We spent years talking about owning a home and 21 months earnestly saving for one, but I guess I didn’t ever realize the work involved in actually buying a home. In fact, after the very first week of house-hunting, I asked my husband sarcastically, “Can you just find us a house and then surprise me?”
It’s not that I didn’t care, I was just beginning to realize the magnitude of time and effort house-hunting involves. My life is already quite full as it is, how was I supposed to carve out a number of extra hours each week for poring over online house listings and Google maps, driving around looking at homes, discussing the pros and cons of potential homes with my husband, scheduling viewings (and babysitters for those viewings!), and then actually going and walking through different homes?
It felt like I was practically taking on another full-time job!
(As a side note, I now have tremendous respect for those of you who are somehow managing to look for a new home and sell your current home at the same time — wow!)
We slowly have found our “groove” when it comes to house-hunting. And we’ve found that it’s helped tremendously for us to stop trying to look at every possibility out there and narrow down the search field. Here’s some criteria we’ve decided to use:
1) Location — We picked three locations we’re interested in. If a home is not in one of those three areas, we’re not even looking at it at this point.
2) Features — We picked three features which were most important to us: a good-sized kitchen, three bedrooms on one floor and a Master bathroom. When we look at a listing online, we first look to see if the home has these three things. If not, we don’t even bother looking further. (Our “most important features” might seem silly to some, but we’ve live in enough different rentals to know what works best for us!)
3) Pictures — A picture speaks a thousand words–especially when it comes to a potential home to buy. If the online pictures don’t “wow” us, we don’t pursue the house. I mean, if it looks ugly and ill-suited for our family online, I can’t imagine that it’s going to look ten times better in person.
If a house meets the above criteria and is in our price-range, than we’ll look at it. Otherwise, we pass it up. By following this method, we’re looking at fewer homes, for sure. But we’re saving a lot of time since we’re only looking at homes which are really good possibilities.
Just for fun: If you were to choose three non-negotiables you must have in a home you’d buy, what would they be? I’d love to hear!
Coming next time: A Good Realtor is Priceless
Other posts in this series
- Our Journey Towards Saving 100% Down For Our First Home: Part 1
- Saving 100% Down for A Home: Part 2
- Saving 100% Down for a Home: Part 3
- Saving 100% Down for A Home: Part 4
- Saving 100% Down for A Home: Part 5
- House-Hunting: It's Hard Work!
- House-Hunting: A Realtor is Priceless
- House-Hunting: Patience Pays Off!
- House-Hunting: Could this be THE house?
- A Dream Come True: Paying Cash for Our First Home
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yay for you! exciting times……….
3 musts:
1] master bathroom
2] large backyard + maximized living room
3] fireplace
okay, just make sure you don’t pass up a lovely buy–because there are some pretty tacky and scary photographers out there!
[just a thought]
1. Two bathrooms
2. A decent sized yard for the kids to play in (currently we don’t have a very large yard and our children are outgrowing it, verified this past weekend by the neighbor’s window my tween broke while kicking a soccer ball).
3. A lot of counter space and cupboard space in the kitchen.
My husband would probably change #3 to a large garage with room for a workshop.
Want to hear something funny? My Husband *surprised* me with our 2nd home. We were moving from AZ to NM – I knew the neighborhood I wanted, so I was happy to have to him pick out our house. I didn’t see our home until we moved in! We’ve moved from that house since then, but I miss all of the features it had! My Husband is a great home-buyer!
@Crystal,
I have a friend whose wife and MIL picked out their house while he was out of the country. We were all dubious about it- but it is an absolutely AMAZING house.
1. Must have good, natural light with the bulk of the windows facing south, southeast or east.
2. Must not be on a street others use to pass through the neighborhood. Too much traffic for the kids.
3. Not too big. It’s too much to clean, too much to maintain and too much to pay for.
We just bought a house a couple months ago, and yes, it is a huge, long process. Though we were coming from an apartment and looking for our first home so we didn’t have to worry about selling it.
Actually one thing we do tell people is *not* to go by pictures. They never give the full view of what the house is like. Of course, there are those houses where it’s clear that it needs a lot of TLC or whatever. But we almost didn’t even *look* at our current home because we weren’t impressed by the pictures online. Once we stepped inside we fell in love.
