Discussions

So I am currently renting but have been approved for a mortgage. I am looking at the houses that I would be comfortable financially buying right now and it isn't really my "dream" home...but it would do... I really want to live on an acreage, even if it's only 1 acre. But I can't afford that, I can however afford a home in town but it's not really what I want, though I could make do....  
 
My question is this, is it worth buying a manageable home in town, or wait for the possibility of something more of what I want coming forth? The cost of the in town house is nearly exact to my rent...  
 
Thoughts?

It really depends.  
 
How good are you at saving? In the long run, it's usually cheaper to rent vs. owning because you're not doing any of the infrastructure upkeep or repairs. This could theoretically free up more money to sock away for the day you buy an acreage, but you have to be disciplined.  
 
On the other hand, if you buy something in town, you then have that property that should increase in value and can be leveraged/sold to finance your acreage. It also forces you to pay into the principal, creating equity you can use for a down payment down the road on another property. The caveat being, especially if buy something lower-priced, is that you might have to spend a lot of upkeep, repairs or remediation. The cost might be the same on paper as renting, but in reality it's *always* higher.  
 
You might also find, if you take your time looking for the "Just Right" property in town, you might find something that meets most of your needs. We thought we wanted an acreage, but then realized how much work it was going to be! Our little parcel in the city has given us a lot of what we wanted to achieve on the acreage at a fraction of the price and without the commuting. And less work, LOL.

What is it about an acreage that you want?  
 
What about something like Meadowbrook village. Cheaper trailer with the country feel.  
 
We are on an acreage. I love it but it’s way more expensive and a lot of time. When things go wrong they can cost way more - septic tank, septic field, water, etc. People don’t come out to fix things as easily. Larger yard means you would need a riding lawn mower, snow blower etc.  
 
Acreage Life is great but it comes at a bigger price for maintenance. Something to think about

Some great points here! I grew up on a farm so I always love that country life, even if it costs more. I want to have a horse or two, I want a huge garden, I want to have no neighbours, I want clear nights sky. To be able to breath a bit, I'm sure all that live in the country or grew up on one know what I mean. What about my child? I want her to grow up with chickens and cats and dogs. Grow up with that lifestyle that I too loved so much and that made me who I am!  
 
It sounds sooo cheesy!!! But to me it's everything.  
 
I have thought about moving to a nearby town, and honestly that's where the house I'm looking at is, but I just don't know..... I feel like I would buy it, but still be just dreaming of my own place!  
 
Agh.... what to do when reality doesn't match the dream..

I too used to have the acreage dream, but what quashed it for me is the growing trend of rural crime lately, every moment I'd be away I would be paranoid thinking someone was looting my acreage oasis.  
 
On the one hand it would be nice having privacy with no neighbors nearby but on the other hand by having no nearby neighbors there is no one to witness or scare away the thieves that might be wandering.

I grew up in Winnipeg but spent my summers at my grandparents' farm up by Neepawa. My husband also grew up in Winnipeg.  
 
I often talk about the farm and stuff we did there growing up, and my husband will talk about the things he did growing up. We came to realize that we actually had a lot of overlap in terms of experience in very different places.  
 
At the farm, we had huge gardens, canned and preserved food, picked berries down the dirt road, had lots of wildlife around (they didn't keep animals, but the neighbouring pasture's fence was in poor repair, so you know... cows... ), spent all day outdoors and generally ran amuck.  
 
My husband, in the city, also had a huge garden (they had an oversized lot in the suburbs), his mother canned and preserved food, they went berry picking, collected an assortment of animals (they had a pet squirrel at one point that lived in the house!), spent tons of time outdoors as their dad would take them canoeing and camping or they would just be outside, and generally ran amuck.  
 
My point is, often it's about attitude! The things we really valued from our childhoods and that formed us as adults were actually very similar, but were in very different environments.  
 
Something to ponder.

We chose to buy, even though it is not our dreamhouse.  
 
Our relator stated that most people stay in their first home that they buy for 5-10 years, before moving onto a new and better home.  
 
I was tired of handing over money to someone else to live in an apartment, and not putting any money towards something I could call my own.  
 
