How did you decide to buy your house?

what was (or were) the determining factor for you?

Thanks

Re: How did you decide to buy your house?

I have to say for us I think it was mostly an emotional/ non-logical decision. We had seen so many houses out of our price range that we fit into the "omg this is SCARY and we wouldn't live here if it was half the price"...then we saw our house and it was clean, and aside from some cosmetic stuff (paint and carpets) that we would have replaced anyway, it was in good condition. That and it just felt like home.

We laughed because the woman had a precious moments collection in the living room, and so does my mom, and the man graduated college with my dad and had memorabilia around. (I now work at that same school). We joked that it was fate.

Re: How did you decide to buy your house?

my house is sitting on a golf course, its a good structure but needed a ton of cosmetic work, the taxes were low and it was in a very nice friendly neighborhood.

the price was right, we bid and won. we got most of the cosmetic work done within 2 months and now the house is like a brand new place and all my style

Re: How did you decide to buy your house?

It was in a desireable location (great neighborhood and top rated school district)
and
it was a flat, useable acre.

The house itself needed a lot of work (new septic, new roof, new furnace, etc.), but we factored that into the price.

We made an offer in the driveway, the first day it when on the market.

Re: How did you decide to buy your house?

Message edited 6/25/2006 12:39:11 PM.

Re: How did you decide to buy your house?

We bought in a very crazy time - there were bidding wars going on at almost every house. We did see two houses that we liked before ours but we got outbid - which we are thankful for bc they don't even compare to our house.

We decided to slightly raise our price range and there was a huge change in selection of homes. As soon as we walked into our house we knew (well DH knew before I did) -- It was bought by a builder so everything was brand new. New plumbing, new roof, new siding, new CAC, EVERYTHING was brand new. We knew that it was the house we had to have so we paid asking price for it because we were not willing to play games and risk losing it. And the rest is history!

Re: How did you decide to buy your house?

for us it was the size of the house & the fact that it was in TERRIBLE condition. We had looked at so many houses that were "updated-renovated" & we weren't impressed with any of them. We knew we would rather do it ourselves. We knew we wanted to live in this specific neighborhood & this house is unusually large for this area, so that was a major factor. When we walked in the door & saw the lake out the window we knew it was the one. We made an offer before we even looked at every room. We were fortunate to have them accept our very low bid, because the sellers were planning on renovating it, then selling it. They decided to take our offer & sell it as is.

Re: How did you decide to buy your house?

we had been searching and educating ourselves for SO long, about 1.5 yrs, going to TONS of open houses, bidding on a few before, and so when we found ours, we knew immediately it was for us.

It was in the area we wanted, it did not need a lot of work (we did not want a fixer upper) and it was priced right for us. I knew I'd be SAHM so price was a big factor for us.

We saw the house, made an offer at the agency 1 hr later and had the house that evening It had been on the market for about 2 days I think. We knew we had to move fast!

Re: How did you decide to buy your house?

I had been looking for about a year and I was buying the home myself (before I met DH). So, I didn't want a home where I'd have to do a lot of work to maintain it or renovate it, and it had to be in my price range since there was no one else to rely on to pay the mortgage. I also wanted a safe neighborhood since I'd be living alone and a good school district (in case I had kids later on or for resale purposes). All that being said, when I walked into this house I got that "ahhhhh" feeling - I knew I could be comfortable here. It felt like home. The owners were getting divorced and there was no negotiation in the price - you had to pay asking price. That was okay with me since it was a fair price but at the very top of my price range. I just knew it was my house.

Re: How did you decide to buy your house?

After looking for about a year, we finally bought house that needed cosmetic changes but had everything else we wanted- including the best school district.

Of course, you guys would die if you knew how much our payments are with taxes and everything for an 1800 square foot house on a 5600 square foot lot. LA is insane!

Re: How did you decide to buy your house?

Good price, close to work, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, basement and backyard. It had everything we were looking for.

Re: How did you decide to buy your house?

