What do you wish you had known before you bought your house? (fireplace, furnace)

[theresamcallahan]

I always think i do better work than most, so we tripple check everything, even the work of the people we hired to help us buy the house. My husband knocked on the doors of many of our "future" neighbors and asked about the neighborhood. We drove by in the AM in the afternoon and in the PM. We looked at it during the week and on weekends. We checked out the churches, the schools, the transportation options, the traffic, you name it, we checked it out. In the end we found our own house. We have lived here for many many years and have loved it.

You might miss something, we did despite all the work we did. No one is perfect, especially the first time around.

If you love the house, or even just the one your with, you'll get through it. Do your homework and you'll be fine. Good luck and congrats on the new house.

T

[accufitgolf]

tle

You have gotten some good information so I will not repeat.

My last two home buy have been new builds with a one year, unconditional warranty and the area/development over 80% sold plus I checked on what/zoning could be built around me.

I also buy new cars.

I do not like buying other peoples problems, but that is just me. Now I will buy used/2nd hand if it is a throw away item like a golf club but if it is important/critical to me, then I buy new.

[Wmsn4Life]

Originally Posted by karen_in_nh_2012

Um, I was trying to assuage their nervousness with positive things. That's part of how I "read" their post, as being nervous that somehow they would find out all these bad things only AFTER buying their house.

I think the way to do that is to have them follow some of the advice given here, rather than be scared by it.

When you're in a new house, don't just count rooms and check off amenities. Envision HOW you will use the space it has.

Are the kids' bedrooms over the garage, so the motorized garage door opener will wake them up every time one of you leaves early for work/gym etc.? Squirl's note about the distance from the kitchen to the garage is perfect, since carrying in groceries usually happens a couple of times a week. It means, "Think about how you are going to use this house every day. What little things over time will make you forget how awesome those granite countertops look?"

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by karen_in_nh_2012

Um, I was trying to assuage their nervousness with positive things. That's part of how I "read" their post, as being nervous that somehow they would find out all these bad things only AFTER buying their house.

That is very nice of you. I was simply replying to your attack on the rest of us who did not assuage their nervousness, and just answered their question

[golfgal]

We looked at a lot of houses before we bought our first house. We started looking over a year before we knew we would buy-going to open houses. It allowed us to evaluate what we liked, what we didn't, etc. Even though it has been 20 years, I still like the first house we lived in. The only real negative was that the only shower in the house was in the basement (finished). There was a main floor bathroom with a tub. Not that it was a huge issue but after having our first child, I ended up taking baths vs showers because of that. Had we still lived there when our next 2 came along, it wouldn't have mattered as much but that paranoid first time parent thing....

Had we not been transferred for DH's job way back when, we would have stayed in that house and added on over the years. It is still my favorite neighborhood of all of them we have lived in.

For this house, the only thing that really bothers me about the house is I don't have a good spot for "stuff"...stuff being mail that needs to be dealt with, school papers I need to get to, etc. We end up having a pile on our kitchen island more often than not. In our last house we had a main floor office/guest bedroom and the desk there was where all of that went and was out of the way.

When the kids move out, one of their bedrooms is being converted to an office .

I also hesitated a bit on this house because of the layout of the kitchen. It's a huge kitchen, which I love, but the layout isn't traditional. Now having lived in this house for several years, I LOVE the kitchen and how the work space flows. The people that built this house had built 3 or 4 other houses and really put a lot of thought into the house.

[hueyeats]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

That is very nice of you. I was simply replying to your attack on the rest of us who did not assuage their nervousness, and just answered their question

I think in karen's defense...
a positive reflect in house hunting is not an attack on the rest of you and again thinking in the reflection... unless there is "something" to hide or be jealous about for other's positiveness... shouldn't warrant a feel to take it "personal".

What is wrong in being lucky to be able to purchase a great house???
Nothing.

Tis an encouragement to say... look its not all bad.
That is all.

P.S. Even applied to news / media... bad news are more often reported than good news. Now why is that??? People likes misery for company??? I think not... just that people want to "know" bad so they won't make that same mistake & can finally, hopefully "do" the good & right (news that don't get reported).

[karen_in_nh_2012]

Originally Posted by karen_in_nh_2012

lol, am I the only one who had HAPPY things to say about buying a house?!

Maybe my post (#2 on this thread) wasn't as helpful as some of yours, but I wanted the OP not to feel so nervous ... it CAN work out well!

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

I was simply replying to your attack on the rest of us who did not assuage their nervousness, and just answered their question

Wow, Coldjensens, I am sorry you felt like I was "attacking" other posters (including you) with my 2nd post on this thread (which I have included above) -- I wasn't at all! I was thinking as I read through many posts, eeeeeeeek, I must have lucked out at not finding out too many bad things after I bought my (current) house. And I wasn't at all being sarcastic when I said "maybe my [first] post ... wasn't as helpful as some of yours" -- I meant it, as posters have given good info about due diligence before buying.

I think a lot of first-time buyers are very nervous. I know I was. You do your due diligence, then take a deep breath and, if you want the house and you can afford it and you have a good chance of staying there awhile, you buy it. I remember telling my agent before I bought the first house, "I just want it to be perfect!" He said, "Karen, no house is perfect," and of course he was right, but it still worked out well.

Hueyeats, thanks for the support. I do hope no one else read my 2nd post as an attack on them or anyone else, it certainly was not meant that way.

I hope the OP appreciates ALL the good advice he/she has gotten!

[wze2006]

Pay attention to the outside - grading or lack thereof. Does water pool? Is grass growth sparse in certain places? Look at the house after it rains. Drainage has been a nightmare for me. Also, my inspector did not run the showers/tubs only the dishwasher and flushed the toilets. I ended up with a leaky pipe in my tub. Don't be afraid to mess with everything. Once you buy, you have the problems too. 5 years later, I don't regret buying, just wish I had been a more educated consumer. Good luck!

[Kembek]

I've lived in my townhouse for 24 years. It is not my dream home, but it's in a great location for my needs. The biggest complaint I have is that the house has an east/west face. My bedroom faces the east, so in the summer when the sun is up really early I wake up. I've tried room darkening shades and drapes to no avail. In the afternoon my backyard bakes in the summer sun since it faces the west. The yard is pretty much useless until early evening, but I can live with that. So, if I ever buy another home I will definitely make note of which direction the master bedroom windows face.

My other complaint is that after 24 years and many neighbors, no one has bothered to do a thing with their front or back yards. These yards are truly scary. I can't move my house to face and different direction and I have no power over my neighbors. Sigh....

[tle990]

Thanks so much to everyone for sharing your experiences. We feel so much more prepared to find the right house now. We have gone through your comments and made a checklist of things to consider when looking at a house. Thanks again! OP.