I kept waiting and waiting for people to make comments about my Halloween post, a post which I spent so much time working on, constructing and designing. And two measly comments?! Come on, people, seriously. Okay, I know what you're thinking: Either A) "I am sick of seeing blog after blog of people carving pumpkins and trunkertreating." or B) "Looks like they celebrated Halloween. I have no response to that." Or maybe both.
Well, I understand. I have lately been spending a little too much time reading blogs and have definitely seen my share of halloween posts. If you did one and I didn't comment, it was because of one of the reasons above. So this is what I want to discuss today, and I say discuss because I would really love to hear feedback on this topic: buying a house. Many of you have bought a house or two in your day and have gained knowledge on the process. And you are just dying to share your wealth.
*NOTE*: We are not buying a house. We probably won't be in the market for another 2 years at least. We don't want to buy in Arizona, since as many of you know we want to get out as soon as possible. Plus we already have as many loans as we can handle right now, and no income.
That being said, the reason I want to discuss it is because we are very much looking forward to buying a house someday and have spent many hours watching HGTV shows like House Hunters, National Open House, Property Virgins, etc. Our future is wide open where we could end up buying our first house, but we are leaning towards Colorado or Washington right now. Something I have thought would be fun to do for our first house is to buy a house that's a little older (not OLD though) but that is below our price range a little and then renovate it to suit our tastes. Is that a good idea? Or is it better to buy a new or newer house that will need little to no renovation? What about those houses that aren't even finished yet and you can pick out your own features/upgrades?
What are the most important things to consider when buying a house in an area you know virtually nothing about? And how to you find out those things? I'm so worried about buying a house next to a crazy person who will be my neighbor for the next X years. What about when kids come into consideration? What are the best features for kids in a house?
17 comments:
I thought you'd move back to Utah! I have no idea about buying anything other than clothes haha I think that if I was looking to purchase a home, I'd get one that wasn't completely brand new. And I think I'd like to add my own character to the home on some renovation projects. However, I wouldn't touch a house that I knew I was only going to occupy for 5 years, ya know? You definitely need to look for a good yard for kids (I'm sure)and you should have an upstairs laundry room. I hate walking up and down the stairs. I'm sooo lazy haha! Let me know what you learn so you can advise me whenever my time comes around in a bazillion years!
Ya know, I don't know.
An upstairs laundry room is a little risky because washer hoses do break. And then you'd have a house full of water, instead of just the downstairs. Plus i like throwing my laundry down the stairs. It makes me feel better. :)
Don't do split level. Keep amounts of stairways to a minimum. That in itself is important with little ones. I'd try to also look at houses that are below your price range, but don't need a lot of work (some is ok) and has a new furnace and maybe new appliances. We just had to replace our furnace and that depleted our savings.
Repainting is no big deal as long as it's one room at a time. Recarpeting is. I wouldn't plan to buy something you're going to put a lot of money into and then move out of it. And yards are a huge deal when you have kids.
I think about this subject too. House Hunters is like my favorite show. What I've noticed though from watching is that I'd rather have a slightly smaller house with nice things in it - nicely decorated - than a HUGE house thats empty. Maybe thats just me.
Also I'm going to try not to become obsessed with one temporary thing when shopping - like the people who can't stop talking about wall color or their two tiny dogs and 'gasp' the fence they'd have to install for them. I hope you can visit Kansas City someday - the homes here are like my favorite part of the city. I loved your Halloween post. I'm going to comment right now.
A: I LOVE your costumes! Amazing job! B: so sad you want to leave AZ, but UT is beautiful! and C: that anonymous needs to get a life...holy cow! Sorry you got thos comments on here :(
Few things to consider when buying a house
1: location is huge. Make sure you are in a good area that will help eliminate costs in life ie : travel expenses. Go somewhere that it has things you want to have ie: shopping, yard, traffic, noise, don't buy in an area that will not suit other buyers ie: by a dump, or industrial, etc.
2: When deciding what type of house think about a few things, how long do you want to live there, what is your price range- take into account renovations also. and make a list a your top 3 must haves.
3- when it comes to buying new or old. New is great and low maintenance, New when you get to pick your colors is good too, but usually a lot more costly since they mark everything up 40%. Old- if buying old make sure the structural integrity is sound. Check out plumbing, heating and cooling. If you are not educated about it, you could end up getting in something with lots of hidden expenses.
4-timing, check interest rates and home values, get with a local agent to see what prices have been over the last 6 months and what the trends have been to be sure you a paying a fair price
LASTLY- meet with a mortgage lender before you do any looking of houses. You need to make sure finances are in place and what you are qualified for before you start looking and end up being disappointed, Don't be house broke.
We're looking to buy right now and seriously I can't find anything I'm just in love with quite yet. We aren't really in a huge rush but John is stuck on buying a short sales.. we've found amazing beautiful homes that are half the price normally. I'd say short sale all the way especially cause Aaron's got a brother that knows the ins and outs of it. ;)
We're looking for a house that hasn't been completely finished so I can add my own touch here in there also. It all depends on what area too. I I always suggest checking out neighborhoods, and the area so plan on taking a trip for a few days to check things out!
I agree on a big yard so you can put playsets or if you decide to ever get a dog or something. I love having a laundry room in my basement because I can throw it all down there fold it in my TV room and then bring it upstairs later! (I make the hubs do that part!)
I totally agree on split level.. so not a fun I hate all the stairs and to be honest I love one level. We've been so picky cause we want a large home with quite a few bedrooms that's one level with a basement. Very hard to find here in Utah with a good size yard.
Oh and if you're planning on maybe building.. RESEARCH your builder... many friends have been super disappointed later cause they didn't!