It was in our price range and had *almost* everything on my *must* list. When DH and I walked in we knew it was "the one" - SD is one of the best and it's super close to the highway...we couldn't believe that we could afford it. I made a list and gave it to my sister (who was my agent) but really, it helped ME search for my dream home. I narrowed it down and found the one.

This was my list, just FYI...

County A or County B only

• If County A, I prefer Oak Hill as the school

4 bedrooms or more; 3 full bathrooms or more

• The reason why we would want a full 3 bathrooms is because the houses with 2.5 baths tend to be small (like Creekview). Will take a house with 2.5 baths that’s 2500 sq. ft. or more and meets our criteria.

2250 sq. feet or more

$Low to high w/in our price range

Flat land; absolutely no slopes

Subdivision that’s not too crowded

Different plans; don’t want all the houses to look alike

House not on corner of block; preferably cul-de-sac or at least in the middle of the block

.5-1 Acre or more

Pool community

• I understand that pool communities have less land, so we can give up the half acre minimum for a pool. However, if no pool then we want .5 acre or more.

Year built: 2000 or newer; will consider a house built in the 1990’s if it meets our other criteria

Island in kitchen

Separate dining room

2 car garage with separate doors

• Rear or side entry garages are a plus

Master not on main; prefer upstairs

Message edited 6/25/2006 9:20:40 PM.

Re: How did you decide to buy your house?

great neighborhood
in our price range
low interest rate (we were very lucky)
great potential (a biggie)
good lot size
big yard
porch
basement
storage
garage

Message edited 6/25/2006 8:41:48 PM.

Re: How did you decide to buy your house?

The house had certain things we were looking for. For example, 3 bedrooms, wood floors, decent-sized backyard, an apartment in the basement. The apartment was a big plus because we wanted that option for extra income. The house also didn't need anything major done. It had a new roof, new oil burner and new windows. We didn't want to have to do any major reconstruction on it. We also wanted the option to be able to expand which we have. It would be a little on the small side when we decide to have a few children.

Re: How did you decide to buy your house?

It met our criteria and even surpassed it on some things. Other things were not met, but we decided we could live with it. We also decided that it was our first home and it would never be perfect but we could see ourselves being very happy for a while.

The price was higher than we originally wanted but after looking at more than 100 homes in open houses and more than 500 others on line and getting outbid right and left, we finally got smart and just bid asking. We did get comps before bidding though.

We walked into the house loving it. It was an emotional decision for the most part. The other parts I wrote above was our brain working..we knew in our hearts that it was a good decision and we pulled the trigger.

Pulling the trigger is the hardest part!

Re: How did you decide to buy your house?

It was in a desirable neighborhood & was the last house on a dead end, so it was a bigger property

The house was just completely redone by a contractor & no one lived in it since the work was done (new house for us). The grounds were not taken care of, so it was our chance to put our touch on it! It was definately not a starter but a house we can grown into (4 bedrooms) We looked for over 1 1/2 years, so at that point, we KNEW exactly what we wanted & what we didn't want!

Re: How did you decide to buy your house?

It was in the exact location we wanted, down to the specific streets I loved. We wanted a turn of the century colonial with a wrap-around porch and anything after that was a bonus. It was the first house we saw and didn't even consider it because of the amount of work it needed but we kept coming back to the fact that it had our "must-haves" and had great bones.

Try to keep an open mind and you might just find a diamond in the rough too

Re: How did you decide to buy your house?

Quite frankly, I was tired of looking. We lived in Manhattan and coming out to LI every weekend was a real PITA.

This house has/had just about everything on our MUST have list, we paid 6K over asking 3 1/2 years ago.

Re: How did you decide to buy your house?

First, it was location. We only looked at a couple of towns and they all had top rated school districts. Second, if it was move-in condition. We only wanted to do minimum renovations, if any.

Re: How did you decide to buy your house?

I would say the biggest factor was the neighborhood. We love our 'hood. Unlike other homes we saw this one was a in a very well kept neighborhood.

Re: How did you decide to buy your house?

We bought our house from my DH's parents. It has good bones, is on a private circle, and is in a great school district.