the other thing is that, depending on the neighborhood, it is usually best to get a cheaper house in a more expensive neighborhood than a more expensive house in a cheaper neighborhood.
do you have a dog? will you eventually?
i have two dogs and used to have a yard with an electric fence... very easy, you just let them out and they do their business on their time.... now i don't and i have to walk them twice a day, when i go out of town i need to get a kennel, etc
how much noise transmits from one home to the other is important with townhomes..... we fortunately live in a townhome with very good walls and never hear our neighbor and they don't hear me even when i play my music loud at night.
how long do you plan on staying in that house? if it is only a few years think about how the property values will change in your city... you could end up making a ton more..... ... my parents' home appreciated over 80% from 98 to today.
you can also look at a house for what it could be..... when looking at a house you have to imagine what you could do with it.....
good example.... a long time ago one of my neighbors was a cat lady and the house she lived in was very very nice, but it had a "cat smell".... the house sat on the market for ages and wouldn't sell because of the smell..... the moment someone finally recommended she change the carpets, the house sold very quickly for a lot more than the cost of replacing the carpets..... if a buyer had thought about this they could have gotten the house below value and fixed it up and made quite a bit when it was time to sell........ can you use the house to create future value?
ask yourself:
How is the neighborhood? How is it likely to change in the future?
How is the city? How is it likely to change in the future?
What is my lifestyle? How does this house meet those needs?
What is the lifestyle of who i might sell this house to in the future? does it meet their needs?
with respect to the last question, i'll give you an example. my parents recently divorced and my father bought a townhouse that was bigger than he needs, but it is the type of property that is going to appreciate most in value in this market in the 1-3 year time frame he has until he plans on moving.... it is also a house that will sell quickly...... ideally you don't want a house that will sit on the market for more than 90 days.... often times a house will be taken off the market after 90 days then relisted so it doesn't appear that nobody will buy it at the current price......
also when buying a house there are things you can look out for to know if you can negotiate a better deal.... is the house on the market because of a divorce? (look for only one set of clothes (mens or womens) in the master bedroom closet of a house designed for a family) is the house on the market because it is now too big because some of the children have moved to college or living on their own? (look in the childrens' rooms for signs of this)
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