Unreal Estate Game: Delaware

[Rain Man]

Assume that you idly buy a state lottery ticket while getting a doughnut at 7/11, and voila! You're a winner! You win your choice of one the five houses that will be shown.

I'll give you five houses in a state, and you vote on the house you would take.

Background rules:

Assume that your job situation won't need to change - you can find an identical job or work from home or whatever, so jobs don't matter.

Consider the house itself and the location and anything else that's important to you (schools, restaurants, lot size, etc.). Feel free to do a google map search to check out the neighborhood and the area.

You cannot sell the home. You can live in it as long as you like, but when you move out, it reverts back to the state as a prize for a future winner.

All houses will generally be in the $900,000 to $1 million price range.

All maintenance and utilities and taxes are cost-neutral compared to your current home.

If you wouldn't move into any of these homes, you can instead accept a cash prize of $50,000 (tax free).

Today's state is Delaware, the first state. Here are your five houses:

Bethany Beach - http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/39282-Estate-Way-55122_Bethany-Beach_DE_19930_M64105-76641?turbo=1

Dover - http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/555-Pennsylvania-Ave-Ext_Dover_DE_19901_M60627-81826#photo0

Lewes - http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/817-Savannah-Rd_Lewes_DE_19958_M50406-21809

Selbyville - http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/38237-Keenwik-Rd_Selbyville_DE_19975_M53397-70051

Wilmington - http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/3495-Montchanin-Rd_Wilmington_DE_19807_M60215-54321

[Rain Man]

My rankings:

#1 - Wilmington - I'm not in love with the house, but it's nice and it's pretty huge. It's in the middle of nowhere, but it's kind of fun that they're about 500 feet from the state border. I'll shrug and pick this house #1, though I'd strongly consider the $50,000 in this case. Delaware's architecture isn't wowing me overall.

#2 - Dover - This house is kind of weird to me. The outside looks fine, and the view of the river is superb. But the interior is all a bit off kilter. I feel like the owners designed and contracted it themselves without a professional architect's help. Still, it may be the best of a weak lot.

#3 - Selbyville - This is really more of a beach house, and it feels like it. It's a nice house with interesting water access, but it doesn't really feel like a home.

#4 - Bethany Beach - It's a fine house, and seems to be in a nice location in general. (The location doesn't really map well, so I'm not sure exactly.) It's in a must-drive-everywhere neighborhood that I don't like, and other than the great room I'm so so on the interior design.

#5 - Lewes - The house is nice, though some of the features are a bit too colonial for my taste. The location is terrible, though. It's right across the street from a junior high school and there's not much near it.

[ThaVirus]

Dover all day for that rotunda and living room river view.

[Gadzooks]

Hmm.. Bethany Beach looks good but it's not on a waterfront. It's close to Mickey's Family Crab House and seems to have a lot of available amenities near by but it would be a bitch to live there over the winter.

I'm gonna need some time to mull these options over.

Ultimately, I may end up picking the best summer home because I don't believe people actually live in Delaware over the winter months.

[BlackHelicopters]

Rehobeth Beach

[Rain Man]

Rehobeth Beach

I tried to find a Rehoboth Beach house in the right price range, but there was only one and I didn't think it would be very competitive. You do have three other beach options, though.

[WhawhaWhat]

https://media2.giphy.com/media/BhEJyu9Kn9vR6/200_s.gif

I live the Dover house the best.