If it's a fixer-upper or not, the location (including the school district) is the important factor. As any agent says, it's "location, location, location". A good location will be reflected in the price of a fixer-upper, but in the long run, if you fix it, you won't lose any money.

Depends on what you mean by "bad location". Bad as in crime-ridden and dangerous is different than bad because it is remote and hard to get to or the schools aren't that great. For older folks the schools may not be that big a deal (unless resale is a big factor) whereas crime certainly is. Location is critical but what is "good" about a location is variable as well. Some want to be in the country with quiet and wildlife, while others want to be near night life, shopping, dining and public transit. All in all, for me, location is key. Whatever a good location is to you, it will likely outweigh having the perfect house in terms of quality of life.

We sold our custom house in metro Denver last year. Perfect house with mountain view, decent neighborhood but it was about 50% more expensive that the other houses in the neighborhood. It took almost two years to sell and for much less than we expected. Realtors and prospective buyer feedback said the biggest reason was the location and the house's value relative to the other houses in the neighborhood.

^Gary. this is because you built in a neighborhood of homes that were not comparable. When choosing a neighborhood, it is important to keep in mind what you are building. The person that builds custom in a lower cost neighborhood will have a loss unless and until the neighborhood homes are torn down and replaced with homes of comparable size & attributes of the custom home. Your mistake was in the site selection of your custom home. It isn't as easy as it sounds.

It may depend on your timeframe. Say you are a family with very young kids and a temporarily stay at home mom. If you know you tend to be relocated every five years, maybe you buy the shiny new house with all the bells and whistles, but a less convenient location. Then when you move again in five years, you choose a better school district, and a shorter commute so mom can go back to work. But if you think its permanent, then location. If you sell the house in 20 years, the "perfect" kitchens and baths are not going to be selling points anymore. Over the very long term, only the land is permanent. That's the investment, not the house.

Have flipped a lot of homes and it is always about location. Good luck!

Always take the awful house in the great location, unless the awful location is in the process of becoming a desirable location (an up and comer.) Of course, this isn't always readily apparent just driving through the neighborhood, so do your research.

The real estate addage "location, location, location" is not for nothing. One can always improve a house. The location is fixed. In fact, if the location is good enough, one can tear down and rebuild.

I am baffled by the complaints of supposedly rude comments. How did we go immediately from a hypothetical question to a Ms. Manners column? Silly IMO.

While I am in the location camp, I think I can see why some may choose the nice house camp. That is, what if they are so busy that they rarely have time to spend outside the home in the neighborhood? That their life is work, home, work, home, and so, in that regard, they want a comfortable home that doesn't require any work.

I'm just saying this as someone currently in a two 60-hr/week career family with young kids and sick parents, spending 95% of my waking hours at work, bathing/feeding/putting kids to sleep, and taking care of my parents in the hospital/nursing home.

Who cares if where I am is quiet, close to the beach, restaurants, shopping, cultural events, and whatnot if I only have time to visit those places 6 times a year? I could live anywhere else and visit them 6 times a year anyways. And then to have to deal with a rundown home while doing all that...I can see the weird attraction of a nice house in the middle of nowhere...

Location is EVERYTHING, whatever that means to you. Location impacts your enjoyment, both at home & outside the home. No matter what anyone says, a really good location impacts the quality of the food your grocery stores sell, the clothing your stores sell, the quality of your health care, etc. etc. it might seem unfair, but it’s true, it does impact the overall quality of life.

^That's right. You can go to the same grocery store in different zip codes and see (or not see) different products. You definitely see different pricing for the same product. Zip code based pricing is a fact, not only online, but in brick and mortar locations too.

A perfect house out in the wilderness is an amazing option! However, I can imagine that this would make sense for retirees or people who don't care about location. If we're talking real estate value and building a home for your pimary living purposes, it would make much more sense to get a fixer upper in a bad location that you can make your own as time and money allow

I think this question would be more interesting if they had put in the caveat - perfect house in bad location, or bad house THAT YOU CAN'T CHANGE in good location.

a good house in a bad location is probably reasonably priced, maybe it's an up and coming neighborhood. If it's a dangerous location- forget it!

a bad house in a good neighborhood almost always has possibilities for improvement, usually has good schools, and usually safe.

We are about to choose a perfect floor plan over a scenic lot. We live inside almost 100% of the time, we can 'gussy' up the landscape!

You can always change the house, but you can never fix the location.

Flannel Guy DIY - Youtube

The first three rules of real estate: location, location, location. Better to have a cheap house in a pricey location than a pricey house in a cheap location

Interesting. We purchased a home 2 years ago in what we thought was a good location. Nice homes, upscale neighborhood, just far enough from town and checked most all of our boxes. There is a 2 lane road right behind the house but seemed quiet every time we were there. This was a rural area. Asked our realtor about it and she suggested we sit on the roadside at different times of the day to be sure. We did just that. Well 2 years later we have found a lot and want to build. After 3 months of our house on the market it still has not sold. All the agents say their clients are concerned with the traffic on the road. When we bought in the month of November the traffic seemed very light every time we were there. Now the area has become very popular and the traffic has increased significantly. Situations change and areas can increase in population quite rapidly. Not sure what we could have done to prevent our situation.

