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We had been looking for months. We had our online criteria set up (number of bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage, location, price, etc) and nothing, even in the upper range of our price range, seemed like a fit.
One Sunday, we said, on a whim, "Let's go look at open houses." We didn't want to bother our realtor with that - she'd been graciously showing us homes for months now.
The first open house we went to was a home that was way under our price range, but it was in a small town just 8 miles outside of the larger town we wanted to move to and we said, "Oh, let's just go look at it - it's an open house, and at least we'll get to see a town we're not familiar with."
We pulled into the neighborhood and thought, "My, this is nice." We pulled up to the house and thought, "Wow, this is nice." We stepped into the foyer, and my husband turned to me and said, "We may have to buy this house."
We were shocked. Our realtor was shocked. Yes, the house needed updating, but it was so far below market value, and our price range, that we didn't care at all. The house had great bones, the neighborhood was beautiful, and the little town was only 8 miles outside the city we wanted to live in - and five minutes from the lake, seven minutes from the airport (my husband has to catch a flight out of state several times a month), and fifteen minutes from the brand new shopping center with over 100 new stores and restaurants!
We put $50k into it, remodeling the kitchen, and a bathroom, and putting in new floors just about everywhere (oh, and painting) and we've still got more project ideas but we LOVE the house. LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Oh and the reason it hadn't sold and was so far below market value? 1990s wallpaper everywhere, and trees so thick on the lot that the interior seemed dark. We cut down 17 trees (and still have plenty of trees!) and now the sun comes pouring in through the tall, beautiful windows.
Every day that I wake up in this house, I love it a little bit more. I especially love our mortgage, which is a LOT lower than I thought it was going to have to be!
Our home is a home and has always felt like a home not just a house.
It is the right size for us, the right location, the right price but it is not perfect and no home is perfect.
It needs minor adjustments which is merely our personal choices.
We are in a very small town and the last house on the left of the dead end street on one acre.
For me its location, lot, house I fall in love with, has most of what I want/need, and not too much of what I don't like/want. A feeling of spaciousness that is more about floorplan/flow than square feet. I also have a practical side and look ahead to resale in case I need or want to. The house cant have a fatal flaw that would take major construction and thousands to remedy........example I need/want a two story and its a ranch I would have to put a dormer on.
I prefer established neighborhoods, resales rather than new construction. Clean is also a huge factor; don't want to be cleaning up years of other peoples dirt. I also don't want to be doing major renovations to be happy with the house. I don't mind updating later, but I don't wont to do that to make the house livable before or the day after I move in.
Hard to say what makes me fall in love, but its usually a house that evokes other loved houses I've grown up in, spent lots of time in, or lived in as an adult. I also like to have a feeling that everyone else connected to the house has loved it.....i.e. the builder as reflected by good construction and the previous owners who have taken good care of the house.
All that said, I have bought houses I fell in love with that had things I didn't like......popcorn ceilings with glitter embedded in them no less....haha. Fortunately, we didn't live there long so never had to replace them and who knew it would be a selling point on resale because it was a huge trend at that time in that area. I actually became slightly fond of the glitter because I like sparkly things.......not that I would ever do that to a house lol!
For us, it was a little of everything. We wanted to feel "away from it all", but not really. We're suburbanites, so being farther from the urban core didn't make a location "bad". We wanted a large, heavily treed lot. We wanted a pool. House (design, style, size, etc.) did matter to us. We wanted a custom neighborhood. We were turned off by the designs of many homes..While people say that you can "change the house", I don't necessarily agree. If a house is designed a certain way, it really can't be changed. Additions often look tacky. Wacky layouts cost a lot of money to change. I'd rather find something that has what I was looking for right off the bat. Cosmetic finishes are another thing, though, as those can be changed. The home we ended up buying has a number of cosmetic things that I don't care for but I've either learned to live with them until I can change them, or I've already changed them.
Location and then renovation.
For 24 years.
First, we picked the neighborhood: Bonnie Brae in Denver.
Second, we walked every block twice.
Third, we narrowed it to 4 blocks: 800-1000 South Josephine and Columbine.
Fourth, we told our buyers' agent to only show us houses in those 4 blocks.
Fifth, we had our architect evaluate the house before we made an offer.
Sixth, we bought the house.
Seventh, we spent more than the purchase on the renovation. We were $50K upside down the day we finished the Reno. 890 S Josephine St, Denver, CO 80209 | Zillow
Eight, after 24 years we got ants in our pants and moved to 3968 Vrain Street, Berkeley, Denver, CO 80212-2251 USA
We don't live in our dream house, maybe next time, but this house will do for now. First location (neighbourhood, school district, lot), then meeting the minimum for rooms (3 dedicated bedrooms, an office, and a room for our workout equipment) and then a focus on layout, flow, and the rooms we use the most (kitchen, family, office). This house met the list.
We put $50k into it, remodeling the kitchen, and a bathroom, and putting in new floors just about everywhere (oh, and painting) and we've still got more project ideas but we LOVE the house.
Wow, that's an awesome figure for remodeling all of that, especially the kitchen. I take it you didn't have to knock down walls or change much??? Was the layout fine?
I saw my house on the internet we were living in Las Vegas and wanted to move to Texas. I instantly fell for it. It was unique, the only different styled house in the neighborhood. Its a prairie design, with craftsman detail. It was a custom built home, the owner never went thru the final contract. So the builder still had the home. I loved everything about it, the interior courtyard, so the dogs could be outside safely. We do get eagles,hawks, and a coyote once in awhile. I loved the subdivision it was in, family friendly, great schools for our grand kids. Our son and his family moved to the same community. I loved the craftsman lighting, 2 back porches one off the master bedroom. Most of all the home just seemed to be us, I wanted a wood burning fireplace, there is one in the livingroom and one in courtyard. A big kitchen so people could talk while food was cooking. I love that master is downstairs and one more bedroom, but 2 bedrooms and another family area upstairs so when people visit they have their own space. I love that I look out my kitchen windows and see a lake or people golfing.
I fell in love with the floor plan first. Our town has a lot of the same houses scattered all over. We saw 4 or more houses with the same floor plan and tried 3 times to buy one. In the end, we got the one in the best neighborhood for us, at the best price, so it was win-win-win. I think if the first sale had gone through, I would have come to regret it, because I can see the downsides to the neighborhood now that I was blind to at first.
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