Good luck with your search!!! It’s hard but SOOOO worth it in the end!
We’re actually looking for a house as well! I absolutely hate it! Our must haves are a decent shop/garage since my husband restores old cars/trucks, at least 2 bedrooms on the ground floor, so we can be near our 17 month old son, and another room downstairs that can be used as a playroom. I don’t think that is too much to ask ha ha! When investing that much money into a home, it’s best to be picky, or you’ll regret it later down the road!
Obviously price would be our first consideration. When we purchased our home, we were approved for 1/3 more than we actually spent! I can’t imagine having that huge payment through the three layoffs we have survived while living in this home. Our second consideration would be location. We must have greenspace, so we chose a home on a greenbelt, and take advantage of the land behind our home for sports, and a fantastic view! Our third consideration would have to be room size/bathrooms. If the rooms feel cramped, or don’t “flow”, I don’t want to live there.
We’re house-hunting too, and my 6-year-old has two requirements: an upstairs and a fireplace. My husband agrees.
We’ve been living in apartments our entire marriage and having the bedrooms on another floor than the kitchen would be bliss!
Hey, we’re actually getting ready to put our house up for sale. Wanna move to Ohio?
When we were looking for our home the house we ended up in did not interest me at all with the pictures posted on the internet but there were not many choices in our area so we gave it a look and as soon as we walked into the house we knew it was the one and here we are 2 1/2 years later loving every bit of it just as much as the first day we stepped inside.
@Kayla, I agree that you shouldn’t go by the pictures. At least visit in person before nixing it.
If I was hunting for a new house now I would say it needed 4 bedrooms, a fenced in yard and plenty of storage and counter space in the kitchen!
We have two of the three right now, but are short on bedrooms.
Just 3?! We’re so picky! We’re on the market, selling our home, I’m pregnant and we have a toddler–it’s really stressing me out.
1. play area indoors and outdoors (yard)
2. garage
3. one floor!
We recently moved into our current home after spending 2 years looking for the right place, it does take a lot of work.
My top 3 things would be:
1. Good size kitchen
2. Large yard (spent 5 years living w/ an extremely small yard)
3. Good school district (even if you homeschool this is important, because it will effect whether or not you can sell your home later)
When we were looking but didn’t buy we decided not to look at foreclosures because the banks to long to make decisions not to mention the hidden fees. We also decided no matter what we would not pay the asking price and would only consider a house if they would pay the closing costs. Whatever you do even though your not required to because you’re paying cash get your own inspection and try your best not to get involved in a bidding war. In the end only the seller wins
Hope that helps. Be blessed in looking!
Acreage. 2 toilets (I don’t care if they are in full baths or not so long as there is 1 toilet per 3 people and sometimes even that’s not enough!) Laundry facilities inside the house not in the garage. When we bought our current home, I forgot about number 3 because we were so excited to find a house with the first two. Now I schlep the laundry out to the garage even in the middle of winter. It gets cold out there! This winter the liquid detergent solidified on me and I had to bring it in to warm up. Happy house hunting!
1. Lots of counter space in Kitchen!
2. Larger yard
3. One level. (I have a hard time getting clean clothes upstairs after I fold them. And the kids toys are all over the living room cause I don’t want them going up and down the stairs without me!)
A laundry ROOM not CLOSET. Also a masterbathroom and of course a good PANTRY..
1. New windows
2. Master bathroom (a must have)
3. Updated kitchen (must have enough space for the whole fam to fit)
I LOVED house hunting, but we did it before we had children. I had 4 main criteria:
1. Three bedrooms ON THE SAME FLOOR. I could not stand to have my young children on a different floor than us.
2. At least two bathrooms (although one did not have to be a master).
3. Walking distance to town. I did not want to rely on the car – best decision ever! We love taking walks to the library, the community center, parks, the grocery store, and the bike trail.
4. A quiet street – street could not have double yellow lines. We ended up on a cul-de-sac, which was not my criteria, but I’m glad we did. It’s quiet and the kids can play in the front yard without worrying about cars.
