What do you like/hate about your home?

[wiegie]

So, my wife and I hope to buy a home sometime this year and we are starting our planning process now. I've never bought a home before, so I'm trying to make sure I don't completely f' things up. One thing I did today was print out one of those forms where you are supposed to check off what features in a house are important to you. As it works out, as we went down the list, we ended up checking "somewhat important" for almost everything. This is likely a combination of the facts that (1) neither my wife and I have very strong preferences about what sort of house we will get and (2) we are ignorant as to what features of a home actually are important and which ones aren't.

 

Since I, in general , respect you guys' opinions, I figured I would ask to see what features you like in your homes, what you wish you had, what you wish you didn't have or are glad that you don't have.

 

If you want to throw in your thoughts concerning neighborhoods, location, etc. that would also be appreciated.

 

I'll mention that we have two small sons and will likely have visitors come stay with us for at least a few weeks at a time throughout the year.

 

Thanks for any thoughts you are willing to share--they will be appreciated.

[Bier Meister]

things that we have looked for in a house: good location (helps with resale), storage space, view, large master, 2 care garage, cupboard space in the kitchen and counter space (i now want a large kitchen), yard......

[skylive5]

Just a personal preference...but I like a large kitchen. Also prefer a large yard. Your sons would appreciate the large yard.

 

With two sons and a lot of visitors I would say you are looking at at least a 4 bedroom 2-2 1/2 baths....with a master bath a must.

 

Everyone has different things they look for...kinda hard to run down the list since it could get pretty long. Never really looked at schools and such since we didn't buy until the kids were gone and we were retired. I am sure that some of the younger souls here will fill out your form.

[tonorator]

the one thing i would change about our house is an increase in garage space. we have a 2-car and it would be awesome to have either a 3-car or at least a bump out to the 2-car to have more room. we also have a 2-story family room which was awe inspiring when we bought the home, but over time i've realized that just going with high ceilings, like 10-ft., would have been better and would have added more space upstairs.

 

things we love about our house include the finished basement, the exterior appearance, the large yard, and the overall openness of the layout. neighborhood is full of kids and we are in one of the best school districts in cincinnati.

 

ours was a new market home so we did not get a chance to specify everything like you can when building. we have changed quite a bit over the past 10 years. my advice would be to be sure the big things are in place, like the garage/kitchen size, overall layout, etc., and then you can remodel within that all you want.

 

good luck!

[isleseeya]

Love the location ( on a cul de sac ) , fact its fairly new ( built in 2000 ) , the hardwood floors , the backyard and Pond i have

 

wish i had larger garage and even a bit larger backyard ...definitely would like an inground pool

[whomper]

A deck is fun and useful in the warm months. Not a neccesity obviously but a nice perk. Wiegie..I know your thoughts about realtors but will still help you any way I can if questions come up at any time during the process. Good luck

[Kid Cid]

A couple of thoughts that may or may not apply to your situation:

 

It is just my wife and myself so I like that we didn't buy a large house. Ours is 1600 sq ft and it is perfect for the two of us. With children and potential guests you'll probably wnat a somewhat larger place, but don't be talked into buying too much house for your needs.

 

I like that we set a budget and didn't buy a house at the edge of what our credit qualified us for. We're not house bound and can still take vacations and spend money on ourselves if we want to.

 

I like that we bought a slightly older house (built in 1964). The construction is of much better quality than the newer houses in the area both in materials and workmanship.

 

I don't like that we're on public water but no sewer. Having to pump a septic tank every 5 years is kind of a PITA.

 

I like having a yard (1 acre total, half cleared). I don't mind doing the yard work and having a place to play (volleyball, cookouts, that sort of thing) is just plain nice. It also helps that the back yard is pretty level.

 

I don't like trees overhanging the house. I like trees in the yard, but they are messy and dangerous when they overhang the house. I've been taking the most offending ones down one at a time, but it gets expensive.

 

I don't like the small rooms. The downside to an older smaller house is small rooms. I have three bedrooms up=stairs and one downstairs, but there isn't really one that can be converted into a study.

