How was your weekend? Ok, let me be honest: I’m not going to hear a single word you say in response to my question, because I am going insane. I did not have a sleepy, relaxing weekend. I did not take trapeze lessons. I did not even do the laundry. We did look at houses every single second of the day. While at first I felt confident that we may have a winner, with every second that separates me from the promising property my doubts double.
Did I mention that I’m going insane? Why can’t we just afford a house like this?
Honestly, as much as I like stuff n things I’m not an incredibly materialistic person. I don’t actually require a house of this scope and grandeur (require being the operative word, here). We like our current house and love our neighbors, but we need a place that can grow with our family (jeebus, I am old). Here’s a checklist of our priorities.
Needs: Good schools, another bedroom, within our budget, not crazy far from town.
Wants: Awesome architecture, lots more space, closer to town than we are now (hahahahaha!), financial comfort.
People who live in desirable urban areas, you know what I’m talking about when I say that the chances of all these things coming together in one affordable package is about as likely as a winged unicorn taking me for a ride over a rainbow and serenading me with a Foreigner song. In other words, it’s an awesome dream, but it ain’t gonna happen.
Let me summarize, thusly. Dream:
Reality:
$400,000 for a dilapidated disaster, wherein the roof has leaked all over the joint, the floor is rotting, the sunken bathtup is a death trap, the floorplan is a tragedy, the structure is built too close to the property line, and we are selling all our possessions to move into a house where will be forced to eat ramen for the next decade.
Great schools and fantastic location near town, though! Don’t cry — this isn’t the house we’re considering.
The state of close-in Austin real estate is abysmal. Remember this unforgettable house, one of the first we looked at back in 200freaking9, aka forever ago? (PS: that dent is still in our bumper). Those were the days.
Possibly maybe more news tomorrow. Right now I’m curious as to how you dudes prioritize your housing needs. What’s most important to you? Please distract me from this hideously depressing downward spiral.
Dang it, I want you to have your dream house. Purely because I like staring at iron windows.
Hmmm… I probably shouldn’t give advice on housing needs. My new place is about triple the cost of my last house. All so I could enjoy a fabulous loft in a hot part of town. But, this was all knowing I’m a few years shy of babies and schools and practical things like that.
How often do you go downtown? Maybe (gasp) the solution is a bit more distance.
I am old, which will be clearly supported by my next statement–school district. Actually, a decade ago I was exactly in your shoes. We moved into our house when my first born was exactly a year old, but we were already thinking school. The neighborhood was also a big draw, being close to an urban center was less of a concern as most of the suburbs are within a 30 minute drive of the city and a car is an absolute necessity here. The third biggest concern was getting as close to our dream house as we could with priority being what we could afford. This house is not our dream house and we’ve stayed here this long because now we have three kiddos who love the neighborhood and the schools are some of the best in the state. After watching our house price rise above a high I never imagined and now fall unceremoniously back down to a decade ago levels, I would unequivocally say, don’t bite off more than you can chew. Not worth it.
Ok, my two cents. Now stop teasing and show us what you got on the menu.
Oh boy do I ever feel for you. I also live in austin and have been looking for a house for my fam in this price range for almost 4 years now. It is bleak-dare i say impossible.
We are currently crammed into a 2 bedroom 1 bath in a wonderful central austin neighborhood but boy and girl can’t share a room foreva. Great schools but the living conditions are not ideal…oh well. Its tough out there. Hope springs eternal.
A good school close by and hardwood floors. We had to replace the previous owners nasty fake wood floors and it cost us a lot of money and even more time. Good light is also important. Everything else you can fix. But I live in one of the most expensive cities in Canada (Victoria, B.C.) so I can’t afford to be too picky!
Solution: come visit me in LA and we’ll look at what we can afford here.
Either a million-dollar crackhouse or a place well outside of LA County. C’mon, it’ll be fun!
(OK, seriously. What NKP said. If we still lived in a place where we could ponder buying, I’d stick with her rec of not biting off more than you can chew.)
Yeah, poverty sounds unfun.
Amyla, we live south of the river already and keep looking more and more south. We’re going to end up in San Marcos if we don’t watch out. And the traffic! It is INSANE.
Rebecca, we left the bay area for that very reason. Turns out Austin is pricey, too, but at least it’s not crackhouse expensive.
Jessica, wood floors are a must. Don’t worry.
Nelya, sigh. Sigh. Sigh. I so know you’re right, but… sigh.
Nay, I haven’t been downtown in 800 years. That’s what happens when you have a kid.
You’ll laugh, but we actually have to consider internet speed. My husband (a web developer) works from home, and needs uber fast upload/download speeds, so digital cable availability influenced where we ended up buying our home. We don’t need to worry about schools (no kids for us), so we were able to shop in areas that are often overlooked. We chose architecture, cable, yard (for the dog) and proximity to family/highway in that order. Oh, and I agree with Jessica – good light, and good siting on the lot is crucial. Super hard to change. Good luck with the hunt… it’ll come when you least expect it.
I don’t have kids, so don’t care about school districts. I am a teacher, though, and think that there’s no such thing as the “right” school. If you are educated, involved parents, your kids will do well regardless of the school system (and might be able to snag some good scholarships if they come from an impoverished system).
My only considerations are cost and how much I like the house or apartment. I’ve been in my dream house for 9 years now. I totally underestimated the cost of the renovations, and took out wads of home equity (back in *those* days), so my once wicked cheap mortgage payment is now just average.
But yeah, for me it’s cost and beauty. I get the most beauty I can afford.
I’m really surprised at how expensive houses are in other parts of the country. Or even the state. I live an hour and a half outside of Boston and my house (4 story 1872 brick rowhouse with marble fps, mahogany, pocket doors, soaring ceilings, etc. etc.) cost me $105,000 (9 years ago, unrestored), and it would go for maybe 5 mil in Boston. $400,000 for a ranch house seems like a lot of money.
