Because of careers & such, there's a chance we might be moving in the next two years...a (hopefully) well-planned, educated move to somewhere that the two of us can both advance (or at least not regress) our careers.

So as I'm looking at houses and neighborhoods and cities online, I'm wondering about any lessons you've learned about houses, condos, or other places you've purchased. Obviously, the Dos and Don'ts are different from everyone, but I'd love to hear some of the things you've learned.

We learned:

Know if the street your house is on is busy during rush hour.

Don't buy on a corner if there's no room left in the easements, and know how far from the property lines you can build. (Our little house is up on the city easements and property lines in every direction, so it can never be added on to.)

Know if all the "improvements" had permits pulled, and if they didn't, will you have to pay for them? (We do.)

Old windows in extreme climates are BAD.

Character matters.

Paint is easy. New kitchens are easy, but require planning and money-saving.

Bus stops without trash cans in front of your house are a pain.

Being far from a good grocery store sucks. Being close to one is incredibly awesome.

Access to high-speed internet is REQUIRED.

If we end up in Illinois...his mom IS a realtor, and I'm fairly certain we won't be able to avoid using her without serious familial repercussions. (Yep, Peg, IL and CO are the two spots!)

We've seen their houses (his family's), and his older brother lived for YEARS in his mom's basement. Yes, that kind of brother. It was neat, with a bathroom, bedroom, living area, and kitchen. I've seen pictures of some where they've done the "man room" downstairs, and I've told him if he buys me a house I want, he can have a "man room" downstairs, so long as it's not someplace I'd be embarrassed to show my parents.

quote:

I seek enlightenment on this underground, house-doubling space you call a "basement."

Basements are a wonderful thing and I'm pretty sure CO is on your list and it is fairly rare to find a house without a basement and if you do, I recommend not buying it because of resale considerations. Coloradoans expect and want basements. As you can imagine, we don't have a lot of water issues in our basements.
One thing to look for in a basement if it is finished or you think you might want to finish it is if it has a staircase in 2 pieces with the landing in between (I hope you know what I mean). These are notoriously hard to get furniture down. I'm hoping to find a basement without that next time because even if I'd wanted to finish my basement in this house, I'm not sure how I would've furnished it. Lots of chairs I guess.
Basement finishing can be quite expensive so if you are comparing 2 homes with the only difference being a finished basement, give it a long hard look even if you don't love the finish job. You can always modify more inexpensively than doing it from scratch. This is also a good area to be cautious of handy homeowners. People do some really funky stuff in basements sometimes. Also, double check permits on these. Lots of people don't permit them and then there's trouble if they aren't up to code (particularly in regards to egress windows because there is no inexpensive way to get one in and you can't 'claim' a bedroom in a basement without it in CO).

quote:

Sometimes it's difficult to judge the size of a space because of furnishings.

For me, it's even harder when it is vacant. Every space looks HUGE to me when it is empty thus how I wound up owning a house with a living room/dining area that is substantially smaller than I really wanted/needed. I'm actually hesitant to buy another vacant house for this reason but will have to figure it out if I do.

Peg

Oh and DON'T use a realtor that is a friend or family of a friend!

Made both of those mistakes at once during the last move.


Dawn

quote:

Originally posted by GoingSkiing:
It was then known as the ^%$#&* basement.

Ours flooded 4-5 times a winter, but we were RIGHT next to a creek.

It was the straw that made my grandparents move. It also sucks big time when you are in your late 70's and 80's.

Electrical! If you are looking at older houses, make sure the electrical service is up to code and that you have grounded outlets where you need them. Electrical upgrades can be costly so you should know up front what you are looking at prior to making an offer.

We have a basement. It is finished already. Meaning that there is a ceiling, carpet and rooms have been made down here.

We have the main room as you come down the stairs, a storage room (vinyl floor and all the "guts" of the house and loads of shelving.)
and another good sized room with a closet, that is currently the office, but eventually going to be Alek's play room. We're moving the office above ground with windows.

Eventually DH wants to make a "man pit" down here with built in bar, home theatre, and a poker room. Those are long term plans though.

Dawn

quote:

Originally posted by GoingSkiing:
It was then known as the ^%$#&* basement.

