Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Home Buying 101

So lately Alex and I have had our TV permanently on HGTV, where we watch shows about buying your first home, remodeling homes, and selling homes. This is a bad idea for people who are house hungry! We are firm believers in living close to where you work, and so far we haven’t accomplished that since moving to Philly. Alex’s commute is about 25 minutes by train, and mine is about 45 minutes by car (ugh). So yes, we are definitely leaving an environmental footprint.

We’ve found a few houses that definitely have potential, but they a) are too expensive, b) are in a not-so-safe neighborhood, c) need remodeling, or d) are too far away from Alex’s work. We both know that at some point we’re going to need to reach a compromise on what actually is the most important to us. So, for any of you out there who have bought a home, please, we need your advice!

Here are two houses that we like. Both have pros and cons, as I'm sure most houses do.



PS - we've been preapproved! Let the buying begin!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looking for houses can be fun but very discouraging. When we were looking for a house, anything we could afford and was in a safe area, needed a lot of TLC. We decided to pull up our selves and get to work.
Looking back I am so glad that we decided that the neighborhood is #1. You want to feel safe and make sure that when it comes time for you to sell you won't have any problems.
Hope that helps

Sara said...

I love the style of an old home! Totally agree with making the neighborhood #1 - as long as it passes a home inspection, you can make changes along the way. And, I was told, and agree with this advice - if you stand there and really see yourself living in it (eating, relaxing, sleeping), then it's your house. Otherwise, keep looking!