Home owners: What were specific things you looked for when you bought it?

[jtvang125]

Not specifically talking about the area it's in, proximity to schools, conditions of the house...ect but more on the line of design or features. I'm in the market for one and I'll be buying used so obviously there won't be a house with every single features that I want so they'll have to be some compromises but here's a list.

Must have:
*Vaulted ceilings or at least 10ft high ceiling
*No popcorn style ceilings
*Kitchen breakfast bar
*Living room design that will place nice with a HT speaker setup
*Patio area
*Two sinks in master suite
*2 car garage

Would be nice but not necessary:
*2 story
*Fireplace - If it has one I'd prefer it to be a modern styled one and not made of all brick
*Granite kitchen tops but tile is ok if it matches with cabinets
*Kitchen island
*Dark colored wood for kitchen cabinets.
*All hardwood floors would be exceptionally nice but ok with carpet in living room. Could always put them in later though.
*Bath tub in master suite (for the wifey)


Just wondering if I'm being too picky.

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

If you want to be super picky, you should probably just build a new house. Otherwise, you will need to compromise on what is a "Must-Have", since you will never find an existing house that has every feature you "require".

For me, an in-ground pool and a newer home were required. I found a home built in the late 90s with an in-ground pool.

 

[D1gger]

For us, it was having a big kitchen (with an island) and having the family room open to the kitchen. That way we can watch TV while we cook, and when the kids were younger we would all spend most of our time in the same room.

 

[spidey07]

I'm making my list for me and honey-bun

MUST
1) big 3 car garage
2) at least 1 acre
3) Trees
4) No hilly driveway
5) Walkout basement
6) Power, cable, network outlets on every wall
7) large flat area that gets all day sun for garden
8) 1st floor master, laundry on same floor as master
9) All brick
10) At least 9 foot ceilings in all 3 floors

I don't think you're being picky at all. Around here you could find a ton of homes with what you listed, most of them would meet it.

 

[vi edit]

- Plaster walls - can't hardly hurt 'em.

- 3 stall garage was a must for me even though I only had two cars. Extra room is something that you can't add easily or cheaply if you want it.

- Master bath with a closet twice as big as you would be happy with. And the closet has to be off the bathroom and not off the bedroom

Those were big ones to me and not things I could easily change if I wanted to. I couldn't care less about vaulted ceilings. If they are 9' tall that's plenty. All the vaulting does is make for useless space to heat or cool and they are harder to dust. We're building a house and actually framed up the two story tall "great" room and put a 2nd story family room where that valuted ceiling would otherwise be.

I also could give two craps about popcorn ceilings or the textures. Not something I even pay attention to. Same goes for paint color - I can change it. Or stainless steel appliances. I'm also comfortable doing a kitchen makeover and a lot of my own flooring so those weren't big issues to me.

It helps to be handy. You overlook a lot of things that people who don't want to lift a finger can't ignore.

 

[Adrenaline]

I had a list of things that I wanted but most importantly I was thinking for the future, like 5 years in and the wife was thinking of the now.

We have almost outgrown our house. She has since stated that she wishes the house was bigger (which I had picked out). She also stated that she wishes we would have moved further out east (which I wanted to). She also stated that the schools around where we live aren't the best (I pointed that out to her and the ones out east are 100 times better in every way).

So, think ahead and don't listen to anyone else but what you want with the house. Just make sure your wife likes the house. Everything else she can deal with.

 

[Vette73]

No HOA and a big lot, for that area.

 

[T9D]

...

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Not specifically talking about the area it's in, proximity to schools, conditions of the house...ect but more on the line of design or features. I'm in the market for one and I'll be buying used so obviously there won't be a house with every single features that I want so they'll have to be some compromises but here's a list.

Must have:
*Vaulted ceilings or at least 10ft high ceiling
*No popcorn style ceilings
*Kitchen breakfast bar
*Living room design that will place nice with a HT speaker setup
*Patio area
*Two sinks in master suite
*2 car garage

Would be nice but not necessary:
*2 story
*Fireplace - If it has one I'd prefer it to be a modern styled one and not made of all brick
*Granite kitchen tops but tile is ok if it matches with cabinets
*Kitchen island
*Dark colored wood for kitchen cabinets.
*All hardwood floors would be exceptionally nice but ok with carpet in living room. Could always put them in later though.
*Bath tub in master suite (for the wifey)


Just wondering if I'm being too picky.

No, I think these are pretty reasonable requests. You might want to go with a 3 car garage if you are looking in a location with an HOA that doesn't allow outbuildings/sheds. The extra room is nice to have.

 

[vi edit]

I'm making my list for me and honey-bun

MUST
1) big 3 car garage
2) at least 1 acre
3) Trees
4) No hilly driveway
5) Walkout basement
6) Power, cable, network outlets on every wall
7) large flat area that gets all day sun for garden
8) 1st floor master, laundry on same floor as master
9) All brick
10) At least 9 foot ceilings in all 3 floors

I don't think you're being picky at all. Around here you could find a ton of homes with what you listed, most of them would meet it.

That pretty much sums up the place I'm building. I've only got 8' ceilings on the 2nd story though. The kids can live with that I'm also doing stone/brick around the front. I've just stretched my budget so far with other things that I'll deal with having siding on the sides & back.

 

[seepy83]

Top of my list was Natural Gas. Aside from having it for heating, I wanted to have (or at least have the option to add) as Natural Gas stove/cooktop in the Kitchen. I hate cooking on Electric.

 

[Via]

The more $ you have the pickier you can be.

If you have a ton of $ to put towards the house you can be as picky as you want.

