Got a call from my brother-in-law, who is buying his first house in Wisconsin. He’s a little nervous, and a lot excited about the whole thing. He calls me occasionally to get my Realtor-opinion.
Like a lot of first time buyers, he’s learning how to judge a house: figuring out what he really needs and what is important to him in a home. Given that I’m not familiar with Wisconsin Real Estate, we speak more generally about his options.
Option one is closer to the university where he’ll be spending a lot of time, in a popular neighborhood, and is completely rehabbed. However, it feels almost too nice, too adult, I think we decided. The entire second floor is the master suite which huge bathroom, which would leave potential roommates to share the smaller rooms downstairs, which feels a little unfair to him. This is also the more expensive option.
Option two is in an up-and-coming neighborhood, and needs some work, but is larger and he seems to like the floorplan better. I’m told the furnace is original to the house, built in the late 1800s. He’s more excited about the area, but the house would need some renovation. He was told it would be $20k-30k to do the renovation, which (having fixed old houses) I told him to double immediately.
So let’s play First Time Buyer: which one do you choose and why? What thoughts do you have that my brother-in-law should consider?
(go make your comments, then come back for my answers… I’ll wait)
(still waiting… aaaaaaand…….)
Here’s what we discussed:
- Lifestyle. Are you willing to live in a construction zone for several months? Can you manage a renovation project at the same time as being in a new city with a new job?
- Skills: Can you fix little things that may go wrong with an older house? Learning home repair can be an adventure and at least some fun, is that something he wants to tackle?
- Big Master Bathrooms: Scores points with the ladies…
- Location: how fast is the up-and-coming neighborhood up-and-coming? His agent should be able to give him some indicator of how quickly prices are rising (or falling) in that area, compared to other parts of the city.
- Big Picture: In 5 years, what’s the plan? Will you sell it? Rent it?
What’d he decide? No idea. He’s in no hurry, that was just his first house hunting trip. Which would you pick?
August 6th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
Very interesting post Kelley. Something which I can relate to in many ways. I lived in Wisconsin for many years and I bought my first home there. We bought a fixer upper and being a first time home buyer it was quite an ordeal. My wife and I were sleeping in the basement near the furnace in November while the entire first floor was being renovated. New rugs, drywall repair, kitchen counters etc. etc. The work was just endless. It also seemed that things outside of our control, such as the rain and snow that year, kept delaying the project. We will never do this again. Ever. Period.
I would take option one in a heartbeat. It’s near the university and prices will always rise since there will always be demand. It seems the reason against this choice are personal, but one way to think about it is for some people buying a home (regardless of location and type) is a very “adult” experience. I rented until I was 28 because I never thought I was old enough to buy a home. That was wrong because I lost out in a lot of equity.
My preference would be to go with Option one.
BTW: Is this in Madison? If so, option one is a much stronger choice.
August 6th, 2007 at 8:29 pm
I wouldn’t have been ready to do a construction project on my first home and if the furnace is original, I’d be planning to replace the electrical and plumbing too. As Shailesh says, Option #1 would probably be a good future rental if can get into it at the right price.Option #2 may end up being the most expensive, time consuming and frustrating choice. Probably not a good way to start. Your brother-in-law is lucky to have you on his side. Thanks for a thought provoking post.
August 7th, 2007 at 10:40 am
The reno project may be a big thing to take on, but I do have the benefit of knowing my bro-in-law. He’s an adventurous dude - something like that might just be attractive to him. After living through several reno projects, I’d do it again, but not while I’m living in the house!
Jennifer - good point about the electric and the plumbing. That’s why the best advice always comes from the local agent - I have no idea what other systems might be impacted by an original furnace from the 1800s. We just don’t have that sort of thing in Tucson.
August 16th, 2007 at 8:27 am
After buying a home that needed some updating and paying full price for it (multiple offer situation)… I’d definately choose house #1. You never know what other repairs are going to be required until you start to undo things. Plus, it’s no fun to live in a house that’s being renovated. I’m definately going to very picky with my next house.
August 16th, 2007 at 9:28 am
Chrissy - after two large renovation projects, one while living in the house and one while not living there, I’d undertake projects like that again, but only if I don’t have to live in the house at the same time! It was more expensive to carry two houses for a couple months, but well worth it.
August 16th, 2007 at 11:46 am
Chrissy,
I would suggest a rating program for your brother to determine what home best fits his needs. Once he rated the features that are important to him 5-10-15 features for example, he can compare the homes features side by side as well as view the total score and how the homes ranked against each other.
Best of luck to your brother, may the best house prevail.
Duane