what were your must haves in a house and what would you compromise on?

I am trying to figure out my must haves. Tia

Message edited 11/19/2010 7:32:54 AM.

Re: what were your must haves in a house and what would you compromise on?

For us, a basement and big yard, had to be 2 stories, had to have a garage....could not be a fixer-upper (we have no time at all for that - although I do love them)

basically, with the market the way it is and stuff, we knew we'd be wherever we bought for a long time. We wanted something move-in ready and that would suit our needs in the years to come.

So, we did. But ours has white appliances (which I comprised on - no big deal to change those later on), and it had carpeting, which I hate, but we had ripped up. Basically, cosmetic things.

Re: what were your must haves in a house and what would you compromise on?

3 or more bedrooms
Basement, full or unfinished
No double yellow lines
Decent size back yard
Room to grow, either up or out
Good 'hood
Good schools
Close to mil and my mom, since neither drive on main roads without their SO.

We found all. It could be our forever house, but will most likely be our 5-7 year house.

Re: what were your must haves in a house and what would you compromise on?

safe neighborhood
good school district
3 bedrooms
at least 1 and a half baths
full basement
decent taxes (we wanted to keep them under a certain amount and wouldn't even look at houses that were above what we felt comfortable with)
nice sized yard
roof in good condition
oil burner in good condition
nice kitchen

We got all of our must haves and a few extras we were happy with. But of course there are always compromises. I really wanted hardwood floors but the house we got was all carpeting. So after we closed, we had the floors re-done. We were willing to compromise on cosmetic fixes more than structural fixes. Good luck!

Re: what were your must haves in a house and what would you compromise on?

What I was looking for:
3 (or more) bedrooms
Eat in Kitchen
Dining Room
Living Room
Den or Basement
1 car (or more) Garage
Backyard
2 bathrooms
not on a main road

What I would have settled for:
- no Eat in Kitchen (although it would have had to have a bar with stools or something like that)
- Either a finished basement or a den
- 1 bathroom

What I got:
- 3 bedrooms --- one which is on the smaller side (8x11), which was the only con of the house. The other two bedrooms are 12x15 - nice size, although not huge. No master suite.
- large living room (13x22)
- large dining room (13x20)
- large eat in kitchen (15x15 + pantry hallway)
- 1-1/2 baths
- large den (13x18)
- small basement (13x22, same as the living room)
- 2-1/2 car garage & a small shed for outdoor tools
- backyard with covered cement patio, grassy area and an inground pool with pavers.
- a horrible jungle in both the front and back of the house. Thousands and thousands of dollars to eventually fix, but it is just cosmetic and cheaper than adding additions on.

To me, if I am going to spend that much money, I wanted it to have the space I needed. My house is not huge, but each room serves a purpose and I really didn't want to compromise too much on what I wanted. I watched a lot of friends at the height of the market (2005-2007) buy small houses at extravagant prices and they are unhappy with the size/function now. Don't settle because you want to own, continue to look - your house is out there.

Message edited 11/19/2010 8:19:20 AM.

Re: what were your must haves in a house and what would you compromise on?

Must have:
3 or more bedrooms
2 bathrooms
closets
garage and/or basement
Dining room. Not just an EIK or as a complement to DR


Compromise:
Yard size
gas vs oil heat
Fence
color of walls and flooring
Not completely updated (depending on price)
room sizes

Re: what were your must haves in a house and what would you compromise on?

We bought 7.5 years ago...and on half the salary we make now...so our requirements were:

1. something we could afford with taxes, etc.
2. formal dining room (I already had furniture)
3. large back yard
4. not on top of the neighbors
5. basement
6. 3 bedrooms
7. no major structural problems/huge investment (ie roof, windows, siding, etc.)

We had to buy a fixer-uppper, we knew this going into it because it was all we could afford, but it was all cosmetic and we could take our time doing it.

Re: what were your must haves in a house and what would you compromise on?

Must Haves:
3 Bedrooms
2 Bathrooms
Bedrooms upstairs
Basement
Good Neighborhood/School District

Re: what were your must haves in a house and what would you compromise on?

we wanted 3 bedrooms, min 1.5 baths, eat in kitchen, and either a basement or garage, in a safe area with a good school district, not a lot of work to be done to the house since DH is not handy...i really wanted a split and thats what we ended up buying.

Message edited 11/19/2010 9:53:13 AM.

Re: what were your must haves in a house and what would you compromise on?

had to have 3+ bedrooms
at least 1 1/2 baths
basement
Garage
no structural issues
taxes in the 5-6K range (have since gone way up)
either re-done or clean and updated kitchen and baths
2 levels
no brick

We got all of this except we got brick!

Next house will have:

finished basement
central air
gas
backyard-currently we have two side yards
again no structural issues
updated kitchens and baths
entertaining kitchen-meaning big. I know I may have to make upgrades to fit the bill but as long as it has room I will be happy
family room or den


Hopefully one day we can upgrade.

Re: what were your must haves in a house and what would you compromise on?

wanted
3 beds
at least 1.5 bath
bedrooms upstairs
cosmetic work only no gut jobs
schools-no compromise
basement had to be finished
garage must be attached
no pool
no fireplace

the only thing we would compromise on were the property tax, if the house was right, then nabe was good, then we woudl be willing to pay more in tax

Re: what were your must haves in a house and what would you compromise on?

We are just starting our house hunt. We're looking at towns that are within an hour's drive from Brooklyn, where both of our families live. I really want a pool. It's at the top of my must have list. We'd like 3 or more bedrooms and a master bath. I'd prefer to have a gas hook up. I would rather not have to deal with a cesspool. As we see more homes, I am sure we will prioritize better!

