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1. No view of mountains/house isn't oriented to take advantage of views of mountains.
2. Less than 3 bedrooms (unless priced so low as to be able to add on to home)
3. less than .5 acres
4. Bad interior floor plan that cannot be changed without major renovation
5. In need of major updates unless price reflects that (would actually prefer renovating if home priced well)
6. No pool (could have a pool built but don't want to have to deal with that)
7. If in HOA, excessive fees
Little/no counter space-every home I've lived in has none and I'm so over that problem
New construction-wife is a home inspector and she can tell you horror stories about the new shoddy and rushed construction and cheap building materials
2 story homes-no way I'm climbing stairs until the end of time and resale value lowered
Smaller than 1800 square feet-we need room for all our useless junk.
Small/no backyard-Great Danes make a huge yard a must
Pool-echoing everyone else's sentiments about the insurance liability and maintenance costs
Huge HOA fees/Nazi HOAs-I look into those beforehand
All electric-in Texas, the bills for the A/C will drive you to bankruptcy if everything else is electric also
The utility rates on the rest of the subdivision. Private utilities are not regulated as public utilities are. I got screwed on water rates on a rental home once. $130/month for the minimum for two of us! I learned a hard lesson from that.
Excessive commute times. This might even be the most important in one of the most congested cities in the US. So I check this out beforehand as well.
Close to RR tracks-another bad experience with constant train noise/traffic congestion made me learn my lesson the hard way about that issue.
Fewer than 4 bedrooms. Wife works from home, so we need that. The bedrooms don't have to be huge, though a roomy master is nice.
Open floor plan. Just ugh.
Fewer than 1.5 baths.-People often need to go at the same time.
I guess I'm picky, but when you live and pay a fat mortgage on a home, you should be.
Above ground utilities
Driveway in poor condition or substandard material, like asphalt
Garage that was designed just for storing cars and crap. It’s nuts how many garages are wired, lighted and designed to be nothing more than car hole. This can be fixed.
Vinyl or metal siding = crap in my book. Maybe I’m biased, but I prefer Hardi siding or stucco.
Substandard roofing materials.
Anything piped with Pex. I just hate Pex
Stainless appliances as a selling point, they do nothing for me.
Sheet flooring
HOA
Trees that been butchered by wannabe arborists
Excessive use of bark as ground cover
In Canada, cul-de-sacs are the very last area to get plowed out after snowstorms. If you live in a cul-de-sac, good luck getting in and out with your car(s) during the winter.
Thanks for the heads up......but I got smart and moved away from snowy areas long ago!
Little/no counter space-every home I've lived in has none and I'm so over that problem
New construction-wife is a home inspector and she can tell you horror stories about the new shoddy and rushed construction and cheap building materials
2 story homes-no way I'm climbing stairs until the end of time and resale value lowered
Smaller than 1800 square feet-we need room for all our useless junk.
Small/no backyard-Great Danes make a huge yard a must
Pool-echoing everyone else's sentiments about the insurance liability and maintenance costs
Huge HOA fees/Nazi HOAs-I look into those beforehand
All electric-in Texas, the bills for the A/C will drive you to bankruptcy if everything else is electric also
The utility rates on the rest of the subdivision. Private utilities are not regulated as public utilities are. I got screwed on water rates on a rental home once. $130/month for the minimum for two of us! I learned a hard lesson from that.
Excessive commute times. This might even be the most important in one of the most congested cities in the US. So I check this out beforehand as well.
Close to RR tracks-another bad experience with constant train noise/traffic congestion made me learn my lesson the hard way about that issue.
Fewer than 4 bedrooms. Wife works from home, so we need that. The bedrooms don't have to be huge, though a roomy master is nice.
Open floor plan. Just ugh.
Fewer than 1.5 baths.-People often need to go at the same time.
I guess I'm picky, but when you live and pay a fat mortgage on a home, you should be.
So if a house has gas water heater, gas fireplace, gas central heat, but electric stove and oven, is that a potential issue?
I'm about to start my quest in finding a new house. Besides my "normal" must-haves (3 bd + office, or 4 bd; 2+ bath; decent size kitchen and backyard; lots of storage space), I realized how important it was to me to have a half bath/powder room. I'd never thought about it until now.
My deal breakers are: pool (can't be bothered with the maintenance), galley kitchen (too small for a family of 4), only 3 bedrooms (my hubby works from home so we need some sort of space for a desk), off a busy road (I have 2 small kids)
After talking to my friends about what their deal breakers were, it made me wonder if my list should be longer
What were/are your deal breakers?
I didn't want houses with:
-No garage
-No deck
-No finished basement
-No hardwood floors on main level
-On a high traffic street
-Have a flight of stairs leading to the front door
-More than three levels
-Corner lots
-Electric heat/stove
-Less than 2.5 baths and 3 bedrooms
-Not in the town that I wanted to live in
-Over my price range
I had other deal breakers too but I guess those were the main ones. Luckily, I found what I wanted.
All electric-in Texas, the bills for the A/C will drive you to bankruptcy if everything else is electric also.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vansgirl
So if a house has gas water heater, gas fireplace, gas central heat, but electric stove and oven, is that a potential issue?
No. When I said all electric is a dealbreaker I meant all systems are electric: the water heater, heat, stove, oven, and anything else. Our current home runs on mostly gas, which makes the utilities affordable.
No. When I said all electric is a dealbreaker I meant all systems are electric: the water heater, heat, stove, oven, and anything else. Our current home runs on mostly gas, which makes the utilities affordable.
Having a gas stove would be great. Is setting up the stove to run on gas an expensive thing?
So if a house has gas water heater, gas fireplace, gas central heat, but electric stove and oven, is that a potential issue?
I think it can be. I mean I really wanted a gas stove but the house I ended up buying had an electric stove with no gas run to the kitchen however it was so appealling in other ways that I ended up buying it anyway. It cost me $750 to have a line run to the kitchen. A number small enough to not kill the house sale.
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