I would not buy a house that.......

[DawnM]

fill in the blank

 

We are looking to sell in the next year hopefully.

Edited July 8, 2012 by DawnM

[amiemac78]

Is a split level, has the laundry area in a creepy old basement, or only has on street parking.

[Impish]

Had issues w/the foundation.

Was in a 'bad' neighbourhood.

Had electrical/plumbing issues.

Was in an industrial area

Was down wind of an industrial area

That was near an obviously run down, seedy house (thinking hoarder yard, boarded windows, etc)

Near a half way house

Near a jail

Near a s*x offender treatment centre

A murder occurred in

Was under 3 bdrms

Had a galley kitchen

had a vermin problem

Had a mould problem

had flooding issues

Didn't have potable water

[DawnM]

Oh good.....check.....our house is none of those! :lol:

 

ETA: We have had a few mice, but there is NO house in our country area that hasn't had a few field mice.....it isn't all the time, but on occasion.

 

Had issues w/the foundation.

Was in a 'bad' neighbourhood.

Had electrical/plumbing issues.

Was in an industrial area

Was down wind of an industrial area

That was near an obviously run down, seedy house (thinking hoarder yard, boarded windows, etc)

Near a half way house

Near a jail

Near a s*x offender treatment centre

A murder occurred in

Was under 3 bdrms

Had a galley kitchen

had a vermin problem

Had a mould problem

had flooding issues

Didn't have potable water

Edited July 8, 2012 by DawnM

[Night Elf]

I wouldn't buy a house if it:

 

is located on a busy street.

has less than the number of bedrooms we desire. (simply no compromising there)

has no yard.

is in a crummy neighborhood.

is in a neighborhood with a HOA. (btdt, stupid people)

[Mama Geek]

Has structural damage

Has been flooded or is likely to flood

Has an HOA associated with it

Has more than 1 story

Has any smell of cigarette smoke

Has train tracks real close by

[DawnM]

We are much the same way!

 

We can't stand HOAs and we haven't even ever been part of one!

 

I wouldn't buy a house if it:

 

is located on a busy street.

has less than the number of bedrooms we desire. (simply no compromising there)

has no yard.

is in a crummy neighborhood.

is in a neighborhood with a HOA. (btdt, stupid people)

[Critterfixer]

Bit me when I walked in the door.

(Seriously, flea problems are hard to deal with in a house that is infested.)

[DawnM]

Why?

 

we looked for a ranch when we first moved here. In the square footage we were looking for they simply aren't to be found here.

 

Has more than 1 story

[Impish]

Oh good.....check.....our house is none of those! :lol:

 

ETA: We have had a few mice, but there is NO house in our country area that hasn't had a few field mice.....it isn't all the time, but on occasion.

Oh yeah, rural area = mice.

 

I was thinking infestation.

 

I can give you some ideas of what would make a diff in a tie breaker situation if you like.

 

We've been looking at real estate for a while now, so I have a bit of a running list in my head :lol:

[Julie Smith]

All the ones that are a given, and

 

Requires a car to do most outings vs. bike or foot.

Requires something other then bike or foot for dh to get to work.

[DawnM]

SURE!

 

We do realize that there are some things we simply cannot change or don't have the $$ to change, but I am curious.

 

Oh yeah, rural area = mice.

 

I was thinking infestation.

 

I can give you some ideas of what would make a diff in a tie breaker situation if you like.

 

We've been looking at real estate for a while now, so I have a bit of a running list in my head :lol:

[DawnM]

Ah, yeah, then you wouldn't even be looking at our home! We live far out but do have land.

 

Dawn

 

All the ones that are a given, and

 

Requires a car to do most outings vs. bike or foot.

Requires something other then bike or foot for dh to get to work.

[Cinder]

Has any smell of cigarette smoke

 

:iagree: Did this once already. We had a terrible time getting rid of the smell. And after 2.5 years of living in that house there was one closet we hadn't gotten around to fixing up and it still reeked.

[Rebecca VA]

Amiemac78, it's funny that you would say you'd never buy a split level home. I've always LONGED to live in one, and we're about to bid on a beautiful split level this week. It's funny how different people wish for different things.