 

I hate not having enough storage space. Another downside to a small house.

 

I hate not having a garage.

[Savage Beatings]

Car traffic is very important to us in our location... it's not too bad where we are at, but I still wish we were on a less busy street or culdesac.

 

The other thing that drives me nuts, is that our house faces North. This means that the sun never really hits our driveway directly. So in the Winter the snow on our driveway never gets the benefit of the sun helping to melt it off. My neighbors across the street can keep their driveway nice and clear, while ours always has some lingering snow on it.

 

Drainage is a big deal in our neighborhood too. We are lucky and when it rains really hard, the water just cruises through a small area in our backyard (like a river) and it never gets close to the house. The house next to us though has terrible drainage, and I can sit and watch the rain water just stop and pool in his backyard. If he doesn't have water problems now, he will someday. Related to this, whether you think you need it or not, make sure you've got a working sump pump installed if your new home has a basement.

 

Doors and windows (new, heavy and well sealed) will save you a ton of money in the long run.

 

I like to have at least one room that is fully wired for any kind of TV/PC electronics connection that you can think of (lots of outlets, a phone jack, a cable connection, all in one general location on a common wall). Additionally, if you can get your main livingroom/familyroom wired for surround sound before you move in (even if you don't need it right now) then you don't have to tear up your walls or ceiling later on.

[Dutch Oven]

I like the fact that no one lives behind me -- A LOT. I don't like that our master closet is kind of small and my wife has a ton of clothes/shoes.

[Azazello1313]

well, my house is an old brick ranch with a basement built in the 50s. most of the "cons" are pretty much the same with any such house:

- smallish bedrooms

- only one bathroom on the main floor (there's a good reason newer houses have like a kajillion bathrooms)

- small closets

- kitchen that is big enough, but could use a major remodel

- only a one car garage

in addition, my house has one peculiar negative in that it has no interior door directly to the backyard, you gotta go through the garage.

 

pros are that aside from the bathroom issue, i really like how the house is laid out both upstairs and in the finished basement. tons of storage space. nice wide driveway despite the one-car garage. huge yard that we could end up doing a lot of different things with. the main upstairs living areas get a lot of really good light during the day. central air (which is in less than half the houses in this area). it's an easy, 15-minutes-on-side-streets-with-no-traffic commute to work every day, or a half hour bus ride on a route with mostly 'normal' passengers. also the way our little neighborhood is laid out we get very little through traffic on our street.

 

all in all, we're reasonably happy where we're at, and by going with an older house we were able to get a lot of space, in a quiet, established neighborhood with a convenient location. but would love to have our own bathroom and a separate one for guests, we'd love to have a back door for letting the dog out, and we'd love to have a two-car garage or a carport.

Edited January 18, 2008 by Azazello1313

[Big Country]

wiegie -

 

As we also have two small sons, some of this may be helpful for you. I'll give the rundown of our current home with likes/dislikes, and kind of what our ideal is now that we have children.

 

Our house is just over 1100 sq. ft. 4 bedrooms, but they are small. 2 bathrooms. Has a living room a small dining area and a small kitchen. It is on an 11,000+ sq. ft. lot, with the house set to the front, so the backyard is hugh. We are on a cul de sac, in one of the better local school districts and as we live fairly close to an elementary school, no known registered offenders within a couple miles of our place according to the online sites where you can check for those things.

 

The good: The large backyard gives plenty of room for the kids and the dog to run around and play. The neighborhood is pretty quiet, and being in the culdesac means low traffic levels. We live close to my wife's sister and her mom, which is good for child care. 4 bedrooms allows us to have our room, a room for each of our children and an office.

 

The bad: We don't have neighbors with children our kids ages. The two houses on either side of us are occupied by retired gentleman, and the youngest child in the immediate area is in the 6th grade. Our oldest is 3 years old. So, basically no neighborhood friends for our children. With kids, as you know, there are toys and "stuff" everywhere. Our living room is a living room/entertainment room/playroom etc.