Other than the NC house, we've always had basements and never had any trouble with water. The exception was the one in IL which flooded the weekend that Colin died after the sump pump failed. Man did that suck!

quote:

Originally posted by D in St Pete:
I seek enlightenment on this underground, house-doubling space you call a "basement."

I have never, ever lived in a home with a basement...

We had a basement when I was a kid. We lived next to (and downhill) from a creek.

The basement was the place where the creek liked to go when it flooded. The basement would flood to 3-5 feet deep.

It started happening when a mall and houses were built in areas (up hill from us) that were previously pig farms. When the ground was paved over... the creek couldn't handle the runoff and flooded... into the basement.

It was then known as the ^%$#&* basement.

Know your minimum square foot requirements for your rooms and bring a tape measure with you when house hunting. Sometimes it's difficult to judge the size of a space because of furnishings.

This is especially important if you have a special piece of furniture that you must fit in or things like large screen TVs.

Speaking of, think about how you will live in a room and be sure there is enough wall space for the things you need.

In our old house, we had to close up part of a wall in the family room because there was absolutely no place to put the TV. The room was open to the kitchen on one side, open to the formal living room on another, fireplace wall without space on either side for the TV and then a wall of windows to finish up the room.

quote:

Originally posted by D in St Pete:
I seek enlightenment on this underground, house-doubling space you call a "basement."

(I have never, ever lived in a home with a basement. The two places we're considering are both big basement areas. My view of them is, "Huh. Look at that. Concrete room under the house. That's...different. Honey, I think I figured out where you can have your big screen TV and the guys all over to watch football...")

LOL! When we lived in NC we didn't have a basement and we didn't know what do with ourselves : )

Talk to your building inspector when the time comes but there are different ways to build a basement - rebar reinforced concrete block, poured concrete and they also have pre-fab concrete walls now. That's also where we house the furnace, hot water heater, humidifier, etc plus it's the only part of the house where construction beams may be exposed and you can easily see the plumbing (copper, plastic or those flexible hose systems).

Whenever we look at houses, I go straight to the kitchen, dh goes immediately to the basement to check mechanicals.

Most if not all of you live in single family homes and are experienced homebuyers. I will be living in a condo and am a first-time homebuyer. So this stuff may be N/A (not applicable) for you or may be oversimplified...but it's stuff I've learned.

1. Quality construction counts. I looked at a LOT of condo developments this year, and there was a HUGE variety in quality of construction. It really helped too that my friends lived on the same road as the place I bought and they saw the 6-inch concrete between floors being poured and saw the firewalls being built, etc. In the end, quality was a big part of the decision for me.

2. Amenities Are Great, But They Come At a Price. I looked at several developments that have pool, tennis courts, fitness center, etc., and a few that didn't. I saw an immense difference in the HOA/condo fee between those that did and those that didn't...so if you KNOW you're going to use those amenities regularly, it would pay you to buy there. If not, it won't.

3. See it Raw. When my condo shopping got down to a tie between 2 developments, I asked to go into a unit in both developments that was just being built (studs and outside walls were up but no inside walls). That was the decision maker for me. The space between "their" bedroom and mine in the losing development was ridiculously small. From just having been in the model, I would have never known that. After living in an apartment for 32 years where I can hear a pin drop (quite literally) in my upstairs' neighbors apartment, I did not want to be that close to anyone else's bed.

4. Be Part of the Family vs. Just a Dollar Sign. Another reason I bought where I did is that the builder is a local builder with a great reputation. Since the minute I signed the contract, I have been treated like a member of the family. Of course, I'm not living there full time yet and I may totally change my tune on this, but it seems like they are a builder that really cares and wants to build a community, not just a grouping of houses.

quote:

Quality building materials do matter and will decrease your home maintenance costs in the long run. Spend lots of time in the basement looking at the guts of the home - how the foundation was constructed, what kind of timber used, type of heating/coolin/water.

I seek enlightenment on this underground, house-doubling space you call a "basement."

(I have never, ever lived in a home with a basement. The two places we're considering are both big basement areas. My view of them is, "Huh. Look at that. Concrete room under the house. That's...different. Honey, I think I figured out where you can have your big screen TV and the guys all over to watch football...")

quote:

Originally posted by D in St Pete:
Know if the street your house is on is busy during rush hour.

PS... dh drove by our second home at all different times of day... and came back and said, "There is this HUGE dog next door that just barks nonstop. Every time I go to look at the house, the dog is barking".

