We have been house searching for what feels like forever! The town we want to move to is a very hot market and has been for the past few years - houses typically sell within 24 hours to 3 days.
We saw a house last night that is at the lower end of our budget and feeds to the schools that we really want, it is on a nice street with lots of families and has some nice finishes - perfect right? Not really, I just don't love it - it has a clunky layout and a tiny backyard. But part of me feels that I just may have to compromise to a clunky layout and tiny garden as there is so little inventory with our preferred schools and this would allow us to save $$ aggressively which is always a good thing 
So what would you do - hold out for perfect? (could take forever!) or just bite the bullet?
ETA: This isn't a forever home - its more a 5 to 7 year home, plus we are currently renting so we really want to get on the ladder.
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Gosh that is a tough one. Since it is at the bottom of your market that's a plus.
In 06 we bought a house we did not love then the market tanked and we sold it at a loss 10 years later. The current market reminds me of when we bought. I'd be cautious
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This is tough! We house hunted for over a year and made a few offers on homes we did not LOVE that were at the bottom of our budget, but we didn't end up buying them (like you, we are in a HOT market and there are bidding wars over every decent property). For the top of our budget we wanted a home that we really, really liked. One finally came along and we are really happy we waited because we do love it (and because we have moved several times in the past 5 years and I don't want to move again for awhile). On a scale of 1-10 how much do you like it? How much under budget would you be? Is it a low price point for the neighbhorhood? If you made improvements do you think you could recoup them? These are all things I would consider.
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We just did this. We bough a townhouse that we didn't *love* but worked well enough for what we needed at this point. The fact was that there were very few options in the area we wanted that were in our price range. It's not perfect, but we'll make it work for the next 5 years or so. I'm sure we'll grow to love it in time! We *have* only been living there a week or so
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Since it's on the bottom of your budget, can you spend the leftover money in changing the layout?
I compromised when I bought my house. I wanted/needed a 4 bedroom. I bought a 3 bedroom and the next year, put a master suite on (which is now my favorite part of the house).
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Very tough.
We currently are in this situation in a location we love but a layout we can't change.
Honestly though since it works ok for us now, I'm glad we bought and have had it for a while. But moving, even every 5-7 years can be tough. Not only do we now have to deal with finding a house in a "hot" market, we also have to figure out how to sell our house at the same time. So think about how clunky the layout is. Does it have resale potential, or is it just not what you envisioned.
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I'd buy it without hesitating. If you only intend to live there for 5-7 years, it'll save you money, and it's in your preferred school district, then it sounds as if everything is covered.
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We are under contract on our first place. I really, really like it but I don't love it. I personally don't think any house will be 100% perfect. We tried to keep a realistic requirement list when house hunting and focus on the things that were truly non negotiable. Even though I don't love the house I think that it will work for our family and we will be very happy there.
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This is a tough situation to be in. We went through this a few years back (really hot market, limited inventory, and most homes in our area are small/old so they all have some weirdness). I think you really need to just figure out what is a deal breaker and what is not. We ended up with a place that was at the top of our budget, with a weird layout, a bad heating system, a tiny kitchen, and no dedicated parking spot. However, I don't regret it because the location has been perfect for us, we have made it work with the layout (it took a couple years but we finally have something figured out), and the market has continued to go up super fast so when we sell, we will make quite a bit of money.
If the prices in your area aren't rising too fast, it might be good to wait for something you like more. But in a hot market, you might end up missing out. A year after we bought our house, the prices in our area went up 10-20% and we wouldn't have been able to afford the house we have now.
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Thanks for the input ladies! It helps!
@winniebee: About a 6? It is about 40K under budget which is significant, it is not low for the neighborhood, it is a starter home neighborhood where the homes are smaller with smaller yards.
@T.H.O.U.: It has resale potential - it's not what I envisioned. it has the master down which is really common here but I am not crazy about it. But there is a downstairs room that is a 4th bedroom/study so we could be on the same floor as LO for a while at least. @SugarplumsMom: I know that it would be a smart financial move and we are so $$ conservative but I don't want to 'settle' either if that makes sense.
@catgirl: You are so right - the is no 'perfect' house. -
We did this. We bought our first house in 2011, great house, great yard, not the perfect area. I loved that house. After 4 years, we were ready to move, and had a specific area in mind. Our house sold in 3 days, and we scrambled to find something in a competitive, high priced market.
We found a so-so house in our ideal location. The town and neighborhood we wanted, walking distance to awesome schools. Our house is small (1000 sqf), and our yard is small, but we're happy we made the move. Well worth it, and hopefully we're able to move again in 4 or 5 years, to something bigger.
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I wouldn't. Feeling good at home and liking my living space is super important to me. I would not want to always feel frustrated with my home. 5-7 years is still a long time, and you just never know what could happen.
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@Aimed121: I know some houses just plain have bad layouts and that is why they sit on the market or have a lower price. But if thats just not what you envisioned, think hard about if you could make it work. It sounds like the 4th bedroom down could be the perfect nursery. What else dont you like about the layout?
A small yard has pros/cons. Assuming you still have space and privacy, it can mean less maintenance!
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We did this. I don't love my actual house, but it has a pool and it's in walking distance to the local elementary school, so I am dealing with it for the next 6 or so years.
It's an older home (50 years) and it has older home issues, like small closets, small windows, etc, but it's so far, worked out fine. I feel good about not doing many upgrades to it either.
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That's a hard one. We are planning on selling our home and moving this year, so we've been looking at real estate as well. This home would be a 5-7 year home for us, lIke you, so I am open to not get everything I want.
If it was in the right neighborhood, fed into the best schools, and had enough bedrooms for my family, I would probably do it. Especially if it's at the lower end of your budget. You could do small things to spiff it up and make it your own.
If it has a small yard--are there any nice parks that are in shirt walkable distance l?
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We bought a house last year that we knew wasn't our forever house but it was right on budget and honestly, it was a big load off stress wise because not everything had to be PERFECT. We bought it thinking it was more a 3-5 year house, BUT a house we could live in for up to 10 years if we had to for financial reasons.
Having that mindset really made the decisionmaking process easier in terms of how much to offer, how much we were willing to bend on a counteroffer, and what kind of renovations we'd be willing to pony up for. Because we're also planning on selling in a few years, we bought a moderately priced stainless fridge with the idea that we can slowly replace the rest of the dated appliances to match for a lower price point than our dream house appliances. We also make it a point not to put off maintenance on the house and try to routinely budget to spruce up something bigger each year. So this year, we'll probably look at doing some modest renovations to the master bathroom or have the exterior repainted.
I'm happy with our neighborhood and location, I'm happy with the school options for my kids, our neighbors are nice, and while the house is smaller than I want and its not somewhere I want to live forever, we're comfortable here, we're not stretched financially, and the type of renovations we need to do to keep up with the market aren't these HUGE projects.
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I think you have to prioritize your "wants" vs. your non-negotiables and only you can decide if it's worth it or not. Layout and land are two things that would be really hard to change. But can you live with it for the time being? Is the location a good enough trade off to put up with those inconveniences?
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