 

The ideal: We'd like a house with slightly more house space, even at the expense of the massive backyard. Having separate living/dining rooms would be nice so that we could use one as more of a playroom and keep the other one cleaner as a living room, etc. I'd like a larger kitchen as Ilike to cook, and ours currently is quite cramped. Slightly larger bedrooms would be nice. One extra bedroom would be nice. Ideal would be 4 bedrooms plus an office/den area or 5 bedrooms where one could be used as an office. This would give us our bedroom, a room for each child, an office space and a guest room. Some friends of ours live in a neighborhood where the majority of the families are younger like them, with children of similar ages. Several times while over there, there are kids playing in the front yards. The nieghbors are neighborly, usually a couple of the parents will be outside watching all the kids that are playing and there is that trust there so the other parents can do household chores, etc. without constantly worrying about their kids. I would like to be able to give that kind of setting to my children.

 

We like our house, it served us great when it was just us and the dog, but as the family has grown we really feel like we need something a bit bigger, which is obviously more affordable outside of Southern California.

 

Hope this was helpful for you.

[Savage Beatings]

Totally agree with BC... a neighborhood with similarly aged children is very important.

[nhoops]

We live in a Loft/Condo so our situation was different as 1st time home buyers.

 

We live in a city with street parking and don't have a yard/deck. Great for maintenance...bad for me who LOVES to grill

 

1st and formost when buying, get the inspection....doesn't matter if new construction or not.

 

Things I love about our place:

 

New, HW floors through out, the Kitchen (large, granite counters, stainless app, island area) open flloor plan from kitchen, living and dining, 12' + ceilings, Forced air heat/AC, 2 bathrooms (mine and hers ), large walk in storage closet, laundry closet off master bedroom area, large storage area in basement, huge windows (96" x 54")

 

Things I would change:

 

Gas stove (why they didn't run the line we can't figure out), large master bath, zones so we don't have to heat whole place at once.

 

Things we are looking for when we buy our next place.

 

Deck, yard, garage, decent size kitchen and living area, master suite with bath would be nice but 1st would be the kitchen and living area for entertaining. stove/fireplace a plus. Central air/heat (we are spoiled). school system, closeness to major highways and public transportation (wife works in the city)

 

Also when you do decide to buy make sure you have anything that you want the seller/builder to fix in writing at the closing, no matter how small. Unless it's in writing you don't have any leverage.....hence why the inspector is necessary. Definitely check out the electrical, HW Heater, roof, basement for water. Some of these can be fixed after you buy, but nice to know.

 

Not sure where you are looking, but hope this helps.

 

Good Luck

 

Oh, try to get on House Hunters so we can all enjoy the process with ya!

[BeeR]

Location is huge - but while the area of town, school district, or even just the specific neighborhood are all important, to me one of the most important things is the precise street you'd live on; cruise/"hang out" on that street as much as possible. esp check the people across from you and next to you - do they take good care of their house, or does it look like Athenae half the time (assuming this matters to you)? Do people on the street blast their "music" (in home or cars) a lot (again assuming you care at all about relative peace and quiet)? I didn't do this enough with my first house and regretted it big time (the area was in decline in hindsight). Other things include taxes, convenience to shopping or other things you care about (parks, golf courses, whatever) etc.

 

Re. the house itself, most people spend most of their time in the kitchen and den/LR, so try to get one with a good "flow" between the 2 and yeah as large as possible. Agree with kids that the bigger yard (esp the back) the better.

 

How old is the house? Keep in mind the older it is, the more maintenance might be on the way - but having said that, it might be the better option because it has more "upside," ie you can get more house for your buck (bigger etc) and gradually fix it up, assuming you're willing to either put in the time and/or cost. But something that can help mitigate this is first to of course get a home inspection no matter what, and also seriously consider a home warranty (maybe negotiate it in the price). They don't cost but a few hunnert $ and give you peace of mind about major costs for that first year, in case some "nasty surprise" pops up.

