Do We Dig Deep and Buy a Dream Home or Settle For a Starter Home?
By Inman | Published: 9/26/2007
Choosing between a smaller house in an affluent neighborhood, an older, bigger house in a more working-class community or a brand-new home is not easy. If you're in this situation, start by examining your priorities and asking the following questions:
- Is the surrounding neighborhood or the home itself the most important consideration?
- Is each of the neighborhoods safe?
- Is quality of the schools an issue?
- Do any of the areas seem to attract more families with children or adult residents? And where do you fit in?
- As for the return on your investment, home-price appreciation is hard to predict. In the late 1980s, and again 10 years later, the more expensive move-up housing appreciated wildly. But during the recession that followed, smaller homes tended to hold their value better than more expensive ones.
