Worst house in great area or best house in not so great area?

[Elex Price]

Hello BP Fam,

I was having a discussion with a coworker that's is currently looking to purchase 1st home. I made the recommendation to buy the worst house in a good area, live in it and fix up. I made that recommendation because of the rising value of homes in our area. My coworker came back a few days later and said he made an offer on a house. He offered on an upgraded house in a bad area. His agent told him that he is investing in the future and that area has the potential to grow.

So I thought I would pose this question here to get some other opinions on this topic. Feel free to chime in and share your thoughts...

[Paul Bowers]

Seems like it would be a lot less risky to try to improve a single house in a great neighborhood than to count on the "revitalization fairy" to come in and make a whole area of the city better.