 

If you find a good house in a good location but needs a lot of yardwork, that could be well in your favor because that should keep the price/competition down and improving a yard (relative to most other things) isn't that hard, or costly.

 

In fact, when looking, try to look past those "superficial" kind of things and focus on the things that are harder or impossible to realistically change, like the size of the home, layout, etc. Who cares if a room is painted an ugly color? That's extremely easy to change.

 

FWIW and good luck

Edited January 18, 2008 by BeeR

[Ursa Majoris]

Very quick response: 2 young sons means a fenced yard should be very high on your "must have" list. That way you can have less worries when they play outside.

 

Also, are you certain of a location yet in terms of state / region? That will factor in to what aspects become more important.

[myhousekey]

Its always easier to make a list of the things you don't like since thats what stands out normally but i'll give it a shot...

 

Things we like:

Large Master bathroom with a separate water closet.

Large Master walk in closet.

Large Kitchen.

Having a study.

 

Things we don't like:

Our laundry room is between our kitchen and dining room (too noisy).

You walk into the house from the garage and immediately step into our living room and adjacent to the master bedroom. (Would prefer to walk in to the laundry room and then into the rest of the house). This tends to dirty up the carpet in that area.

Small yard (unfortunately pretty typical for our area).

Storage space in attic is a little small.

 

Things that aren't that big of a deal but I would change:

Would prefer to have a front entry garage. This would make the backyard larger which is where most people hang out.

Would prefer a 3 car garage to have extra space to work in addition to being able to park the cars in the garage.

[wiegie]

A deck is fun and useful in the warm months. Not a neccesity obviously but a nice perk. Wiegie..I know your thoughts about realtors but will still help you any way I can if questions come up at any time during the process. Good luck

Thank you. And don't worry, I plan to use a buying agent.

[wiegie]

by the way, this is freaking awesome, I post my question and by the time I finish eating dinner there were already 13 responses. I REALLY appreciate all of them.

[Azazello1313]

one thing i would add as far as buying an older house....it was a huge "pro" to me knowing that the previous owners had lived there 30 years, and were clearly the type who were very proactive as far as getting repairs when needed, keeping the electricity to code, keeping storage areas clean, etc. it's still an old house so you know there will be "issues" (like we had to replace a section of drain pipe under the basement floor last year), but in some ways it's like buying a used car -- pay attention to who you are buying from.

[detlef]

What we like:

The fact that we have a 2 car garage that has a an extra cubby (about 10x15 ft in the back) so you can park your car as well as keep your crap in the garage.

 

Corner lot at one of the higher points in the neighborhood. Means the lot is a bit larger than most and nobody's window looks into any of ours. Actually, considering that we're in a typical suburban neighborhood we have a ton of privacy. There's pretty much just one section of our back yard that anyone can see into.

 

Completely fenced back yard (we have dogs)

 

Enough older people in the neighborhood. Retired folks make great watchdogs. I would imagine there was a time in my life that I would have not appreciated old people with idle time making sure nothing weird was going on (because there was a decent chance that I was the weird one they were concerned about). Let's just say that those days are past and this is a nice fringe benefit.

 

35 year old home: Old enough that the neighborhood has larger lots and mature trees. New enough that the rooms are bigger and the windows and fixtures aren't ancient. I think that's sort of a sweet spot. There's a neighborhood not far from ours that has "nicer" homes built in the mid 80s. We toured one and they're pretty much crap. Pop quiz: Name one US car from the early 80s that wasn't a piece of crap. Now relate that to homes.

 

Attic. I would prefer a basement so I could also store my wine, but you need one of the other.

 

What we don't like:

Our home has had some previous remodels that were a bit half-assed.

 

The garage itself was originally a car-port that got closed in. Thing is, the dryer vent just dumps into the garage now and you need to open the garage when you dry clothes if you don't want to turn the garage into a steam bath.

