- The house you live in is not a very good investment. You might get lucky and buy when the market is down and sell when it is up, but not many people are that lucky. Also, owning a house requires a lot of money in maintenance, upkeep, and upgrades. Real estate investing is a great way to make money, but I would recommend doing so with homes/land that are not your primary residence.
- Never, ever buy a house in the suburbs. It sounds like a good idea, but I don't know of anyone who doesn't want to live either closer in to town or farther away in the country after living in suburbia for a few years. Suburbs are soul-sucking. You have to drive to do anything and you are still surrounded by people and their annoying chihuahuas.
- Get one less bedroom than you think you need. There is no reason to have a guest bedroom. With the money you save on less square footage (in the price of the house, taxes, heating/cooling, and upkeep) you can put your family up in a nice hotel when they come to visit.
- Don't buy stuff to fill your space. It is hard to have a lot of empty space when you first purchase a home. Learn to love the empty space. Acquire decorations from your travels and create art that pleases you. Save for furniture you really want and only get enough for you and those who live with you to use. Get rid of seldom used or unwanted items periodically.
- Check the maximum height of foundation shrubs. If it is taller than your window sills, dig them up and plant them on the edge of of your property. Otherwise you will be stuck pruning shrubs every two weeks during growing season to keep them from blocking out the sunlight. You will also get a lot of blisters.
- Plant trees and shrubs within the first year or two of owning the property. Pick the ideal locations based on what they will look like full grown. The faster you get them in the ground, the better the chance you will get to enjoy their shade and beauty instead of the next owner.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Houses
We are going through the process of getting our house ready to sell. This was the first house we ever owned. Here are some reflections and advice for those young folk who may be pondering purchasing a house:
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1. Our parents can't believe that this is possibly the case and believe that everyone should be striving to own their own house. Owning the house you live in may not be the best investment. Learn it, live it, love it.
ReplyDelete2. I <3 you. It's so true. I love having a yard, I hate the upkeep. I also wish that things would magically fix themselves and otherwise just get done. The only time it makes sense to live in the subburbs is if you can manage to use a bike all the time instead of your car - I couldn't because I work down town, but everything else is within biking distance..but that's only because we live in an older neighborhood with strip malls close by.
3. I don't necessarily want an extra bedroom as much as I want to have a couch with a pull out bed (or something similar). If we had been thinking when we bought our furniture, I would have paid the extra money to get the hideabed version.
4. Yes, it's always a challenge to get rid of extra stuff. it's something most people have to work at. Some, moreso than others.
5. Back in the day, when it was the 2nd owners of the house across the street, they moved in and the first thing they did was rip out the shrubs in front of their window. I was amazed to find out that the windows were the same size as ours (I had always thought they were much smaller). Of course, those owners also went and planted crepe myrtles in the place of the boxwood, so I don't know how smart that was... But then the current owners moved in and removed the crepe myrtles - they now have some shrubs, but they're on either side of the windows, not under them.
6. Yes. Plant trees as soon as you move in. When one tree starts dying, plant another one close by so it can start growing whilst the older one is on its way out.