Refusing to buy a nice house...

[emperor_black]

tell me about it. There is a city called cupertino where 54 year old ramshackle homes are selling for million dollars plus. All because of the freakin school district. I wish we lived in Arizona. My brother says that any kid living anywhere can go to any school in Arizona. here, its so strict that if your house number falls on the wrong side of the street, you have to go to a bad school. this house for example has an even number and the API of the elem school my kid can go to is 882. On the other side of the street, with odd numbers, the API of the school is in the lower 700's. Sucks!!

[thetroy]

I hope you're basing the quality of the schools on more than just those numbers.

Though it is really hard to accurately determine something like that without attending the school for some time. I'm not sure how you would figure it out for an elementary school...

[emperor_black]

there is a website called greatschool.net. they give ratings based on several criteria. This school is rated 9 with 10 being the best. Also, the API is something like a standard that all schools are based upon. ...based on all the test results and all that. But yes, you're right that these numbers could mean nothing, but that's the best I can do.

[thetroy]

I figured you were probably doing as much homework as you could reasonably do.

Anyway, if I had kids I would probably do a similar thing - move to wherever has the best schools I can afford.

Neighbors can screw things up, but unless their place looks like Sanford and Son I wouldn't worry about it too much. I am lazy about my yard but would help out my neighbors with anything if they were in need.

[phill_up]

Even if you do find the perfect neighbors, they can still move and some ding dong can move in next door.
One of my neighbors had a car stereo louder than any other I have ever heard. It sounded like the windows in my house were going to break. That shit would come on at 2:AM
I was really worried I was going to jail for that right Jab but luckily he decided to not press charges. Its quiet as a mouse at my house these days and the other neighbors are even nicer now.

[fr0sty]

truth

+1... this coming from someone who lives next to one of these homes. Grass a foot high, cars parked in the yard, junk everywhere, and one of their trees died and it's spread to a couple of ours. It's also probably been a major factor that has hurt our neighbor's attempts to sell their house down the street. When next to house like that, your house's on paper value stays the same, but the real price is going to be hurt badly. That said, some nice people live in crappy houses with poorly kept yards... but 9/10s it's because the person is a lazy ass.

[Spivonious]

It will hurt the value of the house you're looking to buy, but how long is the grass? It could be that they're on vacation and didn't mow it before they left. Unless it's like abandoned house long, then I wouldn't worry about it too much, especially if the house you're looking at is great and the location is great, and the schools are great.

Something that would put me off of buying it is that it's a flip. They do the work in the shortest amount of time possible, and that means they had to sacrifice some quality in the remodel. You don't want to pay a premium for a house where the paint starts peeling in a few weeks and the floors are a little uneven, and the plumbing starts to leak, etc.

I agree with troy...going off some "API" score (I've never heard of API btw) is silly when judging schools. Talk to some of the neighbors and find out what the school is really like, and what the long grass person is like.

[emperor_black]

Actually, its not tall grass. Its rather yellow grass, with big patches of dry ground, broken fence, a car standing in the driveway collecting dust. But now, the wifey is no longer deterred by the neighbor. Rather, its the fact that its an old house (38 years), and when you open the door, the first thing you see are the stairs. she wants a newer house. But the newer the house, the worst the school my kid can go to.

[horns666]

Buy the house and fuck the neighbor. That's what tall fences and the housing dept is for.

Buy that house, put your kid in that school. No matter where you go there could be a future asshole buying/renting the house next to you. Gary brought up a point..look at the cars. Maybe the guy is a good person and never home because of work..he could be diasabed and can't maintain the grass like he'd wished..maybe he's just old as fuck..

There can be more to it than meets the eye..I would invesigate this futher by confering with neighbors and the realtor. Its easy ..introduce yourself. Be honest, and say you're intersted buying that house...now, what's up with your neighbor. If he is an asshole ..people will be more than happy to vent to you about him/them.

I have a rental next to me and I've delt with a bunch of bust out assfucks..I had them all put out tho. I gave them no choice. Me and the landlord have a "understanding"..

[CharvelRocker]

Buy the house and fuck the neighbor. That's what tall fences and the housing dept is for.

Actually, some deeds say you can't fully fence in a yard, but only part of it, or have no fence at all, so be sure to look that up too.

[Rich#6]

I am one of those neighbors that never mows the grass enough. I am a great neighbor.
You will know the right house when SHE sees it. It should be love at first sight.

[emperor_black]

You will know the right house when SHE sees it. It should be love at first sight.

that's what she says too . We did find such a nice house. Big front &back yard, great school, beautiful location, everything. It was a dream house. But even in this crappy market, our offer which was just $30,000 less than the asking price,was outbid. So, I've seen a great house come and go and dont want to lose out on this one which is in a much better location than the other one. But, just my luck, it had to be 38 year old!

[joelayres]

In this market, there should be plenty of houses that fit the bill.
Believe me, if you force her into this one, you will never get to enjoy it - she won't let you.
Ahhhhh - the joys of marriage!

[Spivonious]

Geez, if 38 years-old is "old" then you might as well just build a new house.

[Rich#6]

38 years old are baby houses. The town that I spent my HS and Jr HS years in the newer houses were build in 1910s. I used to walk past the house that ernest hemingway was born in, in 1899. My current house was made in the late 50s.