The house we found was within our budget, large yard, large house, but still a fixer upper in some spots (and that is ok, just means we can put our own personal touch into the house).  
 
I would say buy

I can’t think of anyone that started out with their dream home. I would get something you can afford and build up equity. Who knows after owning a house you might change your mind and get a condo with no worries.

It makes more sense to me to buy a house in Brandon. Rents go up to $2000 a months so why pay someone else's mortgage and have nothing in it to gain equity wise. Buying a house in this crazy rent city is worth it more than renting for forever. Even if it's not your dream house you still benefit from owning your own home.

Buy the house in town now, and in a few years (5-10 probably) use the equity you have in your house to buy the acreage you want.

Would it be worth it to buy in a smaller town? Get a little more bang for the buck? I'm just worried what resell would be.... it couldn't resell for a worse price....could it?. I may know a lot of things, by buying houses is not one of them

Property prices can drop but that will be more likely if we start to get some long overdue interest rate rises. That is the risk that you take but property is generally a safer bet. I would look for something within your price range and buy to get started on the ownership ladder. I wish that I had started when I was younger, thought that I couldn’t afford it in my early twenties and that I needed cash in the bank instead. Realize now that I was easily capable of taking on a mortgage at that time and should have done so.

Buying your first home isn’t supposed to be your dream home. My parents and in-laws both had several houses to get to the dream home. Owning a home isn’t just about having a roof over your head. Your building equity, your creating more personal wealth for yourself then living in a rental. After a few years of owning the house maybe 4-5. You sell it. Take what you’ve made from it and invest in a bigger nicer house. Do that 3/4 times in your life and you’ll have your dream house on 3-4 acres of land outside the city.

Buying a home is never a bad investment. It’s a lot of work because you’ll always have stuff to do for the house but worth it because it’s all yours

You are better off buying than renting! People are paying $1500 for rent that only cost $900-$1000 for mortgage. You will be saving money buying a home than renting a home. Most people only live in their “first” home for 5-10 years before moving on. Good luck

It is a buyers market.. don’t settle for anything less than your dream, unless you plan on “hopping “ to better-and-better houses each time.

When you rent, your making someone else richer... it's that simple. It's not something to call your own, but if you have no other options, then it does the trick. Buying a home is a place to call your own, you have no one to speak too. Yes, it's more expensive BUT if you buy what your budget allows you to buy, and your GOOD with money and saving, it's absolutely worth it in the long run. I would consider a smaller town to get more out of your money, acreages are wonderful, but they are never cheap, and people are watching... the moment something like this comes up in any direction, they are typically not on the market any longer then a week. Be prepared to jump if this is something you are striving for. Good luck on your hunt.

Thankyou all who replied! There are some awesome answers!! One more thing I as thinking to ask, when you get a home inspection done, what are some of the things that are complete deal breakers? I know it would be different for everyone , but just a general thought? I know the inspector will come up with a lot of things on most any house, how do you determine what is absolutely not worth taking on?

do not buy now

Anything structural or major mechanical will be costly. Recognize that things like roofing, the furnace, ac, flooring, and windows have an expected life time. Any home over 25 years old will be needing some, if not all of the above within a couple of years. A new forced-air furnace will run around $5,000, the average roof will cost around $9,000, and could be a great deal more. The idea that a house will increase in value over time should be offset with the costs you will incur in repairs and updates. Home inspectors cannot offer a guarantee that they have caught everything, but do not buy a home without one.

When you make an offer on a home, make it conditional to a home inspection. A home inspector will tell you if there are any potential problems with a house. There will always be some kind of work needed over the years like hot water tanks, furnace, shingles, painting, windows, etc but you can plan for those.

What kind of things that an inspector could find that would be total red flags and immediate a no-go for you?

Any signs of water damage to interior of house is an immediate red flag situation for me. Also homes I wont even consider are century old homes. It's a personal preference there but the odds of everything in home being up to current standards and codes is slim and it's a headache that I dont want to deal with in the future. Furnace/hot water tank a/c unit are all things that go over time. If furnace and a/c are 15+ years old be prepared to replace in near future and hot water tank from my experience I'm happy to get 7 years out of one. All costs to consider and also costs to allow you to try to negotiate better deal if one or more are nearing end of life.