Later we discovered that the dog was barking at DH... and we figured out that the dog barked for about 3 mins when strangers pulled up... and really didn't bark 24 hours a day, as we feared.

Know if the street your house is on is busy during rush hour. Ditto airport flight patterns. (Although, after a while you don’t hear planes, trains or automobiles after a while.)

Know if all the "improvements" had permits pulled, and if they didn't, will you have to pay for them?
Also BEWARE of “Designed to Sell” improvements done very recently. Our second house had brand new wallpaper… and when I took down the wall paper… it was the only thing holding up the walls and we had SEVERAL walls that had to be TOTALLY rebuilt out to the studs and out to the siding. Ditto with shower tile. They had put up brand new shower tile and didn’t use bathroom quality sheet rock… so the walls and studs just got wet and rotted away. BEWARE of “improvements” (especially done by “handy” homeowners) done in older homes. It may be better to buy and do them yourself.

Old windows in extreme climates are BAD. We’ve replaced windows in two different homes. It is expensive… but worth it.

Character matters, but you may not be able to afford it, especially if you are in an area with very high home prices. You may not be able to get all the features that you want in a house.

Do your homework on schools even if you don't have kids. It will help your re-sale value to be in a good school district if you ever move again. And neighborhoods with good schools cost more…

Paint is easy. Although your spouse may not be able to see that. Your spouse may walk into a PERFECT house and look at the walls and say, “I can’t buy this house. I HATE the green walls”. Spouse may also say, “I just LOVE the red blanket on the couch, and we should buy this house”. Do not waste time or energy trying to change or educate spouse. Be prepared to compromise in areas you NEVER dreamed would be an issue.

Being far from a good grocery store sucks. Being close to one is incredibly awesome.
I’ve lived 2 hours from grocery store in foothills… dh has fantasy of living in the country or boonies. The boonies suck.

Brie, that's a great list.

The same thing happened with us regarding development too. "That land has been empty for over 10 years and most of the construction out here has slowed." HA!

Don't buy the most expensive house in the development. Makes resale difficult.

Make sure you have a great inspector.

You're not just buying a house, you're buying a community. I can't tell you how much more I love the community I live in now, compared to GA. Our house and neighborhood was nice in GA, but it lacked community, it was a bedroom community of Atlanta. The community we live in now is a suburb of Indy, but is very established on its own and has a great sense of community and people are active.

Drive through the area on weekends and see how much activity you see. People here actuallyy walk, run and ride bicycles and are out and about. It is GREAT!

Dawn

Don't trust your builder or agent to tell you about what is planned for any open spaces near the home you are looking at. Go straight to the zoning office and ask yourself. (We got big time burned with that at our last house where the builder and agent assured us that the empty land behind us was to remain green space. Two years later, phase IV of the development went in and a year after that, the farm at the end of the street sold to another developer. If we had gone to the zoning board, we would have been told that it was not zoned as a green space and would have been prepared.)

Short commute times improve the quality of life for everyone. (Drive the drive during rush hour to know the actual times).

Being far from the grocery story sucks in an incredibly big way.

Easy to do cosmetic changes if you have it in your budget but very difficult to change things like ceiling height.

Know where the load bearing walls are as they can't be moved.

Review any home owners association covenents BEFORE making an offer an a house and be sure you are comfortable with the restrictions.

Do your homework on schools even if you don't have kids. It will help your re-sale value to be in a good school district if you ever move again.

Quality building materials do matter and will decrease your home maintenance costs in the long run. Spend lots of time in the basement looking at the guts of the home - how the foundation was constructed, what kind of timber used, type of heating/coolin/water.

If you are looking for newer homes, check the builder out with the better business bureau and the builder's association in that state.

Talk to the neighbors before you buy! Find out the feel of the neighborhood - are there people your age? Are there people you think you may have something in common with? Is it a party crowd? Are people having parties until 2 am outside?

Do your own homework about cost of living before accepting a job offer. We screwed ourselves when we moved from IL to NJ. Dh was making slightly more money but the cost of living was so much higher that we lived in the middle of nowhere for a 1 1/2 years and it sucked.

I'll probably think of more but that's it for now ; ) Having moved 9 times, I'm pretty good at the house buying stuff.