Maybe keep renting? Is that not an option?
While there is no such thing as a dreamhouse (within budgetary limits, that is) you’d better just go ahead and face the reality that you’re always going to pay more than what you budgeted for (then you’ll likely go ahead and make a few cosmetic tweaks and spend some more). C’est la vie babe, c’est la vie with babe.
Such is the reality of getting old….
May the house hunting force be with you.
Alcira
nerochronicles.com
We went through this last year (when our son turned 3) and decided we could have ONLY 2 out the following 3:
a. Awesome House b. Awesome Hood c. Affordability
Pick b and c and have patience! With a bit of creativity, over time you can make the house awesome and you won’t have to eat ramen for years.
Erica, we currently own our home, so no rent for us… no, that would have been too smart. I have seen your house and it is ahmazing! Sadly, that house doesn’t even exist here. We could spend 400k on a ranch house in town without even trying hard. A nice, 2500 sq ft rancher in an excellent neighborhood in great condition can easily go for double that. Or more.
Guess what? I think we’re going to have to move out to the country. To traffic hell.
Oh, and I taught school for years, too, so I understand where you’re coming from. BUT the Austin school system is horrendous. Even a good school here is mediocre elsewhere. Safety is a real concern.
Holy shit, I am oooooolllllldddddddd!
Bring your money to San Antonio, and live like a queen!
That being said, I’m a starving artist with a home in a not-quite-desirable urban area. But . . . the house is mortgage free, so here I stay. The dream home (after immediate relocation) will have to wait until that big Lotto win, at least.
Best of luck on your treasure hunt!
P.S. I just followed the link (above) to see the unforgettable tree house.
I’m so close to speechless, I could barely type this. Now, I have to wash my eyes. With soap.
Love to “Crackhead”.
Are you thinking of moving because you need more space? Could you build an addition to your current house? Or do you want to get out of your neighborhood? Would private school be an option if your current house is affordable and a new one is not? Would that cost less than the new place?
I loved that tree house. I still talk about it with one of my friends!
Good luck — it sounds like you’re really frustrated.
Im a renter & likely to be for a long time coming still.
Down here $400K will buy you a suburban monstrosity that is well over st an hours drive from town with out traffic & most likely to be a suburban ugly. So I rent – which means I live less than 2 kilometres (1.2 miles)from the city centre, have excellent bars & theatres & transport at my doorstop and 10 min walk to a beautiful sandy beach. If I was to buy my house with this silly market I would have to drop about 2mill. so renting is my life for a while still. Im just not a suburban kinda gal -Or at least I dont wanna be!
Would be nice to decorate my own house though & paint walls! But thats not a $2 million dream!
Wait, whuh? I thought it was a buyers market. Oh, crap. I am clueless. I’ll let you know what things look like up Georgetown way when we look next week. You could always take your helicopter into the city.
Hey Rosie, it depends on where you’re looking. Your areas of interest are far enough north that you shouldn’t have a problem — real estate is plentiful and inexpensive. Meanwhile, the south side is becoming overcrowded and overheated. Plus the roads down here just plain suck.
Just start stripping already so you can have that amazing dream house you showcased above. I mean, who cares right? stripper schmipper, they’re just nipples.
Good news for my search prospects, but my future geography has no doubt earned my kind some sort of sad nickname when we decide to jaunt into Austin for the evening: Something like “road cloggers” or “northern-town skanks.” Sigh.
I have a good feeling about your search, though…my crystal ball says a fabulous new listing will magically pop up. Positive vibes.
Hey there! just hang in there with the house thing. I went through it all last year, mold, crappy constructions and obvious difference to what its been described, been there, done that. I can still smell some of the houses. A grand old hotel in the forrest, well priced (550K), 11 rooms, bowling room, no water drainage… BLACK WALLS. And this is Switzerland, here most houses are built with bricks. Meaning, if its moist then its really really wet. Like, break it down, gather the water, make a pool.
I know how you feel. I cannot recall how many we saw. What remains is the memories of their loving nicknames: the shoebox, the labyrinth freezer, the earthhole and last but not least: lil fuzzy black. Eventually we found ours. Here I am, sitting in my dreamhouse and be told: you can do this and I swear to you, the house will come to you, your dreamhouse. And it will be worth all the headshaking, endless searching, it will be worth the whole quest. Soon.
Uh, pretty sure I would put up with just about anything to live in a grand old hotel in a Switzerland forest! That sounds CRAZY good!
Thanks for commenting, Akeyla!
ah you’re welcome!
just remember, the grand old hotel in the forrest brings many many pets… multicolored, fuzzy every size mold. Everywhere.
Ha! We lived in a little bungalow high up in the rainforest on Hawaii, and it was mold city. Not fun.
Good luck getting rid of it. We had heat lamps plugged in everywhere…
Hey Erin,
We’ve been riding the crazy train up here in Toronto, too – considering moving for exactly the same reasons that you are, lusting over unaffordable houses, blah blah blah. Even though we love our little house, we got sucked deep into Grass-Is-Greener syndrome. The promise of 11 foot ceilings! Crown moldings! A 3rd floor! (Yes, Toronto has awesome red brick Victorians in abundance. Just not downtown, in a good school district, for less than $700,000. Honestly.)
Anyway. After a month of looking at unaffordable places, fighting, not sleeping, bidding, not getting, and oh yeah, did I mention fighting? – I think we have decided to stay in our current place. Have you considered renovating? If you love your place and your neighbours, and the kid can go to an OK school, maybe staying put is a good option? Just a thought.
And keep posting pictures of kitchens so I can get renovating ideas, please!