3 doors down...

So in between everything else going on I've managed to narrow my house search down to three places. (Not counting those that I liked and someone came along and snatched them from me)

The only problem is I don't know how to pick one. Each has a quality that I really, really like. I give anything to take the best qualities of each and put them into one house, but I don't have the budget for that.

So I'm going to open this up for discussion and see where it gets me. But first, you should know about the things that are important to me in a house, as a single 28 year old male.

Location.
Location is important to me because of obvious reasons. Even though I'm a single guy, I really don't want to live on "Call-girl Ave." if you know what I mean. That and believe it or not, I like to work outside doing landscaping and such and it's really hard to mow the lawn with a bullet-proof vest on. On a scale of 1-5, (5 being important) this rates as a 4.


A Garage.
I was spoiled growing up. Not in the sense that I was given everything, but once I did buy my OWN car, I was given one of the bays in our two-car garage to park my car in. I spent hours upon hours out there tinkering with my car, listening to music. It was my retreat. I miss that. And even more now, since I just bought the Jeep, I'd like to keep it inside. This rates as a 3.


Inclusions.
Never having owned a house, the only appliances I own are a toaster, a Foreman Grill, and a microwave. Which means that if a house isn't selling with appliances, I'm going ot have to buy them. My wallet will argue that you really can get by without washing your clothes for a long time. But I'm willing to bet that after a while, my clients would tell me differently. This is a 3.


Age / New parts.
Let's face it, new houses are cool. They look nicer, they feel refreshing, and they're a place that you can say "I was the first to live here." Most of the time, you run in to less problems with wear and tear and you have a warranty. However, older houses are nice too. And you will find many with recent roof replacements, a/c or furnace replacements and so on. There are so many tradeoffs. This rates as a 3.


Price.
Price is perhaps the strongest driving force. Because, let's face it, we can't all live at Neverland Ranch. And who'd want to now? This is a 5, but is flexible.


So on to the finalists:

House #1

3 Bed, 2.5 Bath, unfinished basement (hello pooltable!)

New construction. :)

Garage :)

Good Price :)

Ok location.

Small lot size. :(

Only includes stove and dishwasher :(

Deck needs built on :(

House #2

3 Bed, 1 Bath, 29 years old

No garage :(

New roof :)

New A/C and furnace :)

Good neighborhood :)

All appliances included and fully remodeled :)

House #3

3 Bed 1.5 Bath, 35 years old, Brick.

Over a 1/4 of an acre -fully landscaped :)

The empty lot next to it is for sale :)

Good neighborhood :)

No garage :(

Appliances negotiable.

Huge deck :)

I just don't know what I'm gonna do? I almost wish someone would come along and buy two of them so this would be easy. Wait, no I don't. Ignore that last thought... If I had my choice, I'd take the house from #1, put it on the land from #3 and keep the deck, then fill it with the appliances from #2 and the surroundings from #2. God, why can't I win the lottery? Oh maybe because I don't play it?

What do you think?