Hope you find something soon!
Our current house works for my husband and I since its just the two of us but once we start having children its going to get cramped fast! My husband owned the house before we met and his criteria when he bought it at 25 are VERY different from what he’d (and I’d) want now!
Must haves for my “dream” home:
-2 full bathrooms
-1st floor laundry (ours is in the basement and it gets old having to lug baskets up and down stairs all the time!)
-Open kitchen/dining/living area (our current house was built in the 50′s and the kitchen is separate from the dining and living areas, it is not good for entertaining/holidays/family gatherings at all!)
1. Definitely a downstairs master bedroom.
2. A pantry and lots of kitchen space.
3. Some type of outside storage.
1. A well thought out kitchen with plenty of cabinets, pantry and room for a table with chairs around it.
2. A large back yard. We’ve always had a decent sized yard. I think it’s silly to pay X amount of money on a house that has no yard! Of course, there are reasons why some people don’t want a yard too, but for us this is what we like.
3. A laundry room. Right now ours is just a small one off the garage door coming into the kitchen. The washer and dryer face eachother and there’s room for nothing else. It’s loud when I’m doing laundry and in the kitchen at the same time.
1. A woodstove/ fireplace. Silly I know but we want/need one
2. at least 3 bedroom. 1 parents, 1 boys room, 1 girls room
3. bathtub. I never knew how much I love bathtubs until I had babies. Sinks dont always work with the layouts….
@Challice, A woodstove is much more efficient than a fireplace. Our home has the latter and when the power went out for two days, I was wishing for a real woodstove. Not silly at all!
@Andrea Q,
We have a wood burning stove and its the only heating we have in our home. All our wood taht we burn is scrap wood picked up from dumpsters/freecycle/etc. Love it!
A garage or shed to store the lawnmower, children’s bicycles, and tools. More than one bathroom so that when an emergency hits and the bathroom is occupied, there is a spare. A kitchen with adequate storage–preferrably a pantry. I have found the rest to be “take it or leave it” items. But in the different places we’ve lived, being without these three things proved to be the most inconvenient for me. If I had to add one more personal thing, it would be natural light. I get really down if the house is gloomy and dark. I’d rather compromise on size and have it be light and cheery.
We bought our home 22 years ago, long before the internet and even before photos. It was a grueling process back then, with only a description to go by. We had a new born and 2 year old and I have to say, it was a tough time.
We nearly gave up when we drove past a home that was for sale by owner. We loved it, we bought it, and we’re still in our “starter home” all these years later. Is it perfect? Nope, but it’s the home our boys know as their childhood home so it’s perfect to them.
I guess my advice is, buy what you love and then learn to love what you bought, because that starter home may be your retirement home as well
Enjoy the process and thank goodness for photos and the internet!
Connie
When I bought my condo in Chicago, I had three “must have two of the three” items on my list – central AC, dishwasher & laundry. My place has the AC & Dishwasher and has free laundry in the building. Works out great!
1. No swimming pool…..way too much maintenance, cost, and liability.
2. A 2 car garage
3. Within city limits (want to have emergency services at our fingertips).
The two things we wanted and gave up for this house are a 2-car garage and large kitchen. After 11 years the galley kitchen and 1-car garage have got to go! We’re hoping to stay put and remodel… those are at the top of our list.
1. Location- hubs would love to live closer to his job.
2. Storage space in the kitchen- including an eat in kitchen. I didn’t even know that they made kitchens that weren’t eat in. But I now own one. hmph.
3. Master bath with two sinks. Hubs would like a larger tub because he likes baths and he’s 6’2″ and barely fits uncomfortably in our current tub.
My biggest piece of advice is to not fall for the staging tricks or the tricks the home builders use to make houses look bigger. For example our kitchen looked big but only really has two cabinets and not enough room for a table. It has a big window though and an open cutout window thing into the living room that made it feel huge. Try to picture your things in the home or putting away your things. Where would you put your crockpot, coffee maker, bookshelves, etc.