Maybe make sure we were not right by a road.

Such a great question and yet my choice has repeatedly reflected the opposite of my vote: I have chosen Better house every time. Now I regret it and really wish I had gone with location (with the option to work over time, in real life). I passed on a house on a river because I couldn't get my head around the work to fix cosmetic issues. Grrrrr

Funny how people see location differently. To some it is the quality of the neighborhood. To me it is the lack of neighbors.

"All the agents say their clients are concerned with the traffic on the road."

This is a growing issue for buyers. And not just a road like this adjacent to a property but any major roads nearby. Buyers increasingly want to live in a neighborhood farther from traffic and noise.

They also want to be able to safely and comfortably walk or ride bicycles to local schools, grocery, pharmacy and places to eat. They want protected bikeways and don't want to have to cross (or even be near) any multi-lane or fast roads.

"Funny how people see location differently. To some it is the quality of the neighborhood. To me it is the lack of neighbors."

Yep, different people have different desires and this changes over time. My BIL is a rural guy and has zero interest in living in a city. When the 'lot' (quarter section) next to him became available a couple of years ago he snapped it up to make sure that his nearest neighbor would now be at least 2400' away and not just 800'.

30 to 70 years ago the vast majority of people wanted to be in the new suburbs. This was only until people realized the suburban living meant spending a gob of time driving anywhere and everywhere and shuttling kids everywhere so today demand is shifting back to the more urban/village that existed for thousands of years before suburbs came on the scene. Suburbs are very slowly realizing this and adapting.

I'm having this dilemma right now. I found the apartment building of my dreams in NYC, but unfortunately, it's in a neighborhood far uptown (i.e., far away from all the trendy hotspots). I'm worried that I'll feel isolated from civilization.

Anyway, it looks like the general consensus is that location is key. :/

You can always change the house..... but you can never change the location

Location for sure. I've lived in three rentals in the last three years and even though the current one is the worst in terms of overall finish, charm, and layout, the location is by far the best, since I'm very close to work and still have a lovely forest and miles of trails right out my back door. We're building our dream house in a lot I've wanted since I moved here a decade ago, and if something goes wrong with the finances I'll live in a yurt before I'd sell that lot.

Anon where uptown is the apartment?

Not much of a dream if its not a perfect house in a perfect location.

And can anybody feel isolated from civilization if they are in New York City?

@cpartist Manhattan Valley, on the upper Upper West Side. Specifically, the new luxury condo development that was formerly the New York Cancer Hospital:

I just love the French Renaissance architecture à la Le Château de Chambord, not to mention the commodious apartments with Central Park views. However, the area itself is still in the early stages of gentrification. (As late as the '90s, it was literally considered the best place to buy crack, and although it's been cleaned up considerably since then, I have yet to see any listicles name Manhattan Valley as an up-and-coming neighborhood for A-listers.) If I were renting, I'd probably go for it, but I'm not sure whether it's worth the investment of owning.

What do you think? Would you live in a virtual castle if it were in the middle of a lingering ghetto? Mind you, that's how much of the city began, so it seems inevitable that the stretch north of West 96th Street will become more and more of an extension of the haute-bourgeois UWS culture. But who knows how long absolute annexation will take?

"Not much of a dream if its not a perfect house in a perfect location."

A wise man said "perfection is the enemy of good." I'll settle for compromises - dreams are great, but a peaceful night's sleep in a house that meets my needs and some of my wants without adding the nightmare of debt is "the good" for me, and I'm happy with that.

@jmm1837 A wiser man said: "Perfection is the infinite goal of humanity. If I settled for compromises, I'd have no reason left to live another day."

And I would say that an unwillingness or inability to compromise is in itself imperfection.

It's a question for many people these days and, unfortunately, I don't have a blanket answer. It really depends on the individual situation.

Does the area have Starbucks? Good restaurants?

What about housing projects?

10 years ago I wouldn’t even consider that area.

It depends.

If a bad location means high crime area, with some of your putative neighbors ending up in dumpsters on a daily basis; and / or a two plus hour commute... take the bad house and make it better.

How awful is the house? Is there a condemnation notice on the door? Is the roof sagging and lots of leaks? Are there only two bedrooms and you have eight kids?

Context is everything. Ergo, I didn't vote.

