What should we do?

Hubby and I are in the market for a house. We have seen a few places and kinda like one. We need 4 BR's, 2 baths.... We are looking for a W/D, D/W, garage, privacy fence, and dining room. We are looking in Levittown. We would like at least 3 bedrooms upstairs. Hard for most Levitt houses.. We found one that is in a nice area. Big property. 3 bedrooms upstairs. One needs work. It has 2 baths, washer and dryer hook up. It has 2 bedrooms down stairs. One would eventually be made into a dining room. Have no idea how much that will cost. We need to put a dishwasher in the kitchen, a new banister on the stairs (child gate needed). There is no garage, but room for a big shed. The price just dropped over 20,000 dollars. The owners need to move ASAP!. Would it be advisable for us to seriously think about buying it and get the work done? Or try and find a place that doesn't need as much work? I have no idea how much it will cost for all the interior remodels? Our savings will be wiped out for the down payment and all the extra stuff. We are taking my Mom and brother to go see it on Sunday and see what they think..

Re: What should we do?

We aren't handy at all and don't have a lot of cash - so we held out for a house that was mostly the way we wanted it. If money is an issue for the reno's you really need to consider if you can live with it as is for a while. Everything costs money and takes time - so its all what you are comfortable with.

Good luck

Re: What should we do?

We can live in it without some of the stuff. The dining room isn't a big deal right now. The kitchen is plenty big. The big thing is no garage. We need that for storage. The bedroom upstairs needs a floor or carpet and a wall needs to be fixed. New sheet rock. We can buy a washer and dryer down the road and a dishwasher shouldn't cost to much to buy and install. We are looking at more and hope to find one that has more that we need/want... Thanks for the input... I am just afraid to let one get away!!! This is HARD!!!

Re: What should we do?

Personally - I could NOT live without a garage. My first house had a 2 car garage and current house has a 1 car garage. I hate only having a 1 car garage. It's all storage and I can't park the car in it lol

But that's me...there was a post a few months ago about whether you would buy a house without a garage - i believe the majority was no.

Good luck - house hunting is tough!

Re: What should we do?

I really want the garage but hubby thinks we can do a big shed.. We will be discussing it in detail on Sunday when we see the house again..It is just one of MANY houses we will disagree on....LOL..Thanks again...

Re: What should we do?

We live in a levitt and without having an attic and a basement you need a garage - Believe me. I also have a huge shed which is full. I sent you an fm

Re: What should we do?

If you've just started looking, I would hold off. There's a lot of available homes in Levittown.

Some of the things you are looking for... washer dryer and dishwasher and garage, for example, should be relatively easy to find, so I wouldn't settle on those things.

As you said, 3 bedrooms upstairs is going to be tougher, given that Levitt ranches and capes typically have 2 up/2 down (unless they've been expanded/remodeled). Also, a formal dining room is not the norm... most Levitt ranches have one big room on the other side of the fireplace that is typicallly in the kitchen. I've seen people extend that room and then use it as a big living and formal dining area (sort of a great room). Often, in the Levitt homes, too, the garage is attached but people wind up moving the utilities and washer/dryer in there (originally they were in the kitchens, as built), so the garage becomes a storage space only (not big enough for a car).

A Coloinial style home would have more of the layout you seem to be wanting, but of course that is more money than a typical Levitt house. I don't know what your budget is -- but that will be a factor in how many tradeoffs you will need to make or whether you can get everything on your wish-list.

Also - when thinking about trading off on certain items you wanted, ask yourself why you wanted them. If you wanted the garage for storage only, then perhaps a shed works fine. But if you wanted it to put a car in, or if you wanted an attached garage with access to the house (to put an extra fridge in, for example), the shed won't cut it.

Why do you want at least 3 bedrooms up? I know some people have said that they have at least 2 children, and they don't want their master on a separate floor as their young kids. If that's the case, how will you overcome only 2 bedrooms up?

I am very familiar with Levittown listings. My office has several, because several of our agents came from a Levittown office and still do the majority of their work there. So let me know if I can help with your search!

Re: What should we do?

Did you see my MIL's house? FM me and let me know what you thought!

Re: What should we do?

Re: What should we do?

We have a levitt and we don't have a garage. Where most levitts have a garage, we have an extension with a formal dining room. We have two sheds in the backyard. We are not dormered so we have eave space for storage. You can make it work.

Re: What should we do?

Re: What should we do?

Good Luck today