We’re in house hunt mode. It’s stressful but fun. More fun than stress until you start crunching the numbers, and then it is all “oh, wait.” Isn’t it hard when the neighborhood you want to live in feels overpriced, and the zip code that would net a 4-bedroom home is the one you grew up your whole life avoiding? Alright, that doesn’t sound like fun, it sounds like karma. We just need to get out more and look more at our options.
I will say though, after living in a shoebox for four years, almost any place I look at seems fabulous. When I hear friends from high school talk about needing a custom this, or a custom that, I think “aw heck, does the door lock?” No lie, in our apartment in San Diego, the door didn’t lock for over a year. Yes, I know, but I didn’t want to move. Right after they fixed the lock, they raised our rent. Like “hey, your door locks now, that’s extra!” Shocker we didn’t get any of our deposit back on that one.
Anyway, I’d love to know your opinions on Utah neighborhoods — from Daybreak to Foxboro to Bountiful to Midvale. I grew up in Centerville and then moved away so I never really lived in the Salt Lake Valley when it meant something. And by mean something, I mean cared about water bills, good school districts and a community feel.
I don’t have any advice on Utah, but in general my house hunting advice is NEVER SETTLE. If there is something you really want out of a house, keep looking, so matter how long it takes because once you buy the house – you’ll quickly realize that settling was a bad idea, and it’s really hard to get out of it at that point. That’s the situation we’re stuck in now, and it stinks!! When we were house hunting I remember hating it, and being so frustrated with it, and now I kinda miss it. It was kind of fun looking at all the different houses and options. Enjoy yourself!
Greatschools.org and spotcrime.com were the two most helpful sites I found. Decide what is really important to you and don’t compromise on it!
Oh thanks for the sites — and the reminder not to compromise! Seems to be a recurring bit of important advice.
We’ve loved how central Midvale is to everything. Being close to I-215 is AWESOME because you’re close to canyons/Park City, but it’s also easy to get on I-80 from there or keep going west to the E-Center, etc. Knowing you, I think you’ll like the east side better. =) Also, Midvale is part of the Salt Lake County Library and Parks and Rec system which basically rock. If you’re willing to go a little further south away from the city, Sandy has some REALLY nice areas that are younger and trendier than the more established neighborhoods. I’d stick east again and around 90th South.
P.S. I wouldn’t worry too much about schools unless you’re planning on being their for 15-20 years. Even if you have kids while in your first house, you’ll likely move before they are old enough to go. So maybe look for good pre-school or elementary schools if you think you’ll be there 10 years, but the junior highs and high schools will be so different by the time you have kids old enough to go there it won’t matter.
I agree with Brooke – I live in Murray (next to Midvale) and it is great because it is close to everything. I’m 2 minutes from I-15, 2 minutes from I-215, and less than 10 minutes from downtown. I’d agree – don’t go too far west, but in my opinion, in the Murray area, east of I-215 is fine.
Good luck!
We are in the hunting mode right now too. We have opted to go the lease to own route for now so that we have a built in savings for a down payment in place after 2 years. There is a super nice little community that just went in at like 11700 S and Redwood Road in Riverton, called The Cottages, that I would totally want to get into if we were buying right now. They are reasonably priced in the $160′s and have a good location. But all along 114th S area and west to Daybreak is a great boom of new homes, neighborhoods, etc. We are getting into a Garbett Home right across from the District and we are super excited about it. The only kicker to living out west is the access to major roads. I work at Primary Children’s and no matter where I go out here it is a commute. Right now we are off 70th S and 48th West and it takes me 30 minutes to get to work and 45 to get home. But I have really good access to I-215 right now. Moving further south is going to lengthen my commute by at least 15 minutes and it isn’t really convenient to any major street (outside of Bangerter, which doesn’t really get anyone anywhere!). But you trade some things for other things when looking for what you want. My criteria for moving right now is to get a kitchen with drawers! I never thought about that when we moved the last time and it made for a crappy kitchen with zero (yep, zero) drawers! But good luck. And don’t wait on a short sale or bank-owned property unless you really really want it!
All good tips, thanks! Yeah, I wish Daybreak or any of the communities out west could be closer to freeway access. I guess that’s what you trade. New homes for a longer commute is the current debate in our house.
my husband works at around 33rd and state and we live in daybreak. He takes trax and it gets him there and back sooo fast because it’s at an angle that cuts across everything. I work in daybreak and if we get off at the same time, he will still sometimes beat me home! (Admittedly, that’s when I spend 15 minutes yakking with the front desk girls on my way out, but still…)
Oh house hunting! Simultaneously fun and terrifying, right? I hope you guys have a great experience and find what you want in the price range you can afford!
I am loving your current location
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Good luck – it’s so frustrating! I’ve started my list of things to look at next time, simply because I had no idea the first time around!
I would love to see that list! I keep finding all of these obscure lists, like “taste the water before you buy!” so on Saturday I was the strange one doing all sorts of weird things trying to check it out.
My biggest thing right now is kitchen layout. My dishwasher is in an AWFUL place – you can’t get into any of the useable cabinets when it is open. In order to unload the dishwasher, I have to pull everything out onto the (very limited) counter space, then close it and put everything away. Very inefficient!
Also, look at your storage space in other rooms. I come from a linen closet family – having bathrooms with NO closets was something as a shock to me.
We love living in the city (Sugarhouse). Being so close to downtown is unbeatable, there’s so much going on. And being minutes from work is awesome. Good school districts and reasonable utilities.
I covered Salt Lake County for years for DNews – Murray, from a city government standpoint, is one of the best-run cities in Utah. When we were looking for a house, Murray was on the top of my list after Salt Lake because of this. They have their own city school district, police force, fire department, parks and recs, water/sewer/garbage/recycling, electric company (this is incredibly rare for any city)…and still, Murray has one of the lowest tax rates in Utah. The school district (because it’s awesome) and electric company (very green) both receive high accolades. You get an incredible bang-for-your-buck in Murray.
I don’t know Utah at all but I had to add that I cannot wait to see what you come up with when you find your home and start decorating! Love you
You should check out the 15th and 15th area — close to freeway access, really nice neighborhood, dog-friendly, walking distance to restaurants, a Harmons, and a bookstore.
We love the Avenues or Sugarhouse areas- great restaurants, grocery stores, good schools, close to EVERYTHING.
When I first moved to Utah I lived in Murray. Then Midvale. Then Murray again. And now downtown. I love being so close to Sugarhouse and The Gateway and all that, but I really loved Murray the most. It’s close to downtown, but not so close that you don’t have a yard.
There is one called Lodge on Wheels for 37,900 or so. No dimensions seem to be given. Find this @ MartinHouses.com. I am watching their progress. Wood is nice, but it is one of the resources…. good for people who need to go through a life transition… if they can swing it in this economy.
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