Let me offer a piece of advice: if you want a great house at a ridiculously low price, move to Spokane. Commute would be a bitch, though.
Just remember, a when you buy a starter home, there’s nothing wrong with going with something a little smaller or more affordable than you think you need. You won’t know a lot of the things you want from a house as a homeowner until you’ve actually been just that for a while.
No sense in getting yourself locked into a higher-than-necessary payment schedule right out of the gate, for something you thought you really wanted but turned out not to.
Oh, I should give more details. I’m looking for a 2 bedroom townhouse - I can’t afford regular houses, and condos kind of suck.
A quick scan through the MLS showed them starting at 80k or so, with a bunch clustered around 120k, so I’m fine on affordability; it’ll be virtually the same as my current rent.
I hadn’t realized property values were that much higher on the coasts vs the midwest. I bought my 5 bedroom house in the price range you listed for your rent.
This is a really good point. Bear in mind that you will spend a LOT of money on things that you hadn’t even thought about in the process of setting up in your new house. For us, it was over $5k (though we needed new living room furniture, which bumped it up a lot). It’s good to have that money set aside, before you move in.
A townhouse, IIRC, has nobody above or below you, just to the sides (or just one side if you have an end unit). A condo is like an apartment except that you own it.
This is a really good point. Bear in mind that you will spend a LOT of money on things that you hadn’t even thought about in the process of setting up in your new house. For us, it was over $5k (though we needed new living room furniture, which bumped it up a lot). It’s good to have that money set aside, before you move in.[/quote]
OTOH, a lot of stuff you can do without if you’re willing. I spent over a year in my place before I painted it and replaced the crappy plastic window blinds with curtains, for example. Furniture is another thing you can upgrade slowly or hold off on for a bit. Obviously some things–like a lawnmower–can’t really wait, though.
We just got an unsolicited offer on my 2 bedroom, 1 bath condo in Alexandria, VA (not a great neighborhood, but nice enough). Strangely enough, it’s right in that price range – approx. 2x what we paid 4 years ago.
$120k for a townhouse sounds like a steal! I thought everything was expensive in the Seattle area!
Anyway, if you decide to go on the cheaper end, look for something with an unfinished basement or attic or something, so that you have a step to make before buying a whole new house. If you buy a house that is just right for you but is maxed out, you have to level up instead of just putting some stat points into “additional bedroom”.
Also, Jason provides quite the useful vicarious living experience. Car buying, house buying… I wonder what’s next? Marriage, kids, and retirement are really all that’s left.
Ry, you were rooming with your brother when you moved into your place. I would have waited to fix the place up, too. In fact, I would have covered every surface in the condo with thick plastic tarps until he moved out.
Another suggestion - look, look, look, look. We looked everywhere in our target area, for around a year, it was getting depressing on how much people wanted for so little, then on a total fluke I checked online for a neighborhood i thought we could never afford.
Found one listing at the top of our price range, looked at the house. The guy was selling it himself and we also didnt have a broker. Thought he wanted too much, slept on it - came up with a price we were willing to offer ($20,000 less). He called us that morning and said, we were his last hope before getting a broker, since that would cost him money, and my girlfriend had known all the influence (he had gutted the house and redone it over 7 years) , he had a price in mind to sway us. It was exactly the same figure we had. And then I actually got him to knock off another $2,500 over repairs to the garage.
So look everywhere, and I would look first on your own so there is less pressure while you get used to what to expect. And when you finally find it - don’t be scared to lowball it.
How do people in a townhosue deal with repairs or maintinence issues? It seems like it is pretty similar to a condo, except conventions about the layout of the building.
