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We live in DFW tx and have daughter expecting our first grandchild who lives in FL south of Sarasota...my husband will be retiring in January --maybe sooner.
By coincidence the house next to our daughter's has come on the market. We had discussed buying house near hers last year and viewed some for sale last spring. It would be for longer visits-- not full time relocation. Our SIL has family out is state who could borrow it when they visit and we have friends who might use it as well.
This house has many features we need--it's fenced, has pool and is not a water lot; good neighborhood w/full-time owners. And being next door to our daughter offers convenience and security for when we are in TX.
House has had kitchen remodeled--opened up and nice cabinetry--- but there is no pantry--- not even a small bifold closet type. Current owners who did remodel use hall closet that is probably 10-12 ft from kitchen center for pantry items. The oven is also set into kitchen counter --not a wall --and is very low. The door would probably lie on the floor if opened fully which seems like safety risk in addition to just awkward.
Would u buy home for vacation/ second home that had no pantry???
We have motivation to overlook the lack but if we resell in future how likely will other shoppers overlook it? I think it is big drawback and shows bad design/lack of plan. But we won't spend more money to remodel this again--
House is new listing and considering they have replaced a tile roof, new AC, w/h, pool pump in the 5-6 yrs they owned it in addition to kitchen redo it is fairly priced. FL is seeing upsurge in homes selling and this is not short sale/ foreclosure. One of guys is transferred out of state. They could get offer soon or it could languish for months. No way to predict except this is not house someone would buy as investment...IMO...
My husband is willing to overlook the bad functionality to be next door to our daughter but he never cooks more than toast or cereal. And we will be staying there for weeks at a time in future-- not just a weekend--so we/I will be cooking....
Does the kitchen have a decent number of cabinets? If so, then why the need for a pantry?
I have never heard a pantry listed as a 'must have'.
Personally as long as there is enough storage in the cabinets I wouldn't worry at all about the lack of pantry. If there is little storage then I understand the concern. Otherwise.... who cares?
Hope you get the house, it sounds ideal for your needs!
Why would you need a pantry for a place you are only visiting? I don't have a pantry but I have ample cupboard space. What would you put in the pantry? Is it really that much of a chore to walk 10 feet to a closet?
If I could buy a home next to one of my children so that I could coveniently visit for several weeks at a time, I'd make do without a pantry. The oven would bother me more than not having a pantry.
I have no way of knowing how other people's kitchen are but I lived in house for 25+ yrs that had a problem kitchen--with a small pantry and other flaws (IMO)
Now I have a house with a great kitchen and I am glad every day for the difference...
Yes, our SIL is little concerned that we might come over w/o knocking and just walk in--but we wouldn't do that--my husband's parents used to say they would come visit on Friday and then show up on Thursday while I was still at work--and would have left the house messy until Thursday night to clean--
made me VERY angry--because I know his mom did it deliberately to show me up--but we just put up with it--when we moved to new house, we did not give them a key...
SIL's mom lives in one house all her married life--very close to her parents and while living that close to his grandparents (grandfather esp) was very cool for him a young boy because his mom worked and he spent lot of time with his grandparents--he likes his privacy now...and definitely would not want his mom buying the neighbors' house...
the neighbors who did the remodel used contractors--not just personal labor--and cabinetry is nice arts/crafts style in light cherry I think--they are clean lined, contemporary but very attractive---but they followed the lines of the original kitchen which was a galley kitchen
but yes I too wondered if permits were pulled since I don't think they moved any water lines or major electrical sources--they did take down load bearing wall and had to have support beam installed in some way--which was expensive to do from what they told our daughter--and you can't see the beam --
unlike some jobs when the beam shows as an architectural detail--the kitchen ceiling area is raised over the normal 8ft in these 70s houses--but there is drywall over the beam...
But different cities have different rules--for some permits are required for any remodel over certain amount--for some onlu if you are moving water/sewer or electric/gas line you have to get permit--
Can I just call the city and ask planning/zoning if there is clearance requirement for kitchen oven?
That would be prudent before we submit an offer and have to pay for inspection to tell us what the city might for free...
I think this town is unincorporated--don't know if there is even a "city code" per se...
and we could stay for months at a time--my husband has ramped up our visits from weeks at time initially to 6 mo at time now--so I have no idea how long we really might be staying here--and I think it will vary and we will go back and forth because we would still have son in TX and have reasons to come visit our friends here...
This is not a vacation home like you buy a timeshare--anything else with the house--dated bathrooms, flooring, paint--those are all problems I am not worried about...we have the money to redo the baths and other things but I don't see any point in spending money to redo a kitchen that has already had $$ spent -- it would be very difficult to justify doing that...
because frankly we are taking the risk that the value of this house could drop after we buy it and we might not recover any further funds we spend to remodel...
it is fairly priced for all the work they have done but not a distress buy...
the neighbors who did the remodel used contractors--not just personal labor--and cabinetry is nice arts/crafts style in light cherry I think--they are clean lined, contemporary but very attractive---but they followed the lines of the original kitchen which was a galley kitchen
but yes I too wondered if permits were pulled since I don't think they moved any water lines or major electrical sources--they did take down load bearing wall and had to have support beam installed in some way--which was expensive to do from what they told our daughter--and you can't see the beam --
unlike some jobs when the beam shows as an architectural detail--the kitchen ceiling area is raised over the normal 8ft in these 70s houses--but there is drywall over the beam...
But different cities have different rules--for some permits are required for any remodel over certain amount--for some onlu if you are moving water/sewer or electric/gas line you have to get permit--
Can I just call the city and ask planning/zoning if there is clearance requirement for kitchen oven?
That would be prudent before we submit an offer and have to pay for inspection to tell us what the city might for free...
I think this town is unincorporated--don't know if there is even a "city code" per se...
I would be very surprised that the homeowners could have STRUCTURAL changes made without getting a permit. As a homeowner I would never WANT to do that -- i.e. I wouldn't want to mess with moving a load-bearing wall (especially) without having it inspected afterward!!
The stove does sound odd. Did you take a photo of it when you saw the house? It would be helpful to see it.
RE: the lack of an actual pantry: at my current house I use a hall closet (about 15' from my kitchen) as a pantry for "overflow" items. I also have a LOT of kitchen cabinets so only need to access the "overflow" occasionally as I rotate items. It's not an issue at all.
I see where you're going with this now. Sounds like you would overlook it as a part-time home but with possibly quite long stays there and eventual resale as a permanent home to someone else, you're wondering if these are big problems.
For resale, it probably depends upon who it would sell to and what level of house we're talking about. In many types of houses depending upon size/age/location/price/etc a pantry if it was there would only be a surprise bonus I would think and not a glaring omission if it were not. It seems glaring to you looks like but I think some of that may come from what you lived with and what you now upgraded to in your own kitchen. Presumably your daughter's house is of the same vintage and would be in the same price range; does it have a pantry?
Personally, I've never lived in a house that had a pantry, not growing up, not now.
I don't know about the oven, sounds like they mounted a wall oven below counter? I've heard of that. Sounds a little odd, but I'm not sure how that is substantially different than a typical all in one range. Not sure why they would have done this, although in some cases it is a cheaper way to get dual fuel (gas cooktop/electric oven). That excuse would only apply if there is gas available, of course.
Keep in mind the house is more valuable to you than others because it's next to your daughter. Sounds like you are thinking about this so try to evaluate along that line. If it's not going to make sense cost-wise, then it would be best not to do it. There are likely a number of possible situations that could arise where you would no longer want to use the house much if at all, some of them well outside your control. But I don't think the kitchen flaws you brought up are necessarily reasons not to do it.
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