Reply With QuoteI would say the bigger house, simply because you have the option of more space without having to do any building, etc. Riverside is nice, and I've heard only good things about the schools too.
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Personally I would wait. If neither really float your boat they just aren't right. There may be something just right come on to the market in the next couple of months. I would research where you really want to live (area wise) and focus your attention there until you find the house that is just right.
But if you are really set on one of these houses my opinion is go the flight path over the power lines. I live in an area with powerlines, which also happens to be in the flight path too. We can't see any power lines here, and I know when we bought we put an offer in on a house that you could see powerlines in the distance, and it really put me off. I was actually really happy when we didn't get the house, which really told me something. That was waaaay more than 150m away. We did buy a house under the flight path but we really barely notice the planes (we are 20mins drive away from the airport though, so they aren't too low) and the times we do, we get the opportunity to point them out to Jett!
Also some advice we were given by a friend who is a builder about whether to buy a house needing renos or as is, he said that we are better off working the full week, earning the money to pay for a place that needs no renos, rather than working the full week, and then working for the weekend on renos, that drag on and on for months sometimes years always feeling like you are in temporary accommodation IYKWIM. And also doing it yourself you lack the skills, so you will always have to get tradies in for bits and pieces (electrician etc) and you may find you make mistakes and waste money in correcting them. If you are paying for someone to do the renos in one fell swoop that is a whole other story. We ended up buying a house that needed no work (updating the bathrooms is on the agenda, but not necessary) and it has been great. I like the idea of DIY, but if it wasn't done quickly I think it would really get me down.
HTH and Good Luck!!
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I would say the bigger house, simply because you have the option of more space without having to do any building, etc. Riverside is nice, and I've heard only good things about the schools too
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I would say wait. It doesn't really sound like your heart is for either house. I know when we bought a house we were looking for something that didn't need renos. Simply because we knew we would never get them done.
I might be wrong here but Mel your coming through sounding like your leaning with ' more ' enthusiastic for the 1st house you mention... ' If ' your doubts are weighing too heavy for both houses i agree don't go with either if your not in desperate need to buy now !!
BUT if i was to choice myself with what you have stated i personally would GO with the 1st house mentioned (the bigger one).
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Thanks guys for all your opinions - it means a lot
FWIW - they are the high tencile (sp?) power lines. I think we are attracted to this property because there is another one on the market up the road, which is the end product of what this house COULD be potentially - and its on the market for $419,000. So a bit of tender loving care and some serious hardwork - this one could actually make us money (which is what DH likes about it).
He's not sure now about the committment of it, plus you guys raise a good point - renos are exxy and something always pops up so jobs don't get done. I mean, we had all these plans for the house in Nambour - and never did ANYTHING to it until we went to sell it 3.5 years later!!!! And that was nothing compared to the plans we had.
So I think we are leaning more for a nice-ish house of a normal size that I won't crack it in cos its too small, with a niceish size yard - but in a different suburb. Not a "good" suburb as such, but we figure since they are cheaper (and we get good security on the place!) that we might be able to keep it as an investment when I go back to work and then we buy in a better suburb. DH just hates renting with a passion (and I hate listening to him biatch about renting) so I know he wants to get out. We are in a lease for a year though, but the fact that we would be paying mortgage and rent till they found a new tenant doesn't bother him - thats how much he hates it.
I wish my husband was less wishy washy with his thinking and knew what he wanted!! would make it a heap more easier for me.
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Went through the same thing after we relocated. I was happy to stay put, we had a 2 year lease and it was a nice enough house. But, no, he had to go house hunting nearly every weekend. It drove me batter, rather than settling in getting to know the people and the place, we had to trapse around the country side
Thankfully we found somewhere reasonable one in the end, but it drove me nuts as he carried on about every place we looked at like we were going to buy it. Made the whole process un enjoyable. There was many a time I was hyperventilating and in tears at the mere thought of buying some of those houses. I would be saying no and he continue negotiating to the agent.
Just put out there what you want in a house and don't feel pressured to compromise just because he hates renting. Good luck.
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God Astrid that sounds awful.
I don't think DH is that bad - he doesn't like talking to agents, so no chance of him talking to them for something that he isn't serious about.
We found a couple of nice houses in Invermay - and I know typically you stay away from that side of town, being its close to Ravenswood - but I found a nice one closer to the city in Invermay, so surely the crap part can't extend down that far can it? LOL
I have to email our agent today anyway cos they have had 3 different realtors come through in the last week and a half to do valuations - so perhaps the landlord is thinking of selling?
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Invermay used to have a bad rep many years ago, but it has become much better. The usual thing, cheap housing and some of it very nice. Young couple start to move in, do the place up, house pricing goes up, so the "bad" element move on. I used to live there for a couple of years as a kid, prior to that we were in Trevallyn. Glad you know about Ravenswood
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Well, if you are in a lease for a year, (providing the landlord doesn't sell and the new owner evict you) which means you have that long to find the house of your dreams (or close enough!!) So I agree with Astrid - work out what you all want and don't want in a house, what you would like and not like (these are the more flexible demands!!) and then stick to it. If a house just isn't quite right, it isn't right. The right property will come up eventually. But you have to be prepared to give it time and not lock yourself in to an unsuitable house just because you want out of renting.
We looked almost solidly for 6 months before we found our house. We put in offers for 2 other houses and all I can say is we were compromising and thank-god we didn't get them. The third house was just perfect (well, as perfect as we were going to find on our budget) and that is the one we got. During that week I was in tears, I was so sick of looking and not finding anything worth it and thought it would never end. Saw the house on the saturday, did a 2nd inspection on the Sunday and put an offer in, by the Monday it was ours. This was due to the fact that we knew this was the place, there was no umming and ahhing and trying to look at the potential. When you look for that long and you have such a defined list it means you can walk in somewhere and know it is right and be ready to make that offer straight away.
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haha Ravenswood was BAD 20 years ago when I lived here, not much changes in tassieGlad you know about Ravenswood
I was talking to my aunty on the phone earlier and she said that Invermay is not as bad for rep as it once was, mainly for the reasons you outlined Astrid. I think the crap is still remaining in ravenswood/mowbray/rocherlea - which is good for us cos I don't want to live there anyway.. LOL
MT - yup you're right mate. We got our last house really quickly and although it turned out good for us (because the house was in an awesome position, one of the best positions you can get in nambour) we just got lucky. Not much research went into it, so definitely going to research down here before jumping in.
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Goodluck with it all! I know it is very stressful....
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Ahh you know me - I thrive on stress
... we have an Invermay here in Balllarat and it's a really, really nice area... so, NO stigma for me there in Tassie Invermay
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If you're happy in the house you're renting, and think the owner is considering selling, can you find out if it fits within your budget? Just thinking how much simpler life would be without moving house!! Especially with three littlies.
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Hmmm, I agree with a couple of other posters, keep looking. It kind of doesn't sound as though you are in love with either of these houses as much as you were in love with the land IYKWIM...
As for buying a house needing reno's, 3 young kiddies and reno's = HUGE HEADACHE, that's just me anyways.
Best of luck x
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SW - apart from the fact that it would be out of our range that we want to spend (we could get a loan for more money, but I want to stay at home with the kids so we need a fairly low mortgage for that) its a crap house thats falling apart. Yesterday I couldn't even get the oven to work until I swore at it continuously, banged the door shut and turned it off and on a few times
Nic - yeah I know. Theres just something about that older house thats all.....
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personally, I'd go with the older house. The extra land would be nice, but the older house seems to scream of potential.
My theory is buy the worst house in the best street! The house can always be improved, the neighbourhood, not so much
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