 

To the OP: I would never buy a house that...smells of mildew.

[Mama Geek]

Why?

 

we looked for a ranch when we first moved here. In the square footage we were looking for they simply aren't to be found here.

 

I've lived in a 2 story house for about 6 years. Carrying stuff up and down stairs gets really old really fast and that was before we had dd.

[DawnM]

I see. I thought maybe you had a medical issue. In this area you would either have a very small, older house, or you would have to have a 2 story.

 

I've lived in a 2 story house for about 6 years. Carrying stuff up and down stairs gets really old really fast and that was before we had dd.

[Miss Marple]

That has been a Meth lab. Read an article online a few days ago about people who purchase homes without knowing the background. They have strange health problems that are unexplainable until they discover they are living in a home that was once a meth house.

 

Ask about the background of any house you consider.

[Swimtaxi234]

I would never buy where someone painted the brick fireplace and/or kitchen cabinets.

 

I would also never buy a house that had barking dogs in the neighbor's yards.

 

We are about to move and I won't miss the our neighbors (all 3 houses that touch our fence have horrible barking dogs). Those dogs bark at all hours with that deep bark.

[Parrothead]

has only one bathroom on the second floor. Currently we have to run upstairs if someone has stomach issues. It isn't pretty when he/she doesn't make it. :glare:

[Chaos Coordinator]

Most of the above. Except for the commute thing, and we do live near railroad tracks. Also the house next to ours got condemned shortly after we moved in. The way we saw it, there's only one way to go and that's up. We knew it would either be remodeled or rebuilt, which would increase our prop value without costing us a dime.

[lotsofpumpkins]

I would not buy a house that was owned by a cat breeder. Oh wait, we did that already. :tongue_smilie: We had no idea how hard it was going to be to get rid of the smell. After a few years and some major renovations (including replacing the air handler and all the ductwork, as well as the bottom half of several walls), the house was pretty nice. We were able to sell it for a profit, but it's not something we desire to do ever again!

 

We have also owned a home that smelled of cigarette smoke, but by painting all of the walls and ceilings and replacing the carpet, the smell was completely taken care of.

 

If I had to choose between a cat house and a cigarette house, I'd pick the cigarette house. The smell is MUCH easier to get rid of. (Assuming you consider buying new carpet and doing lots of painting easy! But it's still WAY easier than what we had to do to the cat house.)

[DawnM]

Oh ick! I have a hard time with a house that even has ever had a cat in it.....my eyes start to itch immediately! I would have full on asthma issues in the house you describe!

 

I would not buy a house that was owned by a cat breeder. Oh wait, we did that already. :tongue_smilie: We had no idea how hard it was going to be to get rid of the smell. After a few years and some major renovations (including replacing the air handler and all the ductwork), the house was pretty nice. We were able to sell it for a profit, but it's not something we desire to do ever again!

 

We have also owned a home that smelled of cigarette smoke, but by painting all of the walls and ceilings and replacing the carpet, the smell was completely taken care of.

 

If I had to choose between a cat house and a cigarette house, I'd pick the cigarette house. The smell is MUCH easier to get rid of. (Assuming you consider buying new carpet and doing lots of painting easy! But it's still WAY easier than what we had to do to the cat house.)

Edited July 8, 2012 by DawnM

[kalanamak]

Dark and gloomy. No outside view from the kitchen. Wasted much a lot of space on a lavish master bath.

[Chaos Coordinator]

After adding on to our house this year, I think I can safely say we will never again buy a house that needs to be added on to for us to fit.

[KarenC]

I wouldn't buy a house without a basement.

 

Also we need 4 bedrooms and I don't want to be on a busy street or in a bad neighborhood.

 

Karen

[Impish]

Ok, for *me* what will sway for one house or another:

 

More than 1 bathroom. If the house was great in all other ways, we'd suck it up and plan to add another bathroom, but vastly prefer at least 2 (esp an ensuite).

 

3 bedrooms is the absolute bare minimum for us. 4+ is hugely preferred, even if it's another room or 2 in the basement.

 

Kitchen size. I won't even look at a place that has a tiny kitchen. Spend way too much of my life in the kitchen, btwn feeding the family and that's where we gather for hsing.

