Would You Rather: House Addition

[kimrossie]

Let’s pretend you are a SAHP to a 2 year old with plans for several more children, and you had the choice of two houses:

House A- very desirable neighborhood. Excellent school system. Wonderful walkability, would walk to parks, shops, ice cream, etc. Neighbors consist of young families with kids, very safe. Good friends only a few blocks away. Wonderful area. HOWEVER, house itself is tiny. You don’t get anything for your money (ex 500K for a 1,100 sq ft fixer upper). Every inch of the house must be updated. Small space, no room to grow into without constructing an addition, which would run 300-400K. Lot is on the smaller side, has a yard but not much of one. Walls already closing in with 1 kid, and we’d ideally have 2-3 more, but we’d have to save to build up in order to do this and stay in this house. It’s such a great area, but bottom line is it will be expensive to make this house what we need to stay in it as a growing family.

House B- 3 times the size. Plenty of room to grow into. Already modernized and updated, wouldn’t need to be touched. Has a whole ACRE of flat land that could easily be fenced in. In a safe area with an equally good neighborhood school system, but not as walkable. Only a 6 minute drive from house A neighborhood, but a drive nonetheless. Perfectly placed and sized for several kids, pets, chickens, etc. Perfect house to just set the kids loose outside safely while drinking coffee on the back porch. Really only downside is that it’s not the “Mayberry” walkable neighborhood as house A and our friends aren’t just a few minutes to walk to. Otherwise, I absolutely love it.

So, as a SAHP who wants several more children, garden, chickens, and room to grow, which house sounds more ideal? The fixer upper that’ll need expensive additions built but in the perfect family neighborhood? Or the large modern house on a large plot of land that’s in a neighborhood that’s not quite as walkable and a short drive from our friends?

Thanks for any and all input. Obviously in this economy, we can’t afford to buy a house without some very serious thought, and we are torn.

Edit: adding that my husband works from home, and House A has a teeny tiny finished portion of a basement that’s not suitable for a bedroom but fine for a home office! But him working from home with a flexible schedule makes him want House A more- he likes lunchtime walks with the family and popping into friend’s houses

EDIT 2: this is getting so much attention and I am so appreciative of everyone’s input! Such good points made for both options. My husband and I are gonna read all the comments tonight and try to make a decision as soon as we can. Who knows if we’ll even get whichever house we choose, but y’all have given us a lot to think about. Thank you all!

 

[manishk012]

@kimrossie House B 100% especially seeing as the 'perfect' neighbourhood is only a very short drive away

 

[sadume]

@manishk012 I think I’d go with house B too. Additions and remodeling are stressful, especially with kids. House B just needs maintenance. Six minutes is not a long drive, and I think the space to spread out and let the kids run and play will be lovely. OP might just find that her friends from the “Mayberry” neighborhood enjoy coming to her.

 

[kimrossie]

@sadume True. We’ve remodeled a kitchen before and it was stressful lol. House B is considerably more expensive than House A, but we get more bang for our buck house/land wise. After all needed renos for House A, it would end up being the same cost as House B. So overtime we’d spend the same amount of money, but House B would obviously just be all upfront with no remodeling, just maintenance. Both are realistic options for us financially.

 

[martalookingforanswers]

@kimrossie It would also be worth a lot more though right? I'm a sucker for a really walkable neighborhood, but living through all that reno would be hard. I'd probably want house A in the end.. But, I choose neighborhood over house usually.

 

[yeremy]

@kimrossie B. Walkability doesn’t outweigh everything else you described.

 

[kimrossie]

@yeremy True! Maybe I should be more clear- option A’s “walkability” is to schools, parks, friends, shops, etc that can really help in killing time during the day as a SAHM. Especially with one of my best friends being just around the corner.

House B isn’t in a set “neighborhood”; there are no sidewalks and it would require a drive to anything we’d need to do if that makes sense? In House B we wouldn’t just load up the stroller and roll out the door, and some of my worry is that being “isolated” so to speak may become boring and driving to go anywhere may become tedious. This is our first time having to weigh options like this, so trying to give it some serious thought!

But I agree that at a certain point, simply being able to walk everywhere isn’t everything.

 

[chonuff]

@kimrossie Drive 6 minutes to the other neighborhood and walk around there. Or you may find that having a big yard keeps you busy enough and you don’t need to kill time.

 

[wvc]

@chonuff And yard is so much work. I feel like to have chickens and a garden, you’re the type of person that really likes alone time and work. I was raised on a small little farm on 3 acres and my mother and father never lulled about downtown. They worked their butts off trying to maintain the property. There wasn’t much time for play, and my mom enjoyed being by herself.
I would feel isolated in that sort of environment too.

 

[uniquetexasgirl]

@kimrossie I think if you truly want more kids you have to chose B. And you said B was still a safe area with good schools. That's the most important part. And a 6 minute drive isn't much. I know being in a walkable area is ideal. And if you were only going to stick with 1 kid I'd probably recommend A, but with 2-3 kids I don't think 1,100 sq ft will do it. Especially if you don't have the money to update.

 

[kimrossie]

@uniquetexasgirl Ugh I agree…this is why I’m stuck lol. We DO technically have the ability to update if we save now and commit to the idea, we’d just likely not get that money back if we ever needed to sell. Both options are doable and seem wonderful for opposite reasons.

 

[uniquetexasgirl]

@kimrossie I'd be super tempted with option A as well cause I LOVE walkable places and location is so important to me. But B seems like a safer bet and less work. Do you really want to live in a construction zone for a long time? Would you even be able to still live there while they added a second floor? It would likely be very stressful. Plus a 6 minutes away is super close.

 

[kimrossie]

@uniquetexasgirl What’s funny is that in this area there’s several contracting companies that offer services to add a second story without the family having to move out, because so many people in neighborhood A eventually have to add on so it would be stressful but doable for sure

 

[naka]

@kimrossie You want a lot of kids? Kids need space. Their stuff needs space.

Option B, it's a no brainer.

 

[kimrossie]

@naka Short and to the point and I salute you for it

 

[katrina2017]

@kimrossie I'm a mom to one with what house b has to offer. We have more space than we know what to do with but we constantly pack up and go into town. I'd choose town any day of the week.

 

[kimrossie]

@katrina2017 Gotcha, so you’d say that in your experience, walkability and convenience is more valuable than more space?

 

[katrina2017]

@kimrossie Yes. Also, consider the fact that when your kids are older, you won't need to drive them anywhere. They can walk or bike themselves around. School, the movies, friends houses, stores etc. That's not an option for house B, sounds like. Seems you'd be packing everyone into car seats and boosters just to go for milk. You say that you'd have plenty of space for them to play outside with house B but you've to they with house A too.

I don't know where you live but my husband and I are seriously considering a love to Amsterdam for this exact reason. Kids have such autonomy there bc of walkability and the lack of bigger cars that it's literally rated the happiest place on earth for kids to grow up.

Sounds like you've found an equivalent. I'm jealous.

 

[idromos247]

@katrina2017 I've read the Netherlands prioritizes children's independence and its correlated with happiness. My bff was raised in the Netherlands and tells me children walk solo everywhere there and there's a cultural tradition of 'everyone looks out for the children'. It sounds nice.

 

[katrina2017]

@idromos247 Sounds like such a dream.