Friday, October 2, 2009

I want to buy a house.

sort of. It's such a huge decision. I know the market is perfect right now for first time home buyers. I've spent....an embarassing amount of time....looking for houses. Trying to figure out what we can afford. What we need out of our house. What we want out of our house. Unfortunately, I have these big, too big, dreams of what I want. I'm realizing though that this most likely won't be our one and only house. a starter home. so I'm pleading with you. What is highest on the list? bedrooms? kitchen? bonus? square footage? yard? proximity to work/shopping? pantry? neighbors? I know I'm kinda an introvert so I think a neighborhood pool would help me meet neighbors. Is that silly? Just tell me you homeowners. What did you feel like you most appreciated/used/needed/lacked from your first house.

7 comments:

tracyp said...

So number of bed/bath obviously. Kitchen storage space. Baths that I'm not afraid to use and 10 min or less to a grocery store. Very important for forgetful people like me! Mike does all the stuff for a living so if you have any questions especially regarding a budget of what you can afford let me know!
Tracypulley@gmail.com

Lori said...

Tough one. There are so many little details to a house that you won't even realize if you love or hate until you've lived with them for awhile...and your opinion might be different than mine or anyone else's. Convienent location (to where ever you go a lot), school zone, a really big plus is having a room other than your main living/family room for the toys and stuff. In our last house we used the dining room for this purpose. I hate having the washer and dryer in the mud room...that makes no sense to me.

Amber said...

Four big things for me: kitchen with a pantry (or at least plenty of storage space), master bedroom with a large tub (I miss taking nice relaxing baths....our tub is so small I feel squished in), large closet storage, and the capability to handle a growing family. The last one I've realized is something we don't have in this house. We will max out at two kids and then our house will probably be too small. Good luck finding a house!

Cheyenne said...

Here's my rundown:

Bedrooms: enough so you and the kids and the toys aren't on top of each other, whatever you decide that number is, WITH NICE CLOSETS

Kitchen: storage, storage, storage and layout, layout, layout. You can always paint cabinets but it's something else altogether to knock out a wall. This is the most important thing to me.

Bonus room: who needs one at this point? Wait until your kids are teenagers and you need a place to lock them up ;)

Square footage: whatever makes you comfortable. Our first house was tiny and perfect, now it would be impossile to live in. This house isn't huge, but it's spread out on three different levels which means we can stay out of each other's hair, if you know what I mean.

Yard: fenced in yard big enough to play catch in is a must for me and not just because I have dogs. The fence means worry-free playtime.

Proximity to stores, etc., isn't that important to me but good neighborhoods and schools are. Even if you don't have a pool, etc., if you live in a neighborhood close to a park you can bet you'll meet a lot of neighbors there. Good luck!

Caroline said...

well, when we bought our first house we didn't have kids so my prioroities were different. But when we bought our second house...the most important to me were a big fenced in backyard, some kind of extra room we could use as a playroom(we use a bedroom) school zone, and a garden tub in the master bathroom.

Good luck! What a fun time!

Mandy said...

One thing I'm dead-set on for our next house is a kitchen that looks over the living area. I feel shut off from Calvin and CJ when they are in the living room playing and I'm cooking and Calvin hates being cooped up in the kitchen with me. An open layout is my #1 priority!

Becca McCombs said...

Hey Natalie,
I'm so excited for you! This really is a great time to buy a home. For me, storage is huge. I'd rather have smaller bedrooms, but have great storage. Also, I think that the yard ends up making a bigger difference than one might think. Lastly, kitchen. It's so important to have a nice kitchen for re-sell, and let's face it, that's where we spend most of our time! Does that help?