My wife and I have a son that will be two at the start of the new year and another baby expected shortly after. We’re looking or a larger and nicer home, better neighborhood and expanded amenities. 

As of today we are down to two possible homes. They’re both beautiful homes in great neighborhoods. Here is my attempt to analyze a variety of factors that matter to us. Based on location, I will refer to one home as home L and the other home has home E.

Home Size – Each home has four bedrooms. The L home is listed as 5 bedrooms, but the 5th room is really a ‘play’ or ‘lounge’ room off the side of the kitchen and dining room. Both L and E homes have their bedrooms situated together on one side of the house. Overall space is over 300 square greater in the L home. I believe the general living space is larger (it certainly feels larger) and it does have 3 full bathrooms first the 2.5 baths in home E.

I think both homes offer good ‘play’ areas for our kids. The real difference is home L has carpet in the play room and dining room area, while home E has title. What is better? If a child falls down, carpet is better, but if a child spills something title is better. You can always add a rug if you don’t like tile alone.

The bedrooms in home E are all hard ‘wood’ flooring. Home L is carpet in the bedrooms?  What’s better? Right now our home has carpet in most of the living areas, less the kitchen and the entry. If I had to choose, I suppose I’d pick carpet over hard flooring in a bedroom. Yet, when I lived Merced and remolded, I put hard flooring in all the bedrooms.

Both homes have great ‘flow’. By flow, I mean that actual layout of the living areas. The kitchen and living rooms melt together. The regular eating area next to the kitchen fits with the kitchen. The dining rooms are easily accessible to the kitchen. 

The kitchens of each are comparable in side and layout. I think home L is a little larger. Home L has a walk-in pantry, while home E has plenty of shelving space. Both have double ovens. Home L has a built in fridge. Home E has one sink, while home L has two sinks in the kitchen. 

In home E the laundry room is situated near the kitchen. In home L the laundry room is situated near the 2nd garage area, which is at the end of the 4th bedroom.

Home L has two, two car garages on either side of the home. While home E has a 3 car garage. 

When you walk up to either home, both are impressive. 

Backyard – Home E has a pool, spa and outdoor cooking and hangout area. It’s a cemented area with some planter space around the perimeter of the home. The back yard looks good, even with all the cement and the bottom of the pool is in very good condition. It’s a nice setup. We’d need to fence the pool off.

Home L has cement in over half of the backyard that is interwoven with shrubs and other greenery. It has an above ground spa on the side of the house. 

Both have good clearance on either side of he home. Home E has a large metal gate on one side, if we needed larger access to the backyard or to park some type of vehicle or other equipment on the side. 

Neighborhood/Location – Both homes are in very good neighborhoods. I would say that home L is in a slightly better location based on the following factors. Home L is surrounded by comparable homes to the north and to the south. A few gated communities are near it. Home E immediate neighborhood is on par with home L, but he neighborhood to the south of home E looks a little less desirable than the neighborhoods that surround home L. 

Home L would be a little faster for my wife to commute to work. 

Home E has a park that is probably about 100 – 200 yards away. Home L, has two parks that are both about a half mile from the house.  

Home L is closer to an area that has to-go food to purchase (1 mile away). The corner location has rotating food trucks. 

The lot sizes are almost the same. Home L is on .29 acres, while home E is on .28 acres. home L is on a corner type lot, which means you have a back neighbor and a size neighbor.  Home E has a back neighbor and two side neighbors. Home E’s neighbors look like the keep up their homes well. The same goes for home L. 

Both homes are oriented where the front and back face north/south, so neither is getting direct sun in the morning or the evening. This is good. Both have good natural lightening inside.

Efficiency – What we know from the utility info provided by the utilities for home L is around 250 and home E is around 460. Both do not have solar. Home E has a pool, so that by itself would cause utilities to be higher. Home L is larger, which would seem to make the utilities to be more. So, is home L more efficient?   Possibly. Home L was built in 2008, while home E was built in 2000. 

Concluding thoughts – The inside of home L to me is more impressive than home E. They are both impressive, but I would side with home L in terms of looks. I think they are both very functional layouts. Home L does have more bathroom space, but we are talking an additional tub/shower…nothing huge. The master bathrooms on both are impressive and functional.

Outside of the inside is the difference in backyard areas. Home E has a pool, home L has a spa. Given that the difference inside each home is not that great (in terms of functionality and ambiance), how much of an additional cost per square foot should home E generate versus home L?  Currently home E is at $231 per square foot, while home L is at $209 per square foot. 

Oh life’s dilemmas!