Finding a home? NPR

I know this is NPR related but theres not a lot of traffic on the Home forum...

For the people who own homes...
How did you know when you were house hunting that you found IT?

How did you know that even if a house needed work, that the amount of work was reasonable and not too much? Especially if you wanted to expand the home at some point?

How many negatives is too many?

What if the positives are the more important ones (ie area, lot size, price, school district)

Im so confused right now. I feel like Im unsure if we have found the 1. I def think its possible. But I dont know if Im supposed to feel something or is that just in the movies? I mean its not my ultimate dream home, but we cant afford my ultimate dream home. At least not in LI. LOL And we do not want to move to NJ.

HOW DO YOU KNOW?! LOL

Finding a home? NPR

We def knew we found the one. Both dh and I looked at each other and waited for the realtor to walk away before showing our excitement to each other.

Re: Finding a home? NPR

I had our lists of "must haves".

1. Great school district (how I narrowed down area).
2. Easy to get to by major roads.
3. Construction of house (primarily stone or brick).
4. On TOP of a hill (I didn't want floods).
5. At least 3 bedrooms.
6. Flat backyard.

So the negatives came with the territory:
Pricey house
High taxes
Small land
Small house
Not renovated since ?1970s

I KNEW when I saw our house it was the one. We looked at maybe 20 houses in our area. It was beautiful from the outside, had the right # of rooms, the right set-up & was classic. We will renovate someday & our kitchen is a horror, but we live there happily.

We did see a house that was too much work. We needed to live in the house (not somewhere else) & we both WFT... so too much work was a no go. Plus, we spent every penny we had & then some to get the house.

Finding a home? NPR

I think you just know when you find it. We all have different needs and if it fit our need and our price.

As for work - that is completely personal. I never see anything as too much work but we do it all ourselves and we enjoy a good project.

negatives - again personal. it just depends on how flexible you are.

IMO you can't ask others about houses cause its all very personal. What is right for me will not be for anyone else.

Re: Finding a home? NPR

Finding a home? NPR

It had all of our must haves and pretty much all of our would like to haves but could live without.

Must Haves:
Garage or basement (has both)
At least 3 bedrooms and at least 1.5 bathrooms
No work needed
Live in ready
At least 1 bathtub
Good schools
No more than 5-10 mins from highway
More than 1 mile from LIRR

Would like to have:
CAC
Pool
Deck
Finished basement
HW floors

Re: Finding a home? NPR

We made a list of things that we MUST have.

1. Walking neighborhood ie: not on a double yellow.
2. Good schools.
3. Good yard.
4. Easy to get to highways.
5. Generally stores that were close enough (grocery and pharmacy) so we always had options close to home.
6. Central air.
7. Pool.
8. Move in ready. Needed no/little work
9. Garage
10. MUST have 2+ bathrooms.

We wanted a great room, or big family room. That was pretty much on the MUST have but would not make or break.

We looked. We saw what we liked and started saying "hum, I think that's a great idea, I want to look for THAT.

We had our range and started looking.

The MOMENT I saw, then stepped into the house I knew it was the one. Not this big AHA moment, but it FELT like home.

I just knew it was right.

Message edited 1/9/2014 4:16:22 PM.

Finding a home? NPR

I know its a very personal thing and I totally get that. I guess I didnt get that 'AHA' moment or get the 'wow this is home' feeling but think this might be a good opportunity for the price. but Im not 100% sure. I dont know that this is our house... UGHH this is a very difficult decision...

Also do you live near family? If so how close?

Re: Finding a home? NPR

Finding a home? NPR

I am closing on a house next week - we were house hunting on and off for over a year
I didn't have a moment that I knew the house was the one. We had a list of requirements and a budget - the house we got fit it all

I still have moments where I think maybe there was something else out there but who knows...I can definitely say we didn't rush into it and I feel good about our decision

Message edited 1/9/2014 5:03:53 PM.

Re: Finding a home? NPR

I think you'll know when you find it. I wasn't over the moon in love with the house, but I knew it was the best we could do right now and that we would be happy with the choice.

We had a list of must-haves and this house checked them all. There were other things that would have been nice, all of which we can do to this house if we ever have the money (such as updated kitchen, add a master bath etc.)

Finding a home? NPR

For us when we were looking there were a lot of houses we were in and out of in less than 10 minutes. When we found IT we spent over an hour in the house the first time we saw it. The second time we looked we were there for almost 3 hours. DH was making himself at home with his friend that came with us. We just felt so comfortable there and did not want to leave.
As for work that's personal and only you can decide what's too much for you. Ours only needed cosmetic work until a tree fell on the house, lol.
I can't really answer about compromises because we really didn't have to make any. Our house delivered more than we could have expected and for less than we expected.

Message edited 1/9/2014 8:24:54 PM.