I only had around $25000, and I was a first time buyer so I coudn't be that choosy. The only non-negotiables for me were:

2 car garage
At least 3 bed, 2 bath
Not in a bad neighborhood
reasonable lot (not packed in like sardines)

I compromised on some stuff I would have liked such as

Deck
2nd story (my house only has a basement)
hard wood flooring

A normal 1st time buyer isn't going to get close to getting everything they want in a house.

 

[spidey07]

The more $ you have the pickier you can be.

If you have a ton of $ to put towards the house you can be as picky as you want.

I only had around $25000, and I was a first time buyer so I coudn't be that choosy. The only non-negotiables for me were:

2 car garage
At least 3 bed, 2 bath
Not in a bad neighborhood
reasonable lot (not packed in like sardines)

I compromised on some stuff I would have liked such as

Deck
2nd story (my house only has a basement)
hard wood flooring

A normal 1st time buyer isn't going to get close to getting everything they want in a house.

I viewed my first home as learning exactly what I could live with and without. I went with a nice 16x20 foot deck in the first one and realized that I couldn't live without a nice deck so it became a must have.

 

[ShockwaveVT]

1. Location - close to work
2. Location - close to fun
3. At least 1400sqft / at least 2BR/2BA
4. modernized kitchen & baths

*bonus*
rec room or 3rd bedroom
yard big enough to play fetch with my dog
walk-out basement
deck/patio
garage
detached vs townhouse
walkable to stores/restaurants
FiOS availability


the place I'm buying has the items bolded above

 

[SandEagle]

taxes
school district

 

[HumblePie]

Unless it's made from gold I don't move in

 

[dullard]

My wants when buying a house:
1) Convenient location close to work and my daily activities.
2) Big enough to allow me to get some peace even when the wife's family is there. And the reverse for when my family is there.
3) Enough kitchen storage that I don't need to keep things like the blender in the basement.
4) Enough kitchen counter space that I can cook even after people leave things lying about.
5) Rich oak-colored wood trim (cabinets, baseboards, doors, window trim).
6) Closed floor plan so that noise and mess stay where they belong.
7) Attached garage.
8) Minimum of two full bathrooms.
9) Quality construction. None of those cheap-made paper-thin cardboard boxes that the builders called a house in the last 20 years.
10) Drywall. I want to be able to hang anything anywhere instantly. Plaster is a definite deal killer.

I happen to like popcorn ceilings (it is a style that comes and goes, you'll probably be desiring them in 20 years). But the ceiling type isn't a must have for me.

 

[nickbits]

<10 year old
double sinks in master
high ceilings
3-4 bedrooms
2-3 car garage
decent looking cabinets
no vinyl floors

i found pretty much my ideal house except it had vinyl in the kitchen. But ive since put in tile.

 

[vi edit]

My wants when buying a house:

10) Drywall. I want to be able to hang anything anywhere instantly. Plaster is a definite deal killer.

Modern plaster is nothing more than gypsum board, a scratch coat, and then a finish coat that can be texutured. The suface itself is incredibly durable while still being hung on conventional 16" OC stud framing. You still have nails to find studs but even better is that it's such strong stuff most light weight pictures can be hung anywhere. It'll hold up a moderate sized picture without needing anchors or being lagged to a stud.

 

[amdskip]

1) Basement, cement slab or crawlspace is a deal killer
2) Garage, bigger is better
3) Good location for resale
4) 3 bedrooms, at least 2 bathrooms

It helps being handy for sure. I've done paint, tile floors, new shower surround, new ceiling fans where fixtures didn't exist before, upgraded electrical, and a lot more on my current house.

 

[Red Squirrel]

- Garage or room to build one in the future
- Layout of the house
- Decently recent wiring (no K&T, or tar/paper stuff)
- Foundation quality, is there lot of cracks, is it brick or poured cement. How high the foundation is above ground level is a big one people miss. If it's low, you can get issues from snow/water against the house on the ground
- size of rooms
- weird DIY setups that would be hard to fix, ex: this one house I looked at had a fire place chimney going through the middle of a room, rendering that room almost useless.
- Popcorn walls/ceilings - if there's tons of it, it's a huge job to remove

Some minor things, but that have to be considered in future costs, age of:
- furnace
- HW heater
- Shingles
- windows

Ended up lucky with my house, had mostly what I wanted. It's a brick foundation but it's half decent condition.

Only thing, I would love a bigger garage. If a car is parked in it, there's no room for anything else. I probably wont even use it unless I later on get a very small car. I rather make a shop out of it.


No matter what house you look at, also consider the potential changes you could make. Things like bad colors, ugly cabinets, ugly floors are easy to fix. It just costs a lot.

 

[BoberFett]

What you think you want will likely change as you search. Just go out and look. When you find the right place you'll know it.

 

[seepy83]

1) Basement, cement slab or crawlspace is a deal killer

What exactly do you have if you don't have a Basement, Cement Slab or Crawlspace? Does your house hover over the earth?

 

[Ramma2]

Land. The house should be secondary really. If you've got the room to build, grow, change, modify, etc, the sky is the limit. You can't renovate your lot to make it bigger.

 

[DrPizza]

At least 15 acres.
Location.
Price.
Well constructed - no shoddy workmanship.

Nearly everything else on the lists above can be taken care of later. i.e. I didn't want a small kitchen, but my original kitchen was 9x9, with only a 7 foot ceiling, minimal cupboard space, and ugly striped wood-look formica. It's now much larger with a vaulted ceiling and skylights, granite countertops, and more storage than we use. Basement was a wreck; in a few years (future project), it'll be a 4 room "apartment." Living room also has 7 foot ceilings. Next year, that room is also going to be gutted, vaulted ceilings, etc.