What do you look for in a house?

[x88x]

So, I've been looking around to buy a house the last few weeks, as I'm getting sick of the bottomless money-hole that is renting...and I've noticed something interesting about myself. When I'm looking at house listings, I don't really look at the houses much at all. The things I look for are 1) a decent-sized garage (read: workshop/garage in the mechanic sense, not the storage sense), 2) a decent amount of land (my ideal would be 20+ acres, but that's not realistic around here...heck, 1+ acres is hard to find in my price range), and 3) nowhere near the city (I hate living in cities), but close enough to the city that I won't have a massive commute. ...and none of these things has anything to do with the house itself. Now, granted, I am a bachelor with no dependants, and none anticipated in the near future, so that probably has a lot to do with it. Another thing is that most houses built in the last 70 years or so (basically, since WWII) pretty much bore me architecturally (with the exception of some of the stuff from the 70's), so maybe they just don't really stand out at all? For a house to interest me in it's own right it generally has to be at least 100 years old ..which is another rare thing around here, especially in my price range. So, this got me wondering.. What do you all look for in a house?

[TheGreatSatan]

Something stable. Strong foundation, no leaks or mildew (Just dealt with that). Important updates like kitchen would be nice. I just spent 4K on that. Home with some age and character. Subway tiles, built-ins and moldings are important to look for. Energy efficient central air (3K for that) and windows are a plus. Strong roof (My 30yr Architectural was also 4K) is important.

Make sure every house you like gets a proper home inspection. It's better to spend $300 a few times trying to find the right home instead of buying one that becomes a money pit.

Oh, and location, location, location for future value

[BuzzKillington]

Deal breakers:
Window placement. I've come across a lot of problems with windows being in stupid locations in a room where there's not enough solid walls to put your computer desk, entertainment center or larger dressers with the vanity mirrors without overlapping the windows.

Garage size, preferably with lots of storage/cabinets or enough room for them to be installed.

Windows/doors that allow breezes to pass through. Rooms with only one window SUCK in the summer.

Parking. Even if you can park multiple cars... can you still get out without playing musical cars. I despise parking areas to be under/close to trees.

If high speed internet is available in the area.

Proper doorway placement to where hallways wont hinder you getting in furniture/beds/etc.

Laundry room not sharing a wall with a bedroom.


As for looks:
I LOVE older brick houses, especially if they have the wrap around balconies and front porches.

I like large windows

I like wooden floors in the livingroom and hallways as long as they're on a solid foundation. I can't stand creeky floors. real tiles in the kitchen and nice carpet elsewhere.

Good sized yard, not having neighbors too close. I feel the exact same way where I want to be slightly off the beaten path but I don't wanna be the only house for miles while also being within 10minutes or so of malls, grocery stores, etc...

[mDust]

Ha, just about every house around here is about 100 years old. There's a huge neighborhood called Heritage Hill that is comprised of houses between 90 and 150 years old...trust me though, building practices back then were sketchy at best. What you want is a house with the same architecture, not the real thing.
I just realized today that the crime level in the neighborhood is pretty high on my list. I recently found crimemapping.com (http://www.crimemapping.com/) while looking for a new apartment...38 crimes today alone in my immediate area, and those are just the ones that a police report was filed for. I'm not talking about sissy crimes either...rape, assault with intent to murder, armed robbery, crack cocaine, car jacking, burglary with forced entry, etc. It doesn't even seem like a bad area and I've never witnessed anything of the sort...no matter, I'm getting the hell out of here. Make sure the area you're settling into long-term is a decent neighborhood...check with the police, don't just look around or listen to the agent selling the property.
So decent neighborhood, sound structure, well maintained by previous owner, well connected to surrounding community...there are probably better things to worry about but those are things I'd be looking at. Those all affect the resale value, since you're looking for a bachelor house and not a house for a family. If you're handy, look for cheap properties with google realestate and fix them up for eventual resale. I was looking to do that a couple of times, but never committed after seeing the properties in person.
Things you should watch out for are homes with liens on them, building code infractions, and mold. A house with mold will always be a house with mold. Also, if you're into older homes, make sure it's not a historical site...there's no worse PITA. Even minor repairs have to be approved by a board comprised of people that are generally amused by causing you great inconvenience.
I might add that I've never bought a home before...I'm still a renter. Consider this statement a disclaimer! :)

[x88x]

Thanks guys, you've given me a lot of stuff to look for, some stuff that I'd thought of at various points but forgotten, some stuff that I honestly hadn't thought of. I haven't heard back from my realtor yet, but hopefully will later today. Before I go to check any houses out in person I'm definitely going to put together a list of stuff to check. I tend to always assume I'll remember stuff or come up with it then, and...yeah, it doesn't work. :P

BTW, yes, this is a temporary thing; I'm thinking probably 10 years max, since by then I hope to have figured out what I really want to do and find a job doing it in the area I really want to be (Southern Midwest, AZ/NM/NV/CO area). Partly because land is dirt cheap (85 acres of desert and mountainous area for $120k? hells yeah! :D ), but mostly because I just love the whole area and climate.


trust me though, building practices back then were sketchy at best. What you want is a house with the same architecture, not the real thing.

