Bought the 25k house in solitude and upgraded. Apart from storage i can't find any use for it. Even a decent view would be nice. Just feels lifeless inside. Not sure if a wifey will even make it better. If it was the 'lawnmower' man era then cybersix might be on the agenda. Then again there's nothing else to spend my money on.
All of the houses are very lacking IMO. They are better than they were in Oblivion. The only houses I liked were the ones you had to buy as DLC. I assume the same will be true with Skyrim, so I eagerly await that.