Play the First Time Buyer Game: Round One

first time home buyer choices can be much like a game in tucson real estate Got a call from my brother-in-law, who is buying his first house in Wisconsin.  He’s a little nervous, and a lot excited about the whole thing.  He calls me occasionally to get my Realtor-opinion.

Like a lot of first time buyers, he’s learning how to judge a house: figuring out what he really needs and what is important to him in a home.  Given that I’m not familiar with Wisconsin Real Estate, we speak more generally about his options.

Option one is closer to the university where he’ll be spending a lot of time, in a popular neighborhood, and is completely rehabbed.  However, it feels almost too nice, too adult, I think we decided.  The entire second floor is the master suite which huge bathroom, which would leave potential roommates to share the smaller rooms downstairs, which feels a little unfair to him.  This is also the more expensive option.

Option two is in an up-and-coming neighborhood, and needs some work, but is larger and he seems to like the floorplan better.  I’m told the furnace is original to the house, built in the late 1800s.  He’s more excited about the area, but the house would need some renovation.  He was told it would be $20k-30k to do the renovation, which (having fixed old houses) I told him to double immediately.

So let’s play First Time Buyer: which one do you choose and why?  What thoughts do you have that my brother-in-law should consider?

(go make your comments, then come back for my answers…  I’ll wait)

(still waiting… aaaaaaand…….)

Here’s what we discussed:

  • Lifestyle.  Are you willing to live in a construction zone for several months?  Can you manage a renovation project at the same time as being in a new city with a new job? 
  • Skills: Can you fix little things that may go wrong with an older house?  Learning home repair can be an adventure and at least some fun, is that something he wants to tackle?
  • Big Master Bathrooms: Scores points with the ladies…
  • Location: how fast is the up-and-coming neighborhood up-and-coming?  His agent should be able to give him some indicator of how quickly prices are rising (or falling) in that area, compared to other parts of the city.
  • Big Picture: In 5 years, what’s the plan?  Will you sell it?  Rent it?

What’d he decide?  No idea.  He’s in no hurry, that was just his first house hunting trip.  Which would you pick?

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