If location universally trumped all other concerns, people wouldn't be buying cheaper houses in Tracy or Modesto and then commuting two hours each way to San Jose. I personally think those people are apeshit-insane, but they do exist and in no small numbers.
The space-niceness/location trade-off is a very personal one, and don't feel bad about ignoring conventional wisdom.
why should you worry about location when your obvious concern is space? try your best to go for what you need... real estate here is really crazy, mostly because of the structure related problems... termites, dry rot, the lists go on... anyway, good luck and stuff
Location is important mostly because you don't want to spend half your non-work hours in a car. There's nothing worse than a long commute, made longer by having to go out of your way to stop for groceries, when all you want is just to go home.
And for comparison's sake, Hacienda Bridge here in Arlington is just about 900 square feet, and we do okay, even if it's a bit cramped from time to time.
I have been considering these ARM loans for the purpose of bringing down the monthly payment. On the flip side, an ARM in which you pay interest only for n years depends on the value of the house increasing to break even. It is a gamble. Any thoughts?
I agree that interest-only mortgages are a gamble. They're generally a good gamble, though, since if you can assume you're going to stay in a place for like 2 years, it's very rare for there to be a drop in prices for that long. But at any rate, the major concern -- that you'll have negative equity when you next need to sell -- is not very likely, since even if there is a downturn, the chance that the downturn will also eat up your down payment is, depending on your down payment, quite low. And since the amount of principal you'll pay in the first few years of a non-interest-only mortgage is so low, you're not really having much impact on the risk of negative equity in the first few years
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The space-niceness/location trade-off is a very personal one, and don't feel bad about ignoring conventional wisdom.
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And for comparison's sake, Hacienda Bridge here in Arlington is just about 900 square feet, and we do okay, even if it's a bit cramped from time to time.
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