contractor who can give us good deals on labor and appliances. The colonial would still end up costing more, however, Jon is talking about either expanding up or out on the rancher eventually so there would be some constructions costs with that home too. As far as the busy street goes, it has two lanes and I would be very worried about Lola or a child getting hit. It's kind of a shortcut to stay off the real main road and a lot of people use it.
For me, it really boils down to whether I can live with the busy street or live without a backyard. We plan on being there for at least five years at the bare minimum so it's a lot to think about. I'm seriously losing sleep over this, but I'm still leaning towards the colonial and Jon is still leaning towards the rancher.
The Colonial
The Rancher
