Buying a house, need input

[Hmbre97]

I'm between a rock and a hard spot right now. My wife and I have been looking for a couple months and have been getting discouraged as the real estate market here in Austin has gone full retard, especially in the outlying 'burbs in good school districts.

We found a house this Wednesday and put in an offer which was accepted. The house compromises on a few things I wanted but so far, we haven't found a house that had everything we wanted. It's pretty plain looking on the outside but it's got most of the upgrades we want on the interior.

While we were looking at the house, our realtor suggested we go stop in the model homes for the new section they're currently developing in the neighborhood to see what they're offering. We declined as any new construction stuff we've looked at thus far has been higher than giraffe pussy.

So yesterday after meeting the inspector, I decided to stop in the Megatel model home. Turns out it would only be about $15k more to build new with a few more upgrades. The house is a little smaller (2650 sq ft vs 2800 on the one we're under contract on). Also, it would be a smaller lot. The house we're under contract on is on a cul-de-sac and has a .3 acre lot but it's shaped kinda weird. The lot I would build the new home on is around 10k sq ft on a corner.

My concern is resale with the lot being smaller and also waiting 4-5 months down the road to finance. I'm locked in right now at 3.75% and worry that rates may finally start to creep up.

My wife isn't hot on the Megatel home interior style so she's not on board yet but our option period ends on Monday.

[Hmbre97]

This is the house we're under contract on. 2800 sq ft on .3 acres. Built in 2009




vs.

This at 2650 sq ft on a 10k sq ft corner lot



Upgrades that this house has that the other doesn't is full sprinkler system, a little bigger back porch, garage is finished out (texture, paint, baseboards), crown moulding in most rooms, and the whole home is prewired for voice, data, video and audio.

[ceyko]

My opinion is both seem to be personal preferences from a resale point of view I don't think much will change from house to house.

The 2nd house is a little more....loud looking on the outside, but I'm sure there are plenty of home buyers that would love it.

[Pokulski-Blatz]

The first house would be my choice.

[ceyko]

The first house would be my choice.

Based on curb appeal I'd concur.

[Ratt]

The first house would be my choice.

This.

[Big A]

Based on curb appeal I'd concur.

...and I'd say the second, as house 1 is way to plain and square, it's all about personal preference.

[Pokulski-Blatz]

...and I'd say the second, as house 1 is way to plain and square, it's all about personal preference.

More land > fancy bricks.

[Phoenix]

Are you set on a two story house?

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[talisman]

More land > fancy bricks.

The second house has a hell of a lot more options that would be a pain in the dick to add later. Plus, you're talking a difference of .3 of an acre vs about .23 of an acre, both of which are decent lots in this day and age. Most houses I see are on about a 6k lot. I would get the second one. And aside from the brick work and landscaping, they are both have almost identical structural appearance if you look close. Look at the window placements on both.

[BMCSean]

2nd house, all day long.

[mustang1200]

The second house is more attractive to me as I would be allowed to pick the brick coloring and rock coloring I would like. I also perfer the second because the front has a bit more appeal given the different roof peaks and insets (not sure how to describe it).

[Roscoe]

After buying two brand new houses, I'd say second. The builder will go lower, play hardball to get up to 20% off of their list.

[BMCSean]

After buying two brand new houses, I'd say second. The builder will go lower, play hardball to get up to 20% off of their list.

This!! We bought brand new and they dropped $21k off the original price.

[Hmbre97]

Are you set on a two story house?

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Truth be told, no. Our ideal setup would be a 1.5 story with all bedrooms downstairs, then a gameroom/2nd living area upstairs. The issue with this is these are hard to come by and also they take up a larger foot print.

About land, it is feast or famine out here. Anything new being built on acreage is giant 3-4k sq ft houses for $500k-up. Since I don't work for UP, I am a broke dick and can't afford a $4k mortgage payment.

So you can either live with the rich folks or live with all the other middle class hoodrats in your subdivision. There are a couple of older neighborhoods on .5 acre lots but the houses are usually pretty dated and odd floor plans plus the recent run up in prices has just about put those out of reach for us. They also rarely come up for sale.