 

Roof. If it's a steel roof, we start drooling.

 

How old is the furnace and water heater?

 

Windows? Have they been replaced, how new are they, energy efficient, etc

 

For us, wood stove is a huge plus.

 

Oil furnace, big yuck.

 

Prefer hardwood to carpet.

 

Jarring colours in the kitchen, I pass. I get migraines, and find certain colour combos, patterns completely unlivable. Think checkerboard style floor (esp black and white), neon colours.

 

I also dislike dark colours in the kitchen. Think black floor, dark cupboards. I feel claustrophobic. Can't hack it. One or the other is ok, but not both together.

 

Cupboard space in kitchen.

 

Tube lighting in the kitchen. Again, migraine issue.

 

Carpet. If it's old/stained/worn, calculating the cost to rip it out and replace it.

 

Same goes for bathrooms...toliets, sinks, tub, if they're etched/stained.

 

Condition of outdoor structures...is the deck in need of replacing, etc.

 

If it has a garage.

 

Appliances. Decent appliances included is a factor.

Edited July 8, 2012 by Impish

[DawnM]

We have all of those requirements other than a steel roof and wood fired stove.

 

New appliances (stainless) in 2008

New HVAC up and down in 2009 or 2010....need to look

New roof in 2009

 

3.5 bathrooms

Finished Basement with surround sound and travertine flooring

4 bedrooms, plus a bonus room (but you have to walk through a bedroom to get to the bonus....hate that, but nothing we can do to change it.)

two garages. One 2 car garage walks into the basement, one 1.5 car garage on the main floor (we live on a slope) Both garages attached to the house.

 

Large kitchen

Oak cabinets, no paint

2 fireplaces, both very nice clean med. color brick. One in LR and one is Master.

Hardwood in the entire main floor

Carpet upstairs

Storm type windows, very nice and double pained.....that is one thing the appraiser commented on more than once.....how nice the windows were.

Wrap around porch

 

Things I cannot change but am a bit worried about:

 

1. layout is a bit funky.....it was fine and perfect with only 2 kids, but the bedrooms are HUGE but not enough of them.....for us anymore anyway.

2. Bathrooms with showers/tubs are only in actual bedrooms. I didn't even notice until we bought the house!

3. Bonus room we have to walk through one room to get to it. It might be perfect for a teen/young adult who needs a studio or something.

4. long gravel drive. VERY long.....over $45K to pave it.....not happening.

 

Positives:

 

1. House is VERY well built. Custom built with a lot of 4x6 insulated walls. Top of the line windows, wrap around porch. Builder built it to actually live in

2. Two very nice fireplaces

3. 2.5 acres

4. Some of the very best schools in the area

5. No one is behind us.....making it even more private and you can't see the homes on either side in the summer at all, lot of large trees.

6. Very safe and nice area

5. Adequate square footage (3300 main and 900+ basement)

 

 

Ok, for *me* what will sway for one house or another:

 

More than 1 bathroom. If the house was great in all other ways, we'd suck it up and plan to add another bathroom, but vastly prefer at least 2 (esp an ensuite).

 

3 bedrooms is the absolute bare minimum for us. 4+ is hugely preferred, even if it's another room or 2 in the basement.

 

Kitchen size. I won't even look at a place that has a tiny kitchen. Spend way too much of my life in the kitchen, btwn feeding the family and that's where we gather for hsing.

 

Roof. If it's a steel roof, we start drooling.

 

How old is the furnace and water heater?

 

Windows? Have they been replaced, how new are they, energy efficient, etc

 

For us, wood stove is a huge plus.

 

Oil furnace, big yuck.

 

Prefer hardwood to carpet.

 

Jarring colours in the kitchen, I pass. I get migraines, and find certain colour combos, patterns completely unlivable. Think checkerboard style floor (esp black and white), neon colours.

 

I also dislike dark colours in the kitchen. Think black floor, dark cupboards. I feel claustrophobic. Can't hack it. One or the other is ok, but not both together.

 

Cupboard space in kitchen.

 

Tube lighting in the kitchen. Again, migraine issue.