Ok I've said a little too much hahaha
My advice- look at a lot of houses. All kinds. New, old, really new, semi old, big back yards, etc.
My only advice- make sure you get a house that has storage- hall closets, pantries, laundry room. We have one place and one place only for storage- Our laundry room. It gets everything. Folded towels, folded blankets, winter coats, swim suits. So look for storage:)
What Kurt said.
I wish I had some good advice. For me, I LOVE our basement. I will never live in a house without one. It is so nice to have a place for the kids to go and play that's not right-where-I-am-all-the-time. When we were house hunting we did look at a few older & cheaper homes that would have needed some TLC. We decided to build and I love our house but I do think sometimes about all the money we might have saved on a fixer upper. Of course, when we finished off our basement and did a lot of the work ourselves it was kind of a pain, so there's that. Plus, Adam is so busy right now that he barely gets the yard work done, let alone finishing home renovations. A few things I will do differently for house #2: a mud room off the garage, bigger laundry room, no view of the kitchen from the front door and a bigger lot. I guess I had more advice than I thought!
I don't have much opinion on buying houses. I think when you see it you will know it was meant for you.
I just wanted to leave a comment and say hello.
We spend time day dreaming about our future home, too. We probably have many, many more years to dream since Trent may be in school for the next ???? years.
If I were to do a "fixer-upper" house I would definitely want Trent to have some time to really put into it with me. But, I don't know...a brand new house is pretty nice in the no maintenance department!
First of all, I apologize for our IM convo last week when you started talking about decorations. I became way too "I've been there before, you need to listen to me" and I hate that, and I hate it even more when I do that, and I catch myself doing it more and more lately.
That said, we used to watch those House Hunters shows religiously when we were in an apt. We'd always judge the people: "Oh, that's stupid" and "Oh that's totally not worth it".
Anyway, I think as long as you don't buy a SUPER old house, then it might be fun to buy an old one and renovate. I think you should draw the line between old/super old by learning what type of insulation and cooling/heating system they have, because those 2 things require major renovations to fix and there's nothing worse than living in a cold house (as you should know).
Of course, we bought a brand new house and we love it. It had no blinds/window dressings/towel racks/etc., so we could actually pick and choose those things and decorate ourselves, which you would love. Also, the basement was unfinished and the yard was a wreck, so both of those areas are giving me plenty of projects to help me scratch my renovation itch.
I totally agree with Alice-smaller place with nice stuff over a big place with cruddy stuff. This comment is becoming enormous, but I spent the night for Youth Conf at this HUGE house of some rich member. Then I got inside and all their furniture was totally crappy, no stuff on any walls, and I had to sleep on a friggin water bed from the 80s. Worst night ever. Okay, it's time to end this.
Btw, what did that anonymous comment say? Did you delete it?
I hope you meant Washington state and not Washington, DC. The only thing in our price range there would have been tiny condos where we wouldn't have even had control over our own thermostat! I can get behind a Colorado decision, though.
As for the house, I'd recommend buying the best you can find in your price range (there will be plenty to fix up even in the best house). Or if the house is actually perfect (they never are), you can always build a shed or fences or spend the time on landscaping or putting in a side driveway (for a potential RV or boat).
My solicited advice would be to enlist the help of a realtor when you're serious about it. The seller generally pays the fees, and they're extremely helpful when it comes to negotiations, information on the neighborhood, comparisons to other houses that have sold in the area (realtors have access to databases the general public doesn't).
I think you guys should consider north salt lake (woods cross area), and if you do, I've got a great realtor you can contact.
We've only bought two houses and we're not very good at adding value to a house without sinking a lot of our own money into it. That being said, I am glad that we bought a cheaper older house and then I could change the things I wanted to change although I'm not sure we'd get our money out of it unless we live here a long time--which we plan on doing. The things that have been important to me in order of priority are: living close to my husband's work, living close to other conveniences (I hate to drive), and having a yard. Other things are nice but easier to change than location.
We are also in the same position--not looking to buy for a few years to go at least, being on the school track right now. However, being the sole caretakers of a home for sale has had the benefits of pretending home ownership without the costs. So I'm no expert, but we have learned there's a lot of little things it's important to know when buying an older home to remodel:
1) ask about ANY flooding. To be safe, LOOK UNDER THE CARPETS. Corners can be tell-tale enough, certainly. Even if you're going to replace the carpeting down to the bone, a tendency to flood and water issues are very important to know about and can happen anywhere.
2) Bring a level with you when you check out houses!! This sounds weird, but you'll want to know if there's a slope to your floors and it will be hard to keep things from sliding in a certain direction, such as small children. Also, it will help you know if doorjams and windowsills are set plumb. Again, even when replacing, it's nice to start out with straight and even.
3) Prioritize your features. Kitchen size? Spacious garage? Master suite? Proximity of play room area to living space/sleeping areas? In-house theater system? Make sure you know what you can live with/live without. Even when you're planning to remodel, unless you plan to demolish, you've got to live in that space, no matter how much better it looks it will be the same space.
Just some suggestions to think about, and those are things that sometimes don't come up in the home shows....
You know a lot of my thoughts on this subject already. I think we wanted a house that was in a good town, good schools, nice neighborhoods. By that I mean lots of kids playing around together. And we found it- a little pricier than I would have liked. I'm glad our yard isn't too big b/c we already get sick of working on it, especially when you want to do other things on the weekend. I also am glad that we didn't have too much improvement to do b/c sometimes you can't make your $ back and if you're planning on moving, you just gotta live with it. I'm glad Mark's learned how to be handy though and we've both learned some lessons about home ownership. Like taking my time to decide doesn't mean I won't change my mind.
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