Did you make any compromises when buying your home?

DH and I have been actively looking for an apt in the city for about a month now (we made an offer on one, but it fell through). All of the apts we look at have pluses and minues: extra bath but old kitchen, great interior space but no outdoor space, etc. When do you start to make compromises and what did you compromise on? We were going to give ourselves 3 mos before making compromises, but I am not sure that I can hold out

Re: Did you make any compromises when buying your home?

We both compromised on not having an extra room downstairs, and instead we got a basement.

You have to determine what it is that you CAN'T live without, and what could be put on the side for a later time, or not live with at all.

Re: Did you make any compromises when buying your home?

we sat down and basically listed out what was important to us. Its that simple. If we got everything we'd want we'd be paying over 500K. You also have to be realistic ie can you truely get everything you want for your budget.

Re: Did you make any compromises when buying your home?

Its very hard to find a home with every little thing you are looking for. You should make a list of MUST haves. In an apartment, remember something like a kitchen can be updated, but it is very difficult, if not impossible to add another bathroom. So you might want to take things like that into consideration.

Re: Did you make any compromises when buying your home?

I don't want to say we compromised on anything when we bought...

However, I will say that now I wish I had gotten a style of house where the bedrooms are on a second floor away from the rest of the living area. We have a hi-ranch now and the bedrooms are on the same floor as my kitchen, LR and DR.

If its not something you can change or learn to live with, I would not compromise. There is something out there, it just may take awhile.

Re: Did you make any compromises when buying your home?

Thanks! We are pretty flexible... I am just afraid of having "the one that got away" feeling b/c I am not yet willing to compromise...

Re: Did you make any compromises when buying your home?

We looked for 16 months and were unwilling to compromise. But I never thought our "absolute must-have's" were unreasonable - 3 BR, 2 BA, garage OR basement, .25 acre or more.

We found our house days after we decided to give the search a rest for a little bit. In the end, the house we own has more than we wanted with the exception of the 2nd bath. That was the compromise. However the house has potential (a cape with an unfinished attic/upstairs) so the compromise -for just the 2 of us- wasn't a painful one to make.

Have patience...the right home for you is out there.

Re: Did you make any compromises when buying your home?

not really. the only thing we would have liked to have was a 2 car garage (we have a 1 car), but maybe one day we will expand.

Good luck Don't compromise on what you REALLY want. It took us a while, but we got a house we love w/o compromise.

Re: Did you make any compromises when buying your home?

We really wanted a "great room" but we ended with a kitchen that you can see into the family room, but they are not attached.

I really thought we would have to compromise on two of the things that i really wanted - a pool and a jacuzzi tub in the master bath. We ended up with a much nicer house than i thought we would BUT we also ended up paying at the top of our range.

Re: Did you make any compromises when buying your home?

Just a few - I really wanted a big Master bedroom with a bath or at least a half bath.

Our master bedroom is on the small side and there is no bath. Other than that - the house had just about everything we were looking for.

Re: Did you make any compromises when buying your home?

Yes. We did. We either had to compromise on what we wanted on a house or increase our budget. I opted for looking for 3 bedrooms instead of "must having" 4. As soon as we did that we found a house we love in a great area for much less than we thought we would spend. We are signing our contract tomorrow.

Re: Did you make any compromises when buying your home?

Originally we were hoping for 4 bedrooms but when we saw the house we were buying we loved it. It had everything else we wanted so it worked out. We have 3 bedrooms but we also have a basement so it is good.

Re: Did you make any compromises when buying your home?

since you're looking in NYC, sq footage would probably be the biggest plus in my book. old kitchens and baths can be re-done, but you can't get more space.

Re: Did you make any compromises when buying your home?

Re: Did you make any compromises when buying your home?

We made some compromises - DH wanted a garage - we don't have one.

I wanted a HUGE kitchen with a great big island - I didn't get that.

We are happy with our house but know that this is probably not where we will live for the rest of our lives.

There were so many other great things that came along with this house - and in reality - I don't really think I was getting my dream kitchen for 500K when the market was super hot.

All in due time!

But what the girls are saying is true - you can always update, but space is the key in NYC apartments.

Re: Did you make any compromises when buying your home?

