Hey all, I'm struggling with some house hunting issues, so I thought I'd ask for your wisdom. I've been looking to reduce my housing costs and it seems that in my area I will get the most bang for my buck if I choose to live in an ugly 70's or 80's quad townhome. [Quad meaning 4 attached in a square or cross shape - each unit is one corner of the square.] There are many many of them in the area that I live in, and they have pretty much constantly depressed pricing compared to other real estate. I mean, they're not the cheapest homes - those are probably the 50's and 60's single family homes that haven't yet been updated and which are in not-so-great neighborhoods. Any earlier homes are generally in nicer neighborhoods and have already been updated so are expensive. The later homes (90's and onwards) are generally bigger, and further out in the suburbs, so they are more expensive, or are condos downtown and my bf doesn't want to be in a condo (nor do I really).
So I feel like the mustachian choice is either the ugly townhomes OR buy a run down crappy house and fix it up. It's just that each of these has its problems. I'm leaning towards the ugly townhomes but I just can't escape the feeling that it'll be dreary living in one of these neighborhoods and that I'll always feel a bit annoyed that I chose to do the cheap thing. Even though I can redo the inside, I can't change much about the outside of the house. Did anyone here choose the ugly house just to save money? Does it bug you or are you happy every time the mortgage payment is due?
For reference, I currently live in a 50's house in a nice neighborhood. Worth about $350k, but insurance is sky high as it's in coastal Florida and near the water so the hurricane risk is high. If I move to an ugly townhome in a good area slightly north and slightly further inland, with lots in walking/biking distance, it'd cost $200k if redone already, or $170k if needing renovation. [ [While this area is currently further from my work so I would have a longer commute, I may have the opportunity to move my work closer, but we're only talking 10 miles anyway. Similar townhomes closer to work are $120k in a not-so-nice area and really nothing within walking/biking distance.] In the same good area as the $200k townhomes, new townhomes are costing $400k, with single family homes being $500k+.