Its hard work but so worth it when you find that one gem. Kind of like marriage. I think you should rethink nixing a home based on a bad picture. Unfortunately there are a lot of bad agents out there and you might miss out on a good home based on a bad picture. Those agents also tend to price wrong and you might get a great deal because others do the same and pass up a home based on the ad.
My 3 non-negotiables are: triple pane vinyl windows that tilt in for cleaning, nice yard and landscaping, large, updated, functional kitchen. When we bought our current home 5 years ago my non-negotiables were different (2 closets in the master bedroom, school & a formal dining room). I guess some things you just have to learn the hard way!!
my top three are
1. two full bathrooms (we have that now and i wont compromise on it)
2. at least two bedrooms + a master bedroom
3. a nice sized FENCED in yard.
and i cant just knock it down to 3, so my fourth is a kitchen with lots of counter space, doesn’t have to be a big kitchen, just a lot of counter space.
My husbands top 3 are different than mine which is making house hunting almost impossible.
1. basement
2. location: he wants to be in the country/boondocks
3. garage & big shed
OH I was waiting all day for this post! I guess I’m sort of the other way around, I loved doing home searching. The part I found stressful was escrow! Of course part of that came from figuring out loan terms and what it all meant (trust me you are sooo lucky to not have to worry about a loan!) Then the sellers (it was a company, not individuals) tried to sneak in some paperwork at the last minute (literally after I had reviewed the documents and was signing) and that paperwork was something they expected me to sign without reading, but I’m a bit of a nerd like that and read it, I immediately called my realtor who confirmed my fear that it was a document waiving my rights to come back to the seller (sue for damages) if we found they had not disclosed major problems with the house that by law they are required to) Talk about stress! Anyway I refused to sign and they had to redo the documents but it was just stressful. And the house was fine. (I had become worried the seller was hiding something since they tried to sneak that document in but it turned out it was just something they thought they could get away with as extra protection for themselves)
For our three top haves (besides location) I’d have to say:
1) having 2 bathrooms was one of the biggest issues! for years we shared a bath and with two working adults with the same work schedule it makes for somewhat hectic morning.
2) NO homeowners association (we didn’t want an extra monthly fee to be told what color we could paint our home, I know some people love associations but it just isn’t for us.)
3) at least 2 bedrooms (preferably three but we would have settled for 2 if the rest of the house was ideal)
1. Big backyard-I enjoy having a large space for my vegetable garden, I also like to have family & friends over for BBQ’s.
2. Kitchen floorplan-This is the main hub of my home.
3. Washer & dryer outside- If there is ever a water problem, it will atleast be outside.
Also, before you decide on your home, drive around the area at different times of the day and week to see what the neighborhood is really like.
Well, we won’t be purchasing a house for many years, but these would be things I would look for:
1) fenced yard
2) good-sized kitchen
3) 4+ bedrooms
4) 2+ bathrooms
5) family room in addition to living room
6) 2+ car garage
7) safe, quiet neighborhood
Oops, just went back and realized you asked for THREE non-negotiables. Guess I was being too picky!
My top 3 non-negotiables:
- Basement. I currently do not have one and I am terrified of storms. There is no safe place in my home for our family when storm warnings hit. A basement is a need for me
- No registered sex offenders in the immediate area. I check this on my state police website.
- Safety features (or a “fortified” home). For me, this means there are egress windows in the basement, escape ladders in upstairs bedrooms, smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, the home is built to withstand high winds, home is not in a flood area, has been checked for lead and mold growth, new wiring, and within 100 yards of a fire hydrant.
@Sarah, It’s worth checking, but don’t let it give you a false sense of security. Not having registered offenders in your neighborhood does not mean they are not there.
On average, child molesters victimize more than 60 kids before they are caught. One in 4 children will be sexually abused before their 18th birthday. One in 10 men have sexually abused a child. Only 16 percent of abused children are able to bring themselves to tell while it is occurring. It is believed that only about 3 percent of sex offenders are prosecuted.
Nothing replaces the need for supervision and loving parents who create an environment in which children will be less likely to be victimized, and more likely to tell if they are.