Location! I love our 1600 sq foot 3 bedroom house (not counting basement) despite the fact many would say with 4 kids we have outgrown it. But its an easy commute to work for both of us, 1-2 blocks away from the stores we do 95 percent of our shopping at, 1 block away from the elementary school, and across the street from us is the side of the middle school, on the other side of which is the high school, so the kids can walk to school. 5 minutes to the public park at the lake. also our yard is awesome and bordered by woods on two sides. we can afford much bigger now but absolutely love our location. and the home too to be honest but if it was the same house on a different lot we’d move

Answer: bad house in great location

Caveat: as long as you have the funds, talent and temperament to rehab.

JudyG Designs

Answer: bad house in great location

Caveat: as long as you have the funds, talent and temperament to rehab.

AND space and zoning to do so.

Anon: 455 Central Park West. The Central Park West building is certainly selling. There are very few places in the city where you can get a 3-4 bedroom apartment at any price. These are selling at an average of $6 million. Is the new tower building as interesting as the reno on the hospital building?

In the process of buying my dream house... but its In an iffy location. About 15 minutes from where I live now but a majordifference. About five minutes from work and by far the best house in the neighborhoo. As a young single person with no kids who works up to 60 or 70 hours a week, not too concerned with the schools or the way the houses next door look. Nor would I have the time or money to do a fixer upper. As long as it’s close to work and convenient!

Lonely in the Rotten Apple?

Yes.

"The only thing the city does not offer is the thing I want most. I want connection. I want to share the experience with others. At the end of the day, I will trade 'a city that never sleeps' for a city where people sleep soundly knowing that they are not alone."

(I lived and worked in Gotham on and off in the late '60s, early '70s.) I remember a professor of mine adventurously living above 110th St.--till he was set on fire one evening for sport. Cops taking "white" graft from a store I managed in the middle of the Knapp Investigations. (Think Serpico.) Similarly, wailing away on war protestors. Etc., Etc.

Location above all else!

Montana Lolly

I am also considering buying an apartment in this building. Especially since the prices of apartments are lower than average

I answered this question 2 years ago as Leeza (don't know what happened to my avatar). I said we had made precisely the choice the poll asked and gone with the "bad" house in great location. At that time we had painted (with minor repairs) inside and out, put a new roof on 50-yr old house, new sheet vinyl downstairs and wtw carpet in bedrooms, new sliding patio doors. Also major effort on window dressing and new lighting fixtures throughout (those two we did ourselves). THEN we moved in, haha. Of course less than 10% of our patio-home furniture was appropriate for the 2400sqft house...

We've had to replace the cooktop and its vent. Just replaced A/C compressor and had the attic's insulation pulled out/renewed and new ductwork. We keep thinking "Now we've done everything" but probably not!

We still love our location and the lot and its yards. Still convinced we made the right choice.

What if you had an amazing apartment but the development is full of rubbish and dirt on a daily basis?

Put on an orange vest and pick up a bag's worth of rubbish each day and talk to everyone you meet while doing it. Your efforts may become contagious, or perhaps the source of the rubbish will dry up seeing that someone cares.

Well...have you considered the perfect house in the perfect setting?

What is a bad neighborhood depends on the definition. We moved to a nice house in the best neighborhood (on a golf course) in a small city that is considered down-market by residents of local suburbs. However, we think that it important to live in the same city as our housekeepers and waiters in local restaurants, not to mention teachers, firemen, and police. Although the schools don't have all the bells and whistles of those in the fancy suburbs, both of our daughters graduated from top-ranked private colleges. We consider our higher real estate taxes a payment to help the schools increase the opportunities of the less fortunate.

The OP said bad location, not bad neighborhood. Everyone here seems to be considering a negative location as something broad, like a failing school district or a crime-ridden neighborhood. We've always targeted a pretty precise area when house shopping and then considered location within that area, whether that's in an upscale suburb or transitional urban neighborhood. We currently live in a town with an excellent school district--the one we chose to hunt in--but declined to purchase a house on a very busy road or too close to a noisy expressway. Even if the house is "better," I wouldn't buy next to the high-tension power lines, or on the street that gets blocked in every morning by the carpool line--those things can impact resale or quality of life. But they are subjective to some degree, too! We have a steep driveway that might have scared others off, and no sidewalks on our street, but more square footage than houses on flat blocks with sidewalks.

If you live in a bad neighborhood, it doesn’t matter how amazing the house is. It’s still a poor location to be in. Bad neighborhood or bad location, it’s the same thing.

It’s really not a straight forward question.

Depends on the definition of a bad location: crime ridden or just too far from work/school, next to a highway or too isolated, no public transporation and need for a car, bad school district or delapated homes, is neighbour/building trending and is one willing to wait for a transformation, to gain financially.

Same goes for an awful house. If willing and able to revonate re: budget and/or time wise, buying as an investment or as a rental, short/long term plans, size and layout never meeting needs. Basically, do the pros outweigh the cons.

oops voted wrong way...meant perfect location...you can change the house not the location.