I am using mlsli.com to search for homes and citydata.com to learn about town statistics. Are there any other sites you would reccommend?

Also - we haven't gotten preapproved for a mortgage. Is this something that we should do asap? Or can we continue looking at homes without a preapproval?

Re: what were your must haves in a house and what would you compromise on?

Must have:
1.5 baths
3 large bedrooms
basement with high ceiling
garage
nice side yard
not a busy street
dining room
lots of deep closets

We didn't really compromise. If it didn't have the above, we weren't interested.

Re: what were your must haves in a house and what would you compromise on?

We were in the market for a very specific house....since we were looking with my mom, we needed a two family with two of everything and access to our own spaces and laundry facilities without either of us going through each other's living space.

The other must haves were:
Yard
Garage
Basement

We got lucky and didn't have to compromise on anything. We found EXACTLY what we needed. 3 bedrooms, 1 1/2 bathrooms, living room, kitchen, dining room on EACH floor. Access to garage, yard and basement without going through each living space.

Re: what were your must haves in a house and what would you compromise on?

We were very flexible. Our only must haves were location and 3 bedrooms. We cared most about where the house was located, and then beyond that we wanted a house we could stay in if we had to, but were looking for a starter that we could fix up a bit.

We would have liked to have at least 1.5 bath, a garage, a fireplace... lots of things.

What we got has 3 beds, 1 bath, no garage (but a big, substantial shed), no fireplace... but it was a great deal at the time (and actually still is even with the market) and has a full, unfinished basement so we can someday finish it and put another bathroom down there if we want to stay, and we got a firepit, so at least that's something! Haha.

Re: what were your must haves in a house and what would you compromise on?

Master suite
Basement
Garage
Location was most important to us
Good school district
Starter home
2 bathrooms
updated/new home- I could not deal with a fixer. Thankfully we didn't have to do anything to the house at all!

Message edited 11/19/2010 12:58:48 PM.

Re: what were your must haves in a house and what would you compromise on?

what i posted above assumes no main road and good SD.

Re: what were your must haves in a house and what would you compromise on?

good schools
good area
close to Northern State Pwky or LIE
nice size property
full basement
3 or more bedrooms
master bathroom
garage
living room & den
fireplace
double garage

..it has everything but a fireplace.

Re: what were your must haves in a house and what would you compromise on?

We were looking for 4 bedrooms at least 2 full bath house
no double yellow
prefer a court
2 car garage
small property

we were looking for a fixer upper that had the potential to have a great room -

compromised - not walking distance to town
not a colonial - but it works because we got a high ranch and it opened up nicely

Re: what were your must haves in a house and what would you compromise on?

great location in walkable neighborhood
3 bedrooms
at least 1.5 baths
basement
good sized kitchen

got everything but the basement (we have a cellar instead) but we have a garage so it balances out

Re: what were your must haves in a house and what would you compromise on?

Location(good schools, safe area, safe road/parking, near family/friends)
Usuable Yard
Garage
Room to grow if needed
Price we could comfortably afford now, and hopefully on one salary at some point with a little bit of watching of cash flow

Re: what were your must haves in a house and what would you compromise on?

Had to have (would not compromise):
school district
basements
atleast 3 bedrooms
decent kitchen
decent bath
wood floors (as long as they were there!)
nice size yard
potential to expand

gave in on:
wanted 2 baths... we got 1, added one recently
basement not finished
had wanted a larger master bedroom
wished the 3rd bedroom didn't have slanted ceilings, but has huge potential

Message edited 11/19/2010 1:54:30 PM.

Re: what were your must haves in a house and what would you compromise on?

Our must haves were:

garage
basement
hardwood floors
all bedrooms upstairs (in hindsight, a ranch might be nice)
formal dining room
more than 1 bathroom

Bonus:
attic
fireplace

We actually got everything on our list

Re: what were your must haves in a house and what would you compromise on?

must have list
3+ bedrooms
2+baths
basement
garage
yard 1/2 acre ish or more
a dining room but we like to entertain a lot

Wouldn't even consider
on a busy road
on a "cut thru" road
backing up to anything non residental (ie train tracks, power lines, stores, parking lots, schools etc)
a house that was older then 50-60 yrs with a lot of original stuff
a house that was a "flip" (we tried to buy one of these to only find out the guy doing the flip didn't know how to do electrical work yet re-wired the entire house himself, thank God the home inspector figured it out!!)

things that we really liked but could live without
a pool
a sunroom
a shed
a patio or deck
a hot tub


ETA- what we got
4 bedroom 3 bath and one of those is in the master which was a dream to me
basement and sunroom, 2 car garage on a dead end with a pool, pond and we installed our own hot tub. a dining room and just shy of 1/2 acre. we love our street and the neighboors, and the schools are good. we probably won't stay here forever (even though I would love too) DH wants to move back to where we grew up

Message edited 11/19/2010 4:13:24 PM.

Re: what were your must haves in a house and what would you compromise on?

Must Haves:
- close to town center
- close to bus or train
- garage
- good school district
- high ceiling basement & attic
- 3+ BR, 1.5 BA
- under 10K property tax
- decent kitchen
- decent bath
- nice size yard
- potential to expand
- structurally sound
- affordable (under certain $$)
- at least 2000 SF living space

We got everything we need except a decent kitchen but will have money to upgrade it.

Don't settle for less. In this economy, it's a buyer's market so look as much as you want before you leap, and good luck!