What won't you compromise on buying a house? (condo, transfer)

[johngolf]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

I've come across a few older houses with electric furnaces which are pretty unusual. The most common older electrical heating system though seems to be electric baseboard which I hate. I have hot water baseboard in my house now and I hate that too. I'm quite sure my next house will have some form of forced hot air heating or I probably will not buy it.

Best HVAC is forced air gas heat and do not forget the AC part.

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by johngolf

Best HVAC is forced air gas heat and do not forget the AC part.

Maybe in a temperate climate and/or a strapped budget.

I'd rather have hydronic radiant flooring (if NG is available) and ducted Mitsu/Diakin heat pumps for the hot/humid weather. Heat pumps if in oil/propane country.

[Aloysius603]

I'm not a fan of split level homes, like at all. I won't even look at the listing.

also, don't want a home with a pool. If it has a pool it's a turn off for me. don't want the added liability and maintenance. If priced right maybe there's room in budget to remove it but then I've heard is not worth it to do that so it's usually a pass...

[Beachcomber4]

Location.

[timberline742]

Off street parking

[huff100]

No main road - I never can understand why anyone would want to live on a main road!

Also a flood zone- would not want the extra insurance costs with it.

A very pricey repair you need to do ASAP - like a roof, septic tank, etc.

[porterhouse]

Originally Posted by huff100

Also a flood zone- would not want the extra insurance costs with it.

You can often get the flood insurance transferred from the previous owner, grandfathered at the same rate. If so, flood insurance can be surprisingly reasonable (10% the cost of a new policy in some cases).

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by porterhouse

You can often get the flood insurance transferred from the previous owner, grandfathered at the same rate. If so, flood insurance can be surprisingly reasonable (10% the cost of a new policy in some cases).

Depends on the risk assessment. When in the RE market, I toured a home which abutted Nashua river watershed. The floodplain had been listed as either a 50 or 100yr event, however two events within the last 20 years proved the original floodplain map was not conservative enough.

Insurance was 6.5x that of homes just outside the new floodplain mapping. Big 'oof' for the sellers who ended up selling for well below market sqft/$.

Unless one has the capital to avoid requiring flood insurance, it's probably best to avoid it in MA. Outside of the coastal areas and a few pockets scattered throughout the state, there's plenty of low risk land available within markets.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by johngolf

Best HVAC is forced air gas heat and do not forget the AC part.

My personal favorite HVAC system is Hydro-air. The heating happens in a boiler and then in the air mover there is a coil of hot water. It's less dry than traditional forced hot air plus you can have an indirect hot water tank which is something that I like vs. a traditional hot water heater (I'm still not sold on the "on demand" hot water heaters).

In terms of A/C, I would never buy a house that didn't already have central air unless I planned on installing C/A right away.

Originally Posted by Shrewsburried

Maybe in a temperate climate and/or a strapped budget.

I'd rather have hydronic radiant flooring (if NG is available) and ducted Mitsu/Diakin heat pumps for the hot/humid weather. Heat pumps if in oil/propane country.

The thing I really hate about my hot water baseboard is that it takes FOREVER for the heating system to noticeably warm the house. I do have plenty of insulation and while my windows are double pane they are older. So, my thought is that the house is decently insulated and if there is a problem is just with the physics of hot water baseboard. Maybe hydronic radiant flooring would be better as it's a larger surface area though.

[sawyer2]

We have hydronic radiant heating in the floor of our main level - highly recommend and would never go back. Not that difficult or expensive to add if you have access to the joist bays in the basement.