How did you know your house was "THE" house? (hardwood floors, window)

[slicklorin]

My husband and I just started house hunting. We currently rent in Daphne and love it. We looked into buying here but what we want does not equal what we can afford. We found a gorgeous home that meets all of our qualifications (except the closets-they're tiny) but its about 20 minutes from Daphne and 40 minute commute to/from work. Still, It's a beautiful, rural area. Anyway, were having such a hard time deciding whether or not it's "THE" house for us. How did you know?

[MrRational]

Anything that might qualify as "The House" will either be $300,000 above whatever your budget
might be or not coming on the market at all. You're left to make what you find & can afford "The House"

Start with the day to day practical of getting to/from, in/out then around/about.
iow: room size and layout, hallway width, street orientation, commuting... and storage too.
Without these things being in place living there won't be any fun at all.

[davebarnes]

If it is your first house and you are without a lot of money, then write down your criteria in importance order.
Now, go buy a house.

My first house:
1. location - fairly wide
2. hardwood floors, basement, garage
3. $55k or less (1977)

Bought
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/14...57113711_zpid/
for $52.5K and sold in 1985 for $164K because we moved to Colorado.
We also replaced every window (single pane, steel casement) with Pella windows.
We also replaced the kitchen with custom maple cabinets.
We also insulated.

[Wry_Martini]

When I could picture myself living there and realized I had mentally arranged my furniture/picked out paint colors. And it met my most important "must haves".

[Donn2390]

Quite simple in my case, my wife told me it was THE house..!

[missik999]

It was love at first sight.

I loved the huge, well-kept yard. There were several mature trees but far enough from the house not to cause issues. Nice landscaping, pretty shrubs, bushes and perennials. The back and side yards were fenced with shadowbox fence.

I loved the huge deck, 20' by 50'. We like to spend a lot of time outside so this deck was perfect.

The three car garage gave me room for both cars and my bicycles.

The neighborhood was located next to a major bike route that connects several small towns and a large city.

The neighborhood was nice, all the homes were well-maintained with nice lawns and mature trees.

The location was excellent, nice shopping, restaurants and a Whole Foods within walking distance.

So I knew it was " THE" house before I even saw the inside....

[HWTechGuy]

In my case, it just worked out. I was relocating to FL from PA for a job promotion and did alot of research finding houses myself before my "look and see trip" that my company paid for. I also secured a realtor down here. Between what I found online myself and what he found, I looked at like 45 houses. Ironically, the first house he brought us to is the one we ended up with. It was just random luck. The realtor just mapped out the houses by area and each day we looked at a group of houses that were all near each other. We ended up bidding on another house but the sellers were totally unreasonable, wouldn't budge on price even though the place wouldn't appraise for their asking price - making a mortgage unattainable.

[JrzDefector]

I just bought my first house in January. When I walked in with the realtor to see it for the first time, both of us started laughing hysterically. It hasn't been updated since it was built in 1962, for the most part. There is actually a room with scarlet shag carpeting, red velvet curtains and red, black and gold FLOCKED wallpaper. We laughed until we cried. And then we realized it met almost every single one of my criteria. It is spacious, conveniently located, and has lovely front and back yards. And it just felt "comfortable."

I really love it.

[DubbleT]

My realtor and I walked in, looked at each other and said "yes, this is it".
After looking at ever so many houses that were somewhere between 'no way' and 'meh, maybe' this one ticked all the right boxes. Convenient, private, large yard, just the right size, hardwood floors and a basement garage, all at the right price. Not perfect, but I felt positive about it when we walked in and that hasn't changed since I bought it.

[wit-nit]

There is no 'perfect house. You'll know it when you feel it in your gut as you peruse through the property. If everything looks right, feels right, right location, and fits the budget then it's thee house.