Which house should I buy? (new house, tile, cabinets)

[yunjuanyunshu]

House A and House B on the same street, both built in 2006, same builder, same price, same floor plan.

House A
Pro's - includes $20,000 upgrades: cherry cabinets, 18" tile throughout the first floor except bedroom, nice upgrade carpet in the bedroom...
Con's - small back yard
- master bedroom, family room and back yard facing west, direct sunshine in the afternoon
- and no trees in the back yard

House B
Pro's - no upgrades: oak cabinets, regular stainless carpet throughout the house, 12" tile in the kitchen and foyer.
Con's - bigger back yard
- master bedroom, family room and back yard facing south, no sunshine in the afternoon
- nice big trees in the back yard

Which one is the better choice if everything else is the same?

[Poltracker]

You can change carpet/tile etc., you cannot change the orientation of the house or the size of the yard. I'd go for the better lot but my offer would reflect the lack of upgrades.

[yunjuanyunshu]

Thanks, the problem is the owner won't give up on price. That's why it's hard to choose. I prefer House B, but $20,000 upgrades made House A more attracive.

Originally Posted by Poltracker

You can change carpet/tile etc., you cannot change the orientation of the house or the size of the yard. I'd go for the better lot but my offer would reflect the lack of upgrades.

[Mom2Feebs]

Better lot, if everything else is the same.

[CanTex]

If the $20,000 is what the seller put into it to pay for those upgrades, they will be very lucky to recoup that. At best they can hope for 50-75% of that, and chalk whatever else they gain to market appreciation.

Location and orientation of the home along with established trees are worth it.

[Topaz]

I'd buy B.

[yunjuanyunshu]

Thank you all for the information!

[hammer2000]

Originally Posted by yunjuanyunshu

I prefer House B.

Based on this, I'd go with House B.

[predatorprey]

I'd buy B, buy request a lower price

[sbhubbell]

Yeah I'd probably make a lower offer on B and if he turns you down and you can wait a bit, just wait.

Although you know your style and whether you are the type to add in the upgrades later if you want them. My husband and I know deep down that we are not changers, we never even painted a single white wall on our brand new house in four years of living there. So we shopped figuring we probably wouldn't change things like flooring or cabinets or counters, etc. For us, upgrades were worth it.

Also I think it depends on if you have kids that will use the backyard a lot. You can always put in a covered patio, which is what we plan to do. I like trees and all but I don't like raking leaves and I don't like tree roaches and other things that come with trees.