kelly wrote:
Hi,
I'm planning to a house in the price range of 200K to 280K.
Originally, I'm going to buy this 5 yr old semi-detached house that
includes appliances, ceramic and hardwood flooring, 3 bdrms, around 1750
square feet, 24 x 85 lot. Then I saw this 19yr old house for the same
price, around the same neigborhood that is 68x100 lot, 4 bedrooms,
approx 2700 square feet house, finished basement,
NO hardwood, NO ceramic, NO appliances, all brick
frontage house, no fence, has AC. I don't read the house being reroofed
or re-windowed over all those years.

19 year old house is not bad, is it? I just have to replace the
roof, windows maybe, and some other stuffs I can't think of. It's the
same price as this tiny semi-detached.


You must be a pretty young person to think that a house that is less
than twenty years old is an older home. Unless there were some major
problems it's unlikely that anyone would have replaced windows and
roofing within that amount of time.

Are these two houses in the same area with the same zoning? The older
house might be on two lots - is it off to one side? If it is, and the
zoning code allows it, you could possibly subdivide the land and spin
off another building lot. Not that you'd necessarily want to do that
while you're living there, but it's money in the bank if it's a
reasonable neighborhood. You should definitely check into the tax
assessments if you haven't done so already.

Is a larger piece of land attractive to you? Are there kids in the
picture who would enjoy having their own private playground? How about
maintenance? Does the idea of having to mow a larger lawn bring images
of lazy summer days and fresh air? Or more like sweaty, allergy-filled
hours of torture? That should help determine which lot size suits you
better. But there're more differences between the two houses you're
interested in.

With attached or semi-detached housing, you're buying into your
neighbors as well as a piece of property. The number one complaint in
housing is not problems with your own house, but problems with what the
neighbor is doing. If your house is so close that you can tell what he
had for lunch when he burps, you'd better make damn sure that you can
get along.

Another thing to look at is comparable home costs. If you brought the
bigger house finish up to snuff, with improved flooring, tile, etc. it
would obviously be worth more money. How much more? That's a question
for your realtor.

R