 

Carpet. If it's old/stained/worn, caluclating the cost to rip it out and replace it.

 

Same goes for bathrooms...toliets, sinks, tub, if they're etched/stained.

 

Condition of outdoor structures...is the deck in need of replacing, etc.

 

If it has a garage.

 

Appliances. Decent appliances included is a factor.

Edited July 8, 2012 by DawnM

[ThisIsTheDay]

I would not buy a house that had a garage in the basement, or that had a flight of stairs to get up to the front door. I'm not lugging groceries up stairs, period.

 

I would not buy a two story house again (basement doesn't count as a story).

 

I would not buy a tract house in a new development. I want an established neighborhood.

 

I would not buy a house that did not have a master bathroom.

[Lorien]

 

Kitchen size. I won't even look at a place that has a tiny kitchen.

 

 

:iagree:The kitchen has to be big enough to be able to work in. Really work in. And big enough for more than one person to work in. We spend way too much time in the kitchen and wouldn't want to even try to get by with an afterthought for a kitchen! The rest of the house is considered only when the kitchen meets approval.

[Renthead Mommy]

I will NEVER live in a house right near an elementary school. If you live in the drop off/pick up areas, you will NEVER be able to park in front of your own house and the streets are all blocked up.

 

I will never buy a house that doesn't have:

 

basement

at least two bedrooms, guest room, office room, sewing room area and workout area.

garden area

good sized patio/deck area

at least a two car garage with electric opener

on street overnight parking (we get a lot of guests)

open floor plan with larger kitchen, eat in kitchen and family room all open together

 

 

We will never buy in a restrictive HOA.

[MariannNOVA]

~is on a busy road

~was a wreck inside or outside (see next one)

~needed new bathrooms and a new kitchen unless i knew that they could be renovated while i lived elsewhere

~was in a so-so school district (resale)

~had a registered sex offender anywhere nearby

~didn't have at least a one car garage (learned this the hard way)

~smelled

~was very close to neighbors (unless the neighbors were Heather's family living in the guest house ;))

~was ridiculously far away from conveniences (grocery stores, our doctors - things that are important to me)

~wasn't big enough to begin with (I probably don't want to add on bedrooms)

~didn't have a swim club or pool nearby that we could join

~was in a town without a library

 

~had anything quirky about it that would negatively affect re-sale

~had mold, infestation, anything that needed to be remediated

 

and pretty much what everyone else said

[Tammyla]

neighbor yard(s) are a mess or junked

 

two-story

 

smelled bad

[Quiver0f10]

Was in a subdivision/Was in an HOA

Had a small kitchen

Had flooding/mold issues

Had a small yard

Was on a well travelled road

[kewb]

Deal breakers for me:

HOA. Don't need the headache.

Smells like cat pee/cigarette-cigar smoke

Only 1 bathroom. Bath and a half is ok.

Flood zone

infestation of any kind

messy/loud neighbors

bad neighborhood

[Murphy101]

I would not buy a home that:

 

Has a dining room that won't fit a table for 12+

Has painted woodwork, goes double if it has painted caninets in the kitchen

Has less than the sq ft, bedrooms, and baths we need

Has small rooms or wasted space (bedrooms must fit 2 sets of bunks)

Does not have a private fenced yard

Has an HOA

Has 2 stories

Did not have a fireplace

Did not have a 2 car garage

 

The only one of those we caved on when we bought this current home is the 2 stories and that is the only reason I doubt this will be our forever home. I don't like that the babies can't freely roam without worry of serious injury. And stairs are often just as dangerous to adults of a certain age of which I hope to live past. Also, none of our elderly family can stay with us because they can't make it up and down the stairs to the bedrooms. As it is we have to put a ramp out for one of them to make it from the curb to inside the house.

 

Oh wait. We sorts caved on wasted space. I have a vaulted living room that the entire upstairs hallway overlooks. I hate it. It is noisy as it creates a theatre affect. And I'd much rather have use of 1 or 2 more rooms above the living room!