It all depends what you get. I grew up in an old house (1920's, iirc), and have worked on a lot of similar old houses, and I can safely say that if you get a well-built old house, yes, I would much rather have the real thing. :D But then I'm weird like that; I love working on old houses, I love the history of old houses, I just love the whole thing. :D

[Airbozo]

My house was built ~1910. Not sure since back then no records were kept and it really started out as a hunting/vacation cabin with (as far as I can tell) 3 rooms. I do have all of the original plot maps (I am the Road Association president) and they date back to 1906. The practice back then was to clear cut the redwoods, mill them onsite and build the house with them and take the remaining logs to the lumber mill and sell them (My town used to be a huge logging town back 100 years ago). The redwood lumber in my house is ~100 years old and with time and heat have become like rock. You can not drive a nail through them by hand and when you use a nailing gun, 30% of the time the nail will bounce right off.

Things that were important to me were;

Cost (I bought my house when I was making very little money and used the MAX that my VA loan would allow)
Land (we have just under 3/4 of an acre with lots of privacy. The plot is mostly flat which is a rarity where I live)
House condition (Inspectors are essential, but they don't catch everything)
Location (had to be somewhat close to various working locations (Santa Cruz, San Jose), since I plan on living here a while)
Good neighborhood (Some roads up here lead right into the heart of axe murderer territory)
Local amenities (we have 2 supermarkets, 2 liquor stores, a brewery and several good restaurants within walking distance)


Things I would have done differently;

Bought a house on the other side of the street. In the winter the sun dips below the small mountain behind us and it stays cold.
I would have learned more about drainage in this area. During a normal winter we get LOTS of rain and making sure it flows right took several years of trial and error. During bouts of heavy rain it gets scary here.
Bought a house with a garage. I didn't think it would matter since there is a 200sq' shed/workshop, but I was wrong. I think it should be illegal to have a house without a garage... lol The carport (uncovered since a drive by incident at my house many years ago) does not cut it.
I would have hired the inspector myself. If you use the inspector recommended by your Realtor, they work for them not you and their main focus is to help the Realtor sell the house. They will deny this, but there is a conflict of interest.
I would also have hired a second inspector just to make sure.
I would have driven through the neighborhood at different times and days of the week to see what the traffic and people were like.


Things I would absolutely stay away from;

HOA's. I don't want anyone telling me what color I can paint my house or where I have to park my cars (some do not allow you to park in your own driveway overnight...) Our Road Association is only for the upkeep of our roads and bridge and does not dictate land use except for keeping the turn outs clear (and that is a directive from our fire department since we have single lane roads with tight corners).
Private bridges. The fire department regulates the load capacity of the bridges based on their fire fighting equipment and bridge repair is regulated by the state and county which makes it a PITA to do anything but upkeep. We are in the process of upgrading the bridge to take it from 18000lb capacity to 23000lb's to accommodate a firetruck that due to it's length would never even be able to get to the bridge let alone cross it. This has drug on for 4 years so far and we don't even have permit's yet.

[Twigsoffury]

Insulation, What style and what is the R value of the insulation in the walls and ceiling. you want to see R-15 in the walls, R-25 in the ceilings

Windows, You really want vynil, aluminum is good to, at least double pane, and LOW-E on the parts of the house that face the sun.

Plumbing, PVC? RVX? Copper? whats the main drain to the city like? does it have plumbers traps for easy access? (the tubes that stick vertically out of the ground) Do the drains and toliets look like they drain alright?

Foundation, Are there any major cracks or dips, do the floors sit level? (impossible on a old house, but major cracks are a indication of a bad problem)

Roof, How old is it? Whats the ply? how many layers are on the roof? does it look like its saggin between the A frames? Does the roof frames look alright from the attic? any mold? is there a vapor barrier installed on the back side? does it have chimneys? do the chimneys look like they leak around the seams? a lot do and it can lead to Frame rot.

Electrical? is it the old two wire? or the new three wire romex? Does it have GFCI's in the bathroom? Is it upto code with the new dual ground system in the circuit breaker box? whats the amp rating on the main breaker?

lol i can go on for pages with crap to look for.

you should ABSOLUTELY higher a housing inspector before you purchase a house, he can find any problems that need to be addressed and you can negotiate that on the final price. you defiantly don't want to move into a home with major problems just because your wife thought it was cute and pretty only to end up having to spend 30,000k on a new structure 3 years later. they cost about 100~200$ and are worth every penny, they'll basically rape that house to check for problems.

I told my HOA to lick my bawls and i'll do what i want...when i want, they should clean up the abandoned houses before they come and try and tell me i couldn't plant a tree in my front yard.. haven't heard from them since.. HOA's dont have any legal authority in oklahoma.