@Andrea Q,
Well said Sarah. There are sex offenders everywhere. The ones I know about don’t worry me nearly as much as the knowledge that there are many that I don’t know about. Children are much more likely to be abused by someone who ISN’T a registered sex offender. Also, just because there are none in your area doesn’t meant that one won’t move in after you purchase a home.
@Susan, Also, they can always move in nearby after you buy. If you want to minimize that risk you can buy a home close to a school or park (I forget exact distance) but registered offenders are not allowed to live within close proximity to schools and parks. I believe there are a few exceptions but I think it depends on the state you live in.
I think your list is great! It was very similar to ours, though we wanted a guest room and bathroom since we get tons of overnight guests. And we wanted a backyard.
Through it all God directed our steps as He is doing with yo guys now too – even if you feel overwhelmed by the options!! We ended up buying a house that we passed over twice – first time was bc it was out of our price range. We looked at the online listing more closely when it dropped $40,000 in price but couldn’t get passed how ugly and run down it looked so didn’t bother looking at it.
It’s humorous now, but God was definitely trying to get our attention!! My husband ended up randomly driving down the street and saw the house and remembered the listing… So the Lord!! My husband told me the house was stunning and nothing like the images and sure enough he was right! The images were beyond a terrible representation.
As I said before I think your way of narrowing things down is great and He will lead you. So excited for you!!
1. Location. Living in CO I couldn’t imagine having a hill for a driveway! And I’m so happy to be on a cul-de-sac within walking distance of the school!
2. We’re in our forever house, but if we ever do move again, I would make sure the master bedroom is NOT above the garage. My husband works weird hours and the garage door always wakes me up!
3. In a dream home? An “I’ll never have it home?” Plus, nobody ever builds it like this home? I’d like a mud room off the BACK of the house. Snowy kids and dogs can dry off before mucking up my hardwood floors!
We are looking for houses; still waiting to hear back on a short sale offer.
But my three would be
1. Lots of storage
2. big size yard
3. two living areas for entertaining
4. room to grow (4 bedrooms)
@Rachel A., Rachel,
My husband and I put in an offer on a “short sale” home 37 days ago and we have already been accepted and about ready to close (this Friday, April 30th). If you have not heard back from the bank/realtor then you might want to “bug the heck out of them” for an answer. We have found that there is no true need for the realtors and banks to take forever on approving a “short sale” home… they are just holding your contract and hoping to get as many more as they can before having to decide on the offer they are going to accept. We let the realtors envolved along with the bank know that we were “not” going to be drug threw the mud and wait forever for an answer… because of that the bank did not just sit on the offer. They actually responded quickly.
My three “must haves” are (besides good schools):
1) large yard… we have four children (6, 5, 4, 3) and have owned homes with just 1/4 to 1/3 acre and they are not big enough.
2) large kitchen… both my husband and I love to cook and we usually spend quality time together in the kitchen with the kids. A must have in my book!
3) an office or spare bedroom… my husband and I both work from home and he has to have a quiet place to work (computer programmer).
House hunting can be alot of fun and time consuming too, but well worth it in the end!!! Happy hunting:)
1.- Check to make sure there are no registered sex offenders close, this also means living near a school or day care even though our kids don’t go to public to make sure none can move there.
2. Brick house, no painting and no siding blowing off or needing repair
3. Living room that could easily be gated for children
All of this beside the bad/bath /cost
@lele, It’s worth checking, but don’t let it give you a false sense of security. Not having registered offenders in your neighborhood does not mean they are not there.
On average, child molesters victimize more than 60 kids before they are caught. One in 4 children will be sexually abused before their 18th birthday. One in 10 men have sexually abused a child. Only 16 percent of abused children are able to bring themselves to tell while it is occurring. It is believed that only about 3 percent of sex offenders are prosecuted.
Nothing replaces the need for supervision and loving parents who create an environment in which children will be less likely to be victimized, and more likely to tell if they are.
I spend a lot of time dreaming about the home I want to buy. It seems so far in the future. Oh well, at least I can dream.
1) at least 5acres of land. I have chickens and want goats and sheep at least. I want a homestead.
2)hardwood throughout.
3)big kitchen with lots of cupboards and counterspace. An island would be so great!
and I have to put another one….