Our musts were a big yard, a garage, a fireplace and a basement and our house had all three..I don't feel like we really compromised on any of the big 4 things that we wanted

Re: Did you make any compromises when buying your home?

We haven't bought yet, but judging from what we have seen, we will need to make some compromises.

We thought about the things we really, absolutely want good school district, the ability to walk to the train station, a garage, a basement, and at least 3 bedrooms. Then there are some things we would prefer, but don't absoultely have to have (more than one bathroom, not near a really busy road, a dining room, a family room, decent sized kitchen, nice master bedroom with private bath, etc.

I'm sure we'll have to compromise on something though, although we probably won't on our must-have list.

Re: Did you make any compromises when buying your home?

I would have liked a home with more than one bathroom. (I would've even loved a 1 1/2 bath)....but our house has some great potential and so in a few years we are adding one.

We got some of our "really, really" wants....garage, basement, storage, porch, side entrance, deck.

Message edited 1/25/2007 8:02:56 PM.

Re: Did you make any compromises when buying your home?

the only thing we didn't get was a bigger piece of property and an eat in kitchen.

We have two side yards and our kitchen has two chairs at the end of the counter for a snack. We do have a pretty good sized dining room.

Re: Did you make any compromises when buying your home?

ughhhh the compromises.

dh and i really wanted williston park but could not afford it, so we ended up in east meadow....

On our first house it was our learning experience. we required bigger backyard, midblock, 2 full bath, second floor, basement. not on main road.

We ended up with a nice small dutch colonial. However we settled that it was only 2 bedrooms upstairs(not large enough to split) and the bath on the first floor was a shower stall.

By the time we sold and moved houses 1 1/2 years later we realized that... we never really used the second bathroom,
also while not on a main road, it was a block in from one, and one that was commonly used for thru traffic to other blocks, and definatley needed a third bedroom for kids we hope to have.

we picked a cape where we had 4 bedrooms(and turned 1 bedroom into a laundry room since we realized we did not like the basement, which was also where we had our computer). We moved the computer upstairs and we also ended up with a den w/ fireplace. we had been going stircrazy with only 1 room to hang out in on the first floor in the last house.... this time it cost ALOT more, and I gave up my formal dinning room for a small one, and no eat in kitchen but i love it

Message edited 1/25/2007 9:02:44 PM.

Re: Did you make any compromises when buying your home?

I would say that location and Space would be something that would be the most important.
If you find an apartment in a great location and perfect living space, but the kitchen and bath are old. Then I would make the compromise and put an offer on it. Kitchen and Baths can be redone easily.

Re: Did you make any compromises when buying your home?

well I never thought we would buy a house w/o a garage or outside basement entrance, but we did.
We did get everything else on our list & a few things we nevder thought of.
Our house was a total fixer so condition wasn't considered, just location, size, yard size & we ended up with awesome waterview.
I agree with everyone else, in an apartment make sure you have the size & outdoor space we want, all the cosmetic indoor stuff can be improved.

Re: Did you make any compromises when buying your home?

we didn't make any compromises. DH & I looked for over 2 years until we found exactly what we wanted! We knew that what we were looking for was not unreasonable. In the end, it was worth the wait bc we ended up getting a house better then we originally thought!

So don't get fustrated just yet. Time will tell

Re: Did you make any compromises when buying your home?

I think the best place to start is making a list of needs and wants. If you go in looking for "the" place and never finding everything, it will be very distressing. You need to figure out what is the most important. Certainly don't settle in areas you are not willing to compromise because you will only have regrets.
I think everyone has to make certain compromises with everything, it just depends on what those things are.

For us, we compromised on the development (we live in a town house community) not having a playground. OK, so now we have to goto the bottom of the hill about 2 miles away to the public playground. No big deal! Also, our back deck does not have stairs so we don't have back yard access. We are an end unit though so we can access the yard that way. Again, not a huge deal!
The things we were NOT willing to compromise on were the minimum number of bedrooms and bathrooms, 2 car garage, basement (preferably finished), move-in condition (I knew I did not have it in me to have to do work on a house), upgraded large kitchen (I was willing to replace appliances if I had to so this was not a deal breaker) with a center island. We also wanted a central community area (our place has a pool and a club house)

Re: Did you make any compromises when buying your home?

Thanks everyone!! This is very helpful! DH and I are going to sit down tonite and figure out exactly what we want