 

Also, the hot water heater is all the way out in the aforementioned cubby of the garage. The jerk-off who installed it must not have insulated all the pipes because you've got to run 5 gallons of water to get to hot water for the showers. Bummer is, the sections that aren't insulated must be in walls because I've already gone under the house in the crawlspace and they're all wrapped. We're going to install tankless closer to the source and, meanwhile, keep buckets in the shower and flush with that water. Sort of a pain.

 

Clothes washer next to the kitchen. This is pretty common and very lame. Our washing machine and kitchen sink dump right into the main at the same place. Food grease and lint form a nice paste which means you can count on the f'er backing up on a regular basis.

[detlef]

one thing i would add as far as buying an older house....it was a huge "pro" to me knowing that the previous owners had lived there 30 years, and were clearly the type who were very proactive as far as getting repairs when needed, keeping the electricity to code, keeping storage areas clean, etc. it's still an old house so you know there will be "issues" (like we had to replace a section of drain pipe under the basement floor last year), but in some ways it's like buying a used car -- pay attention to who you are buying from.

Very good info here.

[BeeR]

 

Very quick response: 2 young sons means a fenced yard should be very high on your "must have" list. That way you can have less worries when they play outside.

I had a fence. The longer I was there the more I hated it. See what you're saying but I don't see this as "must have."

[darin3]

As a recent (September) homebuyer and a second-time homebuyer, I have quite a few things in mind here.

 

I had bought a condo in California several years ago, and at that time, it was just for me (but my parents were to own with me). So the qualities I was looking for then was really just location, price (since it was California) and not much else. I found a pretty sweet place, but it ended up having more negatives (smallish patio with neighbor's patio directly behind us, detached garage, small kitchen, washer/dryer was outside [cabinet on patio]) than positives (bamboo flooring, proximity to restaurants/entertainment, quiet).

 

When we moved to Austin, my wife wasn't all too involved in the process. She was working at the time and had never researched properties. For the most part, I canvassed properties with our realtor and then when I found a place I think we'd both like, I'd have her come see it. I didn't want to bog her down with seeing hundreds of places.

 

Our main consideration was price. We only had 10% down and because I didn't have a 2-year history of being self-employed, there were few lenders that would approve us. In fact, it came down to only ONE that was a possibility.

 

What I love about our place: the yard (we're on about a quarter of an acre and the backyard is hugh... great for our dog and entertaining), nice flooring (it's laminate but it looks exactly like very expensive hardwood), nice garage (never had an attached garage before... except living w/ parents of course), size (just under 1,800 is almost too much space for two) and the look/potential of the house in general.

 

What I don't exactly like: tiny kitchen (in a corner of the house, tough to get two people in there cooking), "eventual" required upgrades (the patio cover needs to be rebuilt, need new front door, sliding patio door and garage doors), not the greatest of landscaping but we'll be doing that come Spring.

 

I think a first-time homebuyer really needs to make price the #1 consideration. Don't overspend, especially if you have children. Just MHO. Location will obviously have to be a high priority for you as well, again considering the kids. Find a house that you feel comfortable in. If you plan on doing upgrades yourself, make sure they are not major. And honestly, you'll just have a gut feeling about your first home. Good luck.

[BeeR]

Would prefer to have a front entry garage. This would make the backyard larger which is where most people hang out.

Don't this this as a huge deal but disagree 100% and don't see how it would make the back bigger (although you do lose a little side yard). With a side-loader you aren't "exposed" to everyone walking/driving by when it's open, plus it just plain looks nicer.

[The Irish Doggy]

Likes:

 

Attractive cape cod with a covered front porch

had projects I could do to fix it up (yardwork & painting mostly)

mature tree on the west side of the house for afternoon shade in the summer

2 car garage

great closets

guest room w/ bath in the basement

good price in attractive neighborhood for resale

new hot water heater (from the inspection)

 

 

Dislikes:

 

Only about 1200 sf total.

smallish kitchen

minimal storage beyond closets

no attic space

knew I would probably move in under 5 years once I got married - which may be happening very soon

didn't come with a fridge, washer, or dryer

Edited January 18, 2008 by The Irish Doggy