When you bought your house.... (window, master bedroom, resale value, cabinets)

[canibeyou]

*something we could afford
*something we could afford
*something we could afford that looked halfway decent (we know how to repair/ remodel; we just needed good "bones" to start with)


In all seriousness... that was our "list".

We got SO blessed with what we got. We didn't even know at the time how blessed we'd gotten!

Now, we're toying with the idea of moving... and our list has gotten longer and longer! Naturally.

[eggalegga]

Originally Posted by babigyrl5

why a cul-de-sac? My dads house in on a cul-de-sac but I never thought anything of it lol

You have minimal traffic because your street is not a thoroughfare. It's quieter than living on a through street. The backyard is sometimes a funky shape but quite large.

[humboldtrat]

* Location
* Location
* Location

I wanted to live in a nice neighborhood that would have little chance of going downhill and I wanted to be within a mile or so of shopping and other amenities .

[humboldtrat]

Originally Posted by babigyrl5

why a cul-de-sac? My dads house in on a cul-de-sac but I never thought anything of it lol

Probably minimal traffic and kids can play in the street.

[MrsMo]

Homeowner's Associations have members from the neighborhood who can make rules and make your life miserable. Some friends of ours moved into an area that had one, dues are $100 a year and they will not allow a garage door to be open unless you are driving in or out of the garage. Like if the kids want to ride their bikes and they are kept in the garage and the kids leave the door open while they are out playing, you can be fined. And also they are not allowed any overnight street parking. IN other words if you have company, pray you have room in the driveway for your overnight company to park their car. Kind of hard when you have 4 teenagers and they each have their own car. No working on cars in your driveway. NO clothes lines. I've even heard of a few that won't allow swingsets or chain link fences, only wood fences.It gets ridiculous to be restricted about what happens on your own property. A friend told me that her area came around and told her she couldn't plant the type of flowers she planted around her mailbox.

[Chinolala]

Close to public transportation
Walkable to shopping, restaurants, etc.
No more than 15 miles from our jobs

[DubbleT]

Privacy
Large yard (1/2 acre)
Basement/garage/plentyof storage
Also stayed with an older (1950's) home because of construction quality.

[musicwriter]

Originally Posted by babigyrl5

what were the top 3 things you wanted your house to have?

When my sister bought her first house the top 3 things she was looking for was:

1. large, fenced yard
2. hardwood floors
3. a basement

we were not picky, we just wanted a nice place where we could get out of the Apt we were living in. We bought a house that was vacant for over 15 years, and needed a lot of work. It was built in 1920, and luckily we have a liscenced electrician, and plumber in the family. We have done the work with the help of family. Have all brand new plumbing, and almost all of the electrical in the house is too. There are a few spots with some of the old pin & post style wiring, but as long as it works, why not?

My wife loved all of the wood in the house, and as for the original hardwood floor, we are taking up the old glue on the floor, found out totally by accident it is water soluble LOL (probably because it is over 80 years old) and we aren't snading it down to brand new, we want to leave the charcter in the wood, so just sanding it smooth, and applying urethane over it.
We also pulled out the ugly sprawly bushes that were in the front of the house, almost covering the sidewalk we bought some retaining wall blocks, and made flower beds on either side of the front stairs. We also have fenced in the back yard this summer so our dog can run and play peacefully in the back yard, and not have to be tied to a tie-out stake.
We also poured a new step at the front also. Our next projects are to start building stairs in the back, the stairs in back are crumbling. We also want to add a small deck to the back of the house. It's a labor of love, and while retaining most of the houses original character, we are adding a few modern touches to it. Such as we have a nearly top-of-the-line central air system, and we plan to put ceiling fans in the living room, kitchen, and all the bedrooms. Eventually we want to put in spray foam insulation. Anything we can do to lower energy bills is well worth it.

[musicwriter]

Originally Posted by MrsMo

Homeowner's Associations have members from the neighborhood who can make rules and make your life miserable. Some friends of ours moved into an area that had one, dues are $100 a year and they will not allow a garage door to be open unless you are driving in or out of the garage. Like if the kids want to ride their bikes and they are kept in the garage and the kids leave the door open while they are out playing, you can be fined. And also they are not allowed any overnight street parking. IN other words if you have company, pray you have room in the driveway for your overnight company to park their car. Kind of hard when you have 4 teenagers and they each have their own car. No working on cars in your driveway. NO clothes lines. I've even heard of a few that won't allow swingsets or chain link fences, only wood fences.It gets ridiculous to be restricted about what happens on your own property. A friend told me that her area came around and told her she couldn't plant the type of flowers she planted around her mailbox.

what a crock. I know that the Chiropractic clinic that is butted up to the NW end of our property, the person we bought our house from thinks she has control over what goes on in our yard. Uh, excuse me, i thought WE owned the house maybe only in theory?

[T. Damon]

Older, established walkable neighborhood near downtown; first ring streetcar suburb
Craftsman '20s Architecture with lots of natural light.
A sweet, interesting Garden; not a "yard" (flat square of grass surrounded by a wooden fence)

I succeeded beyond my wildest dreams- my first house is my last house as far as I'm concerned.