for those buying your 2nd house

What has changed on your want list. I thought when we bought our house it had just about everything I could want. Now 8 years and 3 kids later I have a different set of wants.

What I wanted then vs. now
Formal dining room-now a kitchen great room (or larger EIK)
Formal living room no a nice family room
basement for storage-now finished basement playroom with lots of closet space!
Huge yard-now I want a decent yard for the kids to play but it doesn't have to be huge

I want a master bath now
and a mud room type place as opposed to entering into a living space for shoes and kids stuff.

So what will your next house have that your current house doesn't?

Re: for those buying your 2nd house

I would like a garage, a larger yard(my current large is very small), walk in closets, and a master bedroom with it's own separate bathroom.

Re: for those buying your 2nd house

storage storage storage
4 bedrooms
larger backyard
driveway for 2 cars
excellent SD
curb appeal
updated kitchen and baths

Re: for those buying your 2nd house

We would be buying our 3 rd house when we sell this one.

Basically this house already has a lot of what I would want in my next house- Large EIK, Large DR, LR, finished basement and walk up attic, side entrance/ mudroom but one thing I DEF want in my next house is a PLAYROOM on my main level!!!
I want a room that my kids could play in that is safe and right near my kitchen.
I would like a master bathroom (in our room) Oh and I want a kitchen that I can fit those built in desks as well.

That is a must!!!!

Message edited 3/17/2011 12:51:18 PM.

Re: for those buying your 2nd house

I love my current house it has a large EIK, LR, DR, upstairs laundry room, walk in closets and a master bathroom and another bedroom. The property is flat and a nice size for the kids to play in. The things we are missing are: more bedrooms, garage and a basement.

Re: for those buying your 2nd house

When we do move again, it will be our 3rd and LAST house...

What are my new must haves?

4 bedrooms (or 3 and some place to put a home office)
2 baths at least*
Larger kitchen
Living room and Den*
good size yard*
2 car garage
mid block location
Big basement*
At least 2000 sq ft

THe ones with * we already have the main reason we will eventually move is the desire for more space...and expanding our current house is an option but I am afraid of what my taxes will be.

I feel with us, we bought our first house for the HOUSE...it was perfect for us as newlyweds and we did almost no work
to it.
The second house we bought our location. We live in a good SD, love our area, etc. And hte house is fine, but as the family (not just us and our kids but the extended family) grows its harder to entertain and do what we want becuase when we have family over its at least 20+ people!
Our next house will have everything we desire. I doubt it will be my dream home but it will be as close as I can get in our budget!

Re: for those buying your 2nd house

We just bought our 2nd home. Not uch has changed, just went BIGGER with everything.
1. decent sized yard 2. wanted an acre, got huge yard, pool & b-ball court
1. 3+ bedrooms 2. 4+ bedrooms
1. garage 2. 2-car garage
1. didn't care about CAC, window units OK 2. must have CAC (house didn't have it, currently installing it.)
1. casual dining area 2. formal DR plus EIK area
1. did not care about master bath. 2. must have master bath!

Re: for those buying your 2nd house

We just bought our 2nd home - we won't be moving anytime soon.

We didn't settle for: FDR - I wanted to be able to entertain
large EIK (ours was nicer than we were even expecting so we just lucked out)
family room
2 car driveway, quieter street
Must have master bath
Must have CAC
Must have IGS
We wanted at least 2600sq ft

the backyard in our last home was larger than our new backyard, but I'd prefer a larger home and a smaller backyard. In our area it's rare to have both.

I think FLRs can be a waste of space - I can see us using our DR even with little kids at some point but we'd have no use for a FLR.

Message edited 3/17/2011 7:53:43 PM.

Re: for those buying your 2nd house

I am counting the months until I pay off my loans so I can dedicate our free time toward our 2nd home search! Right now, my priorities for a 2nd home would be (in no particular order):

-overall bigger from current home
- must have 2 bedrooms minimum
- 2 car garage, minimum with yard large enough to hold BBQ and chairs/tables for visitors
- master bath
- 2 bathrooms!
- separate washer/dryer/laundry room
- extra closets
-larger entrance to store shoes, umbrellas and coats
-eat in kitchen

Re: for those buying your 2nd house

Must have had a large kitchen, 4 bedrooms, a large den and a bathroom on the main level! Our yard didn't have to be as big as we had it..we had a huuuuge yard and never used all of it!

Re: for those buying your 2nd house

It will be our 3rd house... We want less property to upkeep, no basement this time and to be on the water

Re: for those buying your 2nd house

I would say for the most part my wants are pretty similar, but I definately learned from the first time a few things that I didn't take into consideration when looking at houses that this time I focus mroe on.

Natural light - my first house didn't have enough windows in the main areas of the house. This time I always look for lots of large windows.

Floor plan - I like to see a nice flow of rooms and bedrooms to be separated from the main rooms of the house. My last house didnt have this.

Storage - Lots of closet space for toys, etc.

Large bedrooms - My first house had a large master but the 2 other bedrooms were so tiny. For DS I would like a larger bedroom.

Safety - When I bought my first house it was pre-baby so I didnt have to think about "these stairs would be pretty dangerous for DS" or anything along those lines. This time around I'm constantly noticing whether or not a home is baby-friendly.