[elegantlion]

My no-gos:

 

HOA

price functions above everything, I don't want to feel burdened with a house payment, BTDT, not fun

let my dh pick it out on his own - btdt I now hate a ranches built in the 70s. I picked the next house. ;)

railroad tracks

middle of nowhere location - I need to be able to see people

mold - not just mildew, mold

[Scuff]

After living in our house for so long, it baffles me that essetially 5 br is not big enough for a family of 5. :confused: It's a br for each of you, includin you and dh.

 

Anyway, the only thing I read in your post that would bother me is not having a main bathroom. But if you didn't notice, perhaps others won't either. You're house has a lot going for it. It will be perfect for someone. Our input isn't going to help much because people are looking for different things. (like the HOA. Some people love them. I could not stand to live in one. I had fb friends griping about neighbors setting off fireworks now that it's not exactly the 4th anymore. :confused: It's still summer, just enjoy them. As long as it's not the middle of the night and you don't live in CO, who cares? Those are the type of people HOA's are made for.)

[Renee in NC]

I would not buy a house that was in a less than stellar school district. I'm in the "worst house in the best neighborhood" camp. While this won't matter to homeschoolers or those without children at home, it does affect resale value as well.

[justLisa]

I am jealous and would buy your home in a second flat.

 

I was not going to comment on location, etc because obviously you can't change that. Regarding a home, I would not buy a home that did not have hardwood flooring in a greater part of the main level. Also a sound roof.

 

We will be looking to move in about 3 years.

[hsbeth]

We just purchased again a few months ago after having taken a break from home ownership for several years.

 

Here were my must haves:

Good/safe neighborhood (no sex offenders, low crime area)

Good school district (resale value)

Pleasant appearance of home and neighborhood

Appropriate yard size (insert your preference here)

Appropriate number of bedrooms

Bedroom size (we ruled out lots of new construction homes with tiny kids rooms, we wanted at least 12x12)

 

Things on my wish list:

Hard surface flooring in most/all rooms

Up to date roofing, HVAC, electric, plumbing

Modern kitchen/bath (including appliances and countertops)

Adequate storage

Fencing and landscaping that was in tidy condition

Floor plan (preferred a two story, wanted separation of master from children's rooms)

Laundry on the main living level

Non- HOA

Adequate garage size

 

Totally negotiable: decor, hardware, light fixtures, wall treatments/paints, etc. Willing to replace carpet in any non hard surface rooms. We were also willing to change/update/add on outdoor spaces such as decks, patios, sheds if the lot was of adequate size.

 

We ended up compromising on our floor plan preference as the house fit our criteria so well in all other areas. We ended up with a two story colonial, BUT all bedrooms are upstairs. We do have some privacy as we are to one side of the stairs and the kids are all to the other.

[DawnM]

I am confident we CAN sell, our problem is how much we are willing to LOSE in this market. Our neighbors took a huge loss, but I feel they overpaid to begin with.

 

I think we will lose, but I don't quite know how much! We have a min. we are willing to go to and we may have to just stay if we aren't willing to come down enough.

 

I will find out more on Thur when the realtor comes to take a look. We did have an appraisal to refi in Oct and it came out about $40K higher than we thought it would, but we will see what she thinks we can get.

 

Our biggest issue is fixing things up with our limited budget. I really don't want to go over budget only to find we can't sell, YKWIM? Some things we WILL do because we had planned to, but other things we just don't have the $$.

 

Dawn

 

After living in our house for so long, it baffles me that essetially 5 br is not big enough for a family of 5. :confused: It's a br for each of you, includin you and dh.

 

Anyway, the only thing I read in your post that would bother me is not having a main bathroom. But if you didn't notice, perhaps others won't either. You're house has a lot going for it. It will be perfect for someone. Our input isn't going to help much because people are looking for different things. (like the HOA. Some people love them. I could not stand to live in one. I had fb friends griping about neighbors setting off fireworks now that it's not exactly the 4th anymore. :confused: It's still summer, just enjoy them. As long as it's not the middle of the night and you don't live in CO, who cares? Those are the type of people HOA's are made for.)

[Slartibartfast]

I agree with what a lot of pp said regarding condition of the home and neighborhood.

 

In addition to pp, I am not huge on carpet, if I had a choice I would prefer to buy a home without carpet. I also do not like cat smells and would be more hesitant to buy a house if it had a cat in it.

