Depending somewhat on how long you plan to live there, think about this in terms of location. As usual, national trends are behind in Iowa, but more and more people are looking to live in walkable (and to a lesser extent, bike-able) neighborhoods. They want the option to be able to get places without having to rely on their auto 100% of the time. This is especially true for millennials...but it is also trending with baby boomers who are retiring too.
To add, by walk-able it doesn't simply mean you have sidewalks running down your block. Are there actual amenities that you can realistically reach by foot? Maybe a grocery store, restaurants, coffee shop, Rx, etc.
Heck...maybe this is something you desire as well but haven't given it much thought. Unfortunately, many traditional suburban style neighborhoods haven't either and thus IMO, this is only going to hurt property values in these places in the future.
You probably won't hear this advice from your real estate agent, the developer or your parents as most of them are still operating based on past assumptions.
Want to be really pragmatic (again...depends on how long term you plan to live here)? Consider the type of street you want to locate your new house on. Avoid non-through streets (again, a favorite of traditional suburban style neighborhoods that is quickly growing out of favor). Why?
Federal, state and city governments are broke. The financial outlook for each is pretty bleak when you look at long term obligations. Eventually by necessity (either due to crisis or policymakers actually being proactive and making tough decisions to address spiraling budget deficits ) the Federal dollars taht states and cities have depended on for the last few decades will dry up. The burden to maintain all this infrastructure that cities have built post- WWII in a more sprawling fashion (vs traditionally more dense neighborhoods), is going to fall 100% to cities with little or no Federal or State dollars available to assist.
The problem. When cities and towns don't build neighborhoods dense enough, there ends up not being enough taxable property to generate an adequate level of taxes to maintain the infrastructure associated with a sprawling subdivision.
When this happens, cities will be forced to evaluate what neighborhoods they can realistically afford to maintain infrastructure going forward and which simple do not generate enough tax revenue to be sustainable. Guess what? A cul-de-sac with 8 houses with nice sized yards around it is not paying for itself. It is a drain on the city finances and thus as has happened today in some cities that are in financial crises, the city turns the street over to the neighborhood and essentially privatizes it. Congrats citizens! You now own this street and all the cost associated with it! Good luck with that!
That, my friend, will put a hit on the value of anyone's home in that neighborhood. If instead you live on a through-street that actually goes somewhere and thus is utilized by more than just the few houses located immediately adjacent to it, it is a street tha a city has much more incentive and obligation to continue to maintain.
<queue music>
Here comes Debbie Downer!
Probably more than you wanted to hear, but I guess if you're starting from a clean slate and have the ability to pick a lot to build upon(rather than simply trying to find an already built home you can afford), maybe being a pragmatist might sense in this instance.