4)master bath with a big tub. Ahhh….I can just imagine. lol
Good luck on the house hunting. I think we are planning to start saving for ours next year. This year is just too crazy to even think about it too much.
go with your gut! that is the best advice I can give you! at some point there may be one that doesn’t quite seem to fit into your criteria but you get a feeling about it, LISTEN TO THAT FEELING Sometimes those gut instinctswill lead to a place where it all falls into place and is perfect after all!
House hunting is so stressful. I did not enjoy it at all. My husband ended up purchasing our home for us, as we bought 2,500 miles away from where we had been living. The house he bought is a lot bigger than I would have chosen, but overall is great.
My top three are 1) two bathrooms 2) no lead paint and 3) backup heating source for power outages. My “dream” house would have downstairs laundry so I could leave it running at night without bothering people and mostly hardwood/tile flooring. I am really not a fan of carpet.
Ok, I’ll play.
So here are my top 3….
We’re in our third home since we moved to NC in 2000… and yes, we owned all 3, not rentals! We built this one 3 1/2 years ago because I couldn’t find an existing home that met my criteria.
1. School district – I’m not brave enough to homeschool, so this was the top on my list. Our location was super important.
2. Laundry room on the same floor as the bedrooms – in our last house, the laundry closet was on the main floor and all the bedrooms were upstairs. Made no sense to me! So i had to lug all the laundry down, then lug it all back up! A man definitely designed that floorplan! Especially considering that the laundry closet was in the main hallway in front of the front door, so if someone dropped by unexpected, I sometimes was sorting dirty laundry in the hallway floor!
3. Two extra rooms besides bedrooms – I never wanted my kids to have their toys in their rooms (too distracting at bedtime, etc) or in our living room (been there, done that!). So I wanted a separate room for their playroom, and it had to have a door on it! Also, I’m a photographer, so I needed an office and storage area for my computer, equipment and props. I need a door on this room too, cause it’s not always pretty.
1. STORAGE!! I love our home that we are in but it has absolutely no storage. As newlyweds we didn’t seem to notice that as we didn’t even have furniture to put in each room when we bought it. But as we stay here longer we realize there is no where to put anything!
2. Large, functional kitchen
3. Large living area – for our family and to be able to entertain large groups. Ours now has a hard time fitting 10 people.
We looked for potential more than final product because my husband is very handy (and so is his dad). So really EVERYTHING was negotiable in a way (except price), and we have had a lot of fun fixing up a property that used to be a rental home. Here are three things we GAVE UP that we will fix in the future or wait until next time:
1) Garage- we never had one while renting, so we don’t miss it too much, plus our house has a shed for all the yard equipment.
2) Deck- my husband could build one, but we have to save up because lumber is still pricey.
3)Front porch- I grew up in a Victorian home with a swing on the porch, so I told hubby this was non-negotiable. But, when it came down to it, I had to sacrifice and settle for a front stoop.
@Amanda, Hey Amanda — maybe that front stoop can become a front porch. We added one to our house a few years ago and it was pretty reasonable to do it.
1. Certain Square Footage and Price per that square footage. For us it was 2600+ and we found a nice 3300 for an awesome deal.
So don’t bypass Every ugly photo home.
2. Location!! There are just some places you just don’t want your kids to grow up in.
3. One Story. (I hated running up and down the stairs with a 7 month old and being pregnant!)
Also, Our home we sold look terrible in photos. It was a very nice home, it just wasn’t photogenic
good luck! and Enjoy the process for what it is
We just bought our first home.. it WAS hard and time consuming!
For our next house, we MUST ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO have a good size yard. No exceptions on that for us!
My next home will be our retire home. The three things that are important to me are:
location – Iwant to be central located, near all my children
basement apartment – so when my children visit that they have their own space
nice outdoor space
A foyer and a mudroom for sure! I don’t like walking into the living room right from the front door and not having a welcoming spot to take your coat and shoes off. Mudrooms help the contain shoes/gear/dirt from spreading to other rooms and keep things handy when you’re running out the door. My third need is an attached garage to keep my car warm in our cold Minnesota winters and it’s easier with groceries and kids too.
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