[SweetBeth]

My husband and I are currently renting and actively looking for a home. We are originally from Texas and enjoy a fenced backyard and a lot of living space. I prefer a Ranch Style home which is difficult to find in nice areas. (It seems)

This is our debate, should we buy a house we like or one we are sure will appeal to the masses if we should need to sell? Does that make sense?

Question: What do people prefer here? What did you look for in a home? What would turn you off immediately? Any thoughts and comments are appreciated!!

[SweetBeth]

I forgot to mention we are looking in: Novi, Northville, Farmington Hills, and West Bloomfield.

[Rapunzll]

Depends on how long you plan to stay in the home. If it's five years or less, than choose something that has better resale value. If longer, than choose what you like. I think there are plenty of markets for ranch style homes as well as others. I wouldn't let that bother you too much.

The one thing that is the most important though is location.

[Coldjensens]

I would not consider any house without a basement. I think that is true of most people.

Waterfront property of any kind has better resale value.

Ranch homes are becomming more popular as the boomers age. They do not want to climb stairs.

New houses (post 1960s) are usually shoddily built. The newer they are, the worse the construciton techniques and materials. Modern lumber is absolute junk. You have a good liklihood to have problems with a new house within 5 to 10 years. Older houses may need updating, but they usually have all of the major bugs worked out of them, or at least the problems have manifested so that you know what the problems are.
However design advances can help make a newer house better. For example a house with no subdrain system is likely to suffer from water problems in the basement forever, or until a drainage system is installed. Forget "water proofing" there is no such thing. You need a subdrain if the area is even sometimes wet. Personally I would choose an older house over a newer house every time as long as it has a subdrain system installed for the basement.

For short term resale, choose good school districts. Long term, there is not much sense in that since the quality of schools often changes over time.

Commute times are becomming more and more important to people. traffic is only going to get worse. Avoid areas that already have traffic problems.

Do not fall for frilly upgrades that cost a lot of money. Granite counters, stainless appliances, stone or tile floors and simlar cosmetic improvements reflect what is "in" right now. In five years that can all change and then your costly upgrades are outdated. five years ago, it was a big deal to have a house wired for computer connections. Now it is irrelevant. Everything is wireless. At one time, fake aluminum shutters were all the rage. A few years later, people were paying contractors to remove those ugly things. Pay only for the basics. Add on whatever makes you personally happy for the time that you are living there, but do nto view such things as an investment.

[malamute]

I prefer ranch style myself but I'm now living in the SW. I think the problem in Michigan with them is that many people prefer two stories over the basement because you heat less area, the heat rises to the second story, a ranch house is more spread out.

[ImaMichigander]

We're in a great sub that is still being built. We have something like 50 lots total and currently there are about 23 houses built. 22 of the 23 2 stories. There is only one ranch and the gentleman that lives there is a babyboomer.

And as for skipping the upgrades, as another writer mentioned, you need to like what you have now. We have the granite and the stainless and though our house is still on the market and we're moving in a week, people expect it in the caliber of homes that are in my Brownstown neighborhood.

Now first floor master. That is a whole other kettle of fish. A lot of people want 1st floor masters. That is not what we have now-- all 4 bedrooms up-- but that is what we are moving to. I'll have to let you know how that works out with 3 small children who like to visit up at night! But that has been the most common question that I've gotten about our house. People want that 1st floor master, it seems.

Good luck to you!