buying a small home in ideal neighborhood

DH and I love bungalow style homes, and we are looking to move to Tampa, we found a bungalow, very small(954 sq feet) 1 bathroom, no garage, but it is in our favorite neighborhood. All other homes are going for over 300 this one is priced at 160. Dh said we can always add a second story on in 5 years..we are not ready to move down to tampa yet, and in this neighborhood, the house will totally rent. but, DH and I have saved for so long, that we kind of figured we would move into our dream home..not a small home in our dream neighborhood..any thoughts? TIA

Re: buying a small home in ideal neighborhood

People say...buy the smallest home, in the best neighborhood. But the theory is that you can always build up/out (if land permits) and resale will be great since the neighborhood is great. It's a win/win...no one wants to buy the biggest home in the worst neighborhood. ;)

Do what's within your budget...not your dreams...unfortunately, sometimes, those two don't always synch up.

Best of luck to you!!

Re: buying a small home in ideal neighborhood

thanks..yeah it makes total real estate sense...location location location..but after so many years of saving we thought we would get a great house in an okay neighborhood..we never imagined we would get an in on this really great one! thanks

Re: buying a small home in ideal neighborhood

You have to follow your heart when it comes to this stuff, but it never hurts to seek out advice from people with the process. The only thing about your plan that strikes me as strange is that having lived in Tampa blowing houses up and out is not really done much. It's a way of life here because houses are so hard to come by and afford and new construction is so rare. What neighborhood is so sought after that you're willing to settle for a house that might not be your dream house? I was discouraged by the fact that here I feel like you have to take whatever house you can afford in teh best neighborhood, but my experience in other states was that you didn't have to do that and you could afford to get your dream house and dream neighborhood. There is a lot available there. have you looked at Buy Owner online for Tampa? They had a lot available for good prices when I checked last time. Do you have your heart set on one particular neighborhood? Be careful too about the schools. They are not particularly good there so you may have to budget for private schools down the road. Good luck

Re: buying a small home in ideal neighborhood

thanks...are you familiar with tampa? it is a section 2 blocks from Bayshore, north of mcdill, south of hyde park..right in Ballast Point. We love that area, and it is booming with reconstruction of homes. So it is a basic california bungalow, but we can add a second level. it is completely in our budget to buy the initial house. Adding the upstairs would take a few more years of saving.. I found it on buyowner.com

Re: buying a small home in ideal neighborhood

you have fm cloddy