House hunting-what would you do

[mom-from-missouri]

Have narrowed my search down to 2.
#1. Closer to the girls school, 4 bedroom, 2 bath, formal dining, fireplace in livingroom. Its about 3miles from the girls school which is in a town of less than 300, and 10 miles from where I work. Comes with 1 semi good wood barn, semi good silo, 4.5 acres and a good condition concrete barn. House is older, has unfinished basement. Has garden room, and could get a horse and probably 2 cows but would have to hay feed. $143,000

#2. smaller house-ranch 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, diningroom, no fireplace, but has 30 acres. 10 miles from town i work in and 10 miles from the girls school. here, i could have a bigger garden, more horses, cows, goats-30 acres....for $168,000. I really would like that 4th bedroom and 2nd bath. No fireplace either. Which being on rural electric, you can loose power for a week or more, so fireplace is important...

Is taking a lesser house in exchange for more land, but more remote area a good deal??? I look at them both again tomorrow.

[DivaJen]

I don't know what would be a good deal for you, but if I was in your shoes I would make pro and con lists for each place and then take a good hard look at those, along with listening to my gut feeling.

[Tree0164]

Tough decision. Sounds like you got land with both.

If it was me I would go with #1. You are closer in town. Kids don't have long bus rides and they are closer to friends. Less expesnive for more house.

[34saving]

I know very little about farming, but wouldn't it take a long time (and a lot of work) to make up the $25,000 house difference with cows and goats? I guess the closer one makes more sense to me. Good luck on the decision!

[kashi]

How old are your kids again? One thing to consider is that they won't be in school forever, so unless you plan to move again when they graduate, the proximity to school isn't the most important aspect.

Which do you think will have a better resale value? More land, or closer to town?

It sounds to me like you're leaning more toward the 4BR one, but I agree with DivaJen, make a pros and cons list.

[mjrube94]

Personally, I'd go for house #1 just for the extra bathroom! Seriously, another consideration: if you work (full-time?) will you really have the time to farm 30 acres? I'd imagine you can grow plenty of stuff on 4.5 acres! I'd also prefer the proximity to town/school/friends as well. Good luck with whatever you choose!

[csonneman]

I would suggest house number 2. If you are at all handy in a few years you can add on a bedroom or bathroom. And the value of land will only continue to rise. If you can hold it long enough you could sell some of the property and add on to your house to make it what you want and maybe even pay off more of the mortgage. You have to go with what you are comforable with. If power outages are a big concern. Generators run on gas are getting cheaper and cheaper. Also with the space you have you could install a fire place and have plenty of land to get wood from to use it. One more point would be that if you like to garden and raise animals you will have less costs in food because you are creating your own.

The drive for you in small, some people in big cities drive further and never leave the city limits. As for you children a bus ride is not all that bad. They really do not miss out on much, especially if you are able to get them from their activities after school on your way home from work.

I just thimk having that extra land will pay off in the long run. People are going to want to be out where you are and only want a small lot. Check around and see what lots cost for new housing and you might find you could be sitting on a gold mine in a few years.

[MrsChambers]

Me, I would opt for the land and the good ol' country living and install a nice little pellet stove or something groovy like that!

[BillsGirl]

they both sound great!! I like animals so I personally would probably take the more land so Icould have more horses and cows and goats and such and install a fireplace of my own 7 miles difference for school milage is not that much if we were taking difference of 20 miles or more it'de probably be a harder decision!! but this is what I would do, I am not telling you you should do this!!!

[mom-from-missouri]

Well, I am not having any luck. I was outbid on both of these houses. So, back to square one. However, I am also looking at land to put a prefab house on. I have already visited the manufactuor and picked out the one I want if I go this route. I am also pre-approved for a construction loan or conventional loan. My house is now on the market, and I am surprised to learn they think it will sell for almost 2 1/2 times what I paid for it. So, I hope I find something before mine sells!!