Buying my first house should I go for a fixer upper or 1 with minor repairs. cost is bout the same. thanks?

My husband and I are first time home buyers and we have been looking for 2 years. I am afraid that we are getting so frustrated that we are rushing into buying our friends house. I know that I can update the house more but I am not sure if I will make a profit when we go to sell it. But then there is the other house where it is the school district we want but it cost about $500 more and well I don't know if I should just be safe and buy my friends or keep looking. What if something goes wrong with the other house and my friend sells hers? I have 2 smalls kids and we rent a 2 bedroom duplex which is very cramped now. I just want to get out so everything can have it's own place. But I don't want to have to move again for like another 10 years. Both kids will be in school but then. What do I do? I don't want to make my husband make a bad investment. We are using all the money we have to move and it isn't much so we have to get it right the first time. Please help us. Thanks!

Consider all cost. If you think you or your husband can fix up the house yourself then make a plan of attack when the escrow closing to start on one project at a time and don't stop until it is done. Remember if you sink all of your money into just getting into the house you won't have any safety net to catch you if something not mention goes wrong. On the other hand Location Location, Location is everything. If the other house is closer to the school you want you children to go to, remember higher cost such as taxes and living expenses. You will be paying more in more than just one area. Combine them all and see if you can make that monthly plus cover all cost with out heading to the pork and beans for life. If you invest in a more affordable area and fix it up, it too will increase in value. Hard choice, back that is just that your choice. Do something , don't stay where you are, be a player and win your game. Good Luck

minor repairs are better than a fixer upper. remember you have to live there while you fix it and sometimes it takes forever, like ten years

fixer upers are fun because you can kind of do what you want with them, instead of having to tear things apart to do it. this way it's already tore apart and needs rebuilt. it's more costly though.

You shouldn't rush buying a home, you'll regret it. I do recommend buying a bargain that needs some work. Simply because even if the house is in tip top shape there are things that you are going to want to change. So why pay more for what your gonna want to tear out and redo? Pay for a home inspection, it is well worth the price. It cost me about $300, but they found a couple of things that needed repaired that would have cost a whole lot more. I was able to get these things taken off the price of the home. So waiving the inspection to save $300 would have cost me about $5,000 in the long run.

First of all, $500 is not really that much more when paying thousands for a house. Also, have you considered that you can negotiate on the price of the houses. I know it would be weird negotiating with your friends, so you could probably get the other house for even cheaper than your friends which will require more work.

I don't think it would be a good idea to go with the fixer upper. Why take on the responsibility of having to fix the place up if you don't have to?

Also, remember the old saying location, location, location?? A good school district can make a house much more valuable. Especially since you have school age kids yourself.

If you like the house you really can't go wrong in buying right now. I suggest you buy as soon as you can because you are just throwing your money away by renting a place.

500.. is realy nothing when you are looking to buy a house! you can always deduct the cost of any repair from the sale price of the house too.! tell them that you want to buy it but that they need to knock off the price for a repair and get an estimate for it infact 2 on paper. you can also have THEM pay your closing costs. some people will say ok because they are ready to move.its a thought.
You realy should check with the local sherifs office for "foreclosure" listings in the area. thats your BEST bet!
we had one it cost us 15% down thats what we needed and then we purchased it for about 185k and sold it for 2yrs later for 100k
more!!! we made an awesome profit. and most foreclosures now have been fixed up ..people buy a home and spend everything to renovate then cant pay back the loans .... so most of the time you have a house thats almost completed or maybe even fully loaded and redone.!
good luck.
go with your 1st gut instinct.

First of all- stop-relax and do try to think logically. Being frustrated will only lead you to make choices you will regret.Call a real estate agent and get some comparables. This will tell you price wise where you need to be financially and is a good guide to tell if a property is loosing value. $500 is really not a lot of money if you are investing and if the house will eventually appreciate then you need to evaluate your choice. So what if something goes wrong- get a home warranty - it will cover the house for a year and is renewable- if it breaks the warranty (if)covered fixes it. Typically a home is sold every 5 years so the 10 year plan sound good but like today you have out grown your present home. So, pen and paper-list pros and cons.Value against value. Be logical- think this Thur trust your good judgment and buy your house. Why not get some expert advise- call and hire a Realtor. It will not cost you anything