[ZeldaRules]

We lived on 5 acres before moving to where we are now. I thought it would be easy to sell living on land, but it was harder. The market did start to slow down when we had to move. It only took 6 months to sell, but at least it sold. We may have lost some money in numbers, but we ended up ahead, I believe. Not everyone wants land because of all the work that goes with it. You said you live in the country, so I am assuming you have a nice piece of land that needs mowed. :) We did have an HOA, but only 10 houses. It was not a problem. The layout was a little different, but we changed some things and I really liked the house, but the layout made it harder to sell.

 

I like 2-story houses because the kids mess can stay up there rather than accumulate all over the house.

 

HOAs are not awful...they keep the house values up. When you live in the city, they are pretty hard to avoid, but the neighborhoods all have their own pool (and swim team in May/June), tennis courts, playgrounds, walking trail...ours had a baseball and soccer field)...it's very nice, but it (HOA fees) is pricey. We also pay for two full-time constables/police.

 

Just make sure your house isn't full of clutter. One house we looked at, I believe she could have asked twice as much if she would haver repainted everything and took out 1/2 the crap in her house...plus didn't have 10 different scents in her house. I had a headache coming out. If she had a purpler room, it had a purple ceiling. All the ceilings were painted colors (not white or off-white)...and it was a big house. Some people can't see past the easy fixes. Her house was a steal. We thought about bidding on it, but someone beat us to it, and it was on the corner of a busy road and I didn't want that with kids.

 

I won't buy a house that has lots of smoke or lots and lots of animals that live in it that may mean there is animal feces or urine in places I can't see.

 

Good luck prepping your house to sell when the time comes. :)

[The Girls' Mom]

Had cats (at least if it was obvious...I despise cat smell)

Had a smoked in smell

Had ANY mold issues, as I have a very allergic dd.

Had foundation, water seepage or roof issues.

Was in a bad neighborhood.

Had any type of insect/rodent infestation. (large scale...minor occasional bugs don't bother me)

[Soror]

Overly large- our house is 3000 sf including the not quite finished basement and that is pushing it on size.

 

Without land.

 

Cathedral Ceilings.

 

Old Insulation in the walls.

 

Bad Foundation.

 

Water leakage in basement.

 

Old/faulty wiring and/or plumbing.

 

In a very crowded area.

 

Small kitchen.

 

Large master bedroom/closet.

 

Drafty.

[CalicoKat]

is a split level.

[3browneyedboys4me]

The answers to this question are going to be so great and varied. I'm not sure you will really be helped much by the answers as everyone purchases based on their individual likeness. I think that if your home is free from damage, clutter, and is decorated and updated (no orange appliances) with modern appliances you will be fine. Everything else is going to depend on the personal taste of the person buying your home e.g. land, split level, ranch, large kitchen/small kitchen..etc.

 

For me, it's absolutely ALL about location. I can do just about anything to a house to make it livable and enjoy it, but I can't do anything about where it's located if I hate it. So, for me, I won't buy a house if it's not in the location I desire. I do have requirements for my house, but I haven't found anything that would be a deal breaker in a home if I loved the location.

 

I think I might be in the minority though.:D

[justamouse]

these are going to be very regional lists.

 

didn't have 2 stories

had the MB on the first floor

I refused to look at bilevels but that's just me.

had an underground oil tank

didn't have a basement (you don't find houses without basements in the NE)

had a closed kitchen

had to be an excellent location

 

 

Where I live, you HAVE to have an inspector (unless you're paying cash) and so they hae these huge lists they have to check, bugs, vermin, radon, structure, foundation, roof, soup to nuts, they check the house.

[Denise in Florida]

I will assume that the people looking at the house have already 'sorted' for such things as size, number of bedrooms/baths, location, etc.

 

In general, I would not buy a house that is dark and gloomy.

 

I definitely will not look at a house that smells 'fake'. I have walked away from showings where the house was drenched in potpourri, scented candles, air freshners/sprays, etc. I don't want bad smells either but cover up smells send me packing. I did like one house that had bread baking. :001_smile: