Here's the results:
1. John Dear and I need to make more money (or be able to sell our condo) in order to buy the kind of house that we would like to buy.
Our thinking was that we could buy a new house and rent out our condo until the market improved. We may still be able to do this, but we've got a lot of equity in our condo that we wouldn't be able to use in the purchase of a home. This cuts down our options quite a bit (as does the fact that JD is unemployed right now, but let's put that aside).
2. We are not people who could buy a "cute" house. We're just not handy enough.
What's the opposite of handy? Footy? We're footy. We saw a house that really can only be described as a cottage -- very cute, very close to Metro, very small. The house had radiators. We are not handy enough to handle radiators. John Dear almost freaked when he saw the radiators.
We also saw a house with dark blue and green, very thick shag carpets in two of the bedrooms. The realtor didn't even wait for us to ask. She volunteered that the owners had been in the house since it was built (circa 1960s) and the husband had picked out the rug himself and refused to have it removed in order to show the house and its gorgeous hardwood floors.
3. We learned that we need a driveway w/ either a garage or carport. We also need the laundry to be on the ground floor or 2nd floor.
No basement laundries for me! Also, we've lived in too many places where parking was an issue to give up on this point. It shouldn't be that much of a problem in suburbia, but there are actually a lot of homes where we're looking that don't have dedicated spots or garages.
Now, of course, this was just a preliminary trip into house-hunting. We are really just learning what kinds of houses we like, where we want to be, etc. We had a really fun time on Sunday, and I'm looking forward to going out again.
Monday, August 4, 2008
House Search
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
Sounds like fun. Dh and I like to go to open houses sometimes, just for fun.
I'm getting the itch to move again soon too. But my list would look pretty similar to yours. If we rent out our townhouse, we can't really afford anything, but we probably couldn't sell the townhouse. And I LOVE footy, we each have two left feet when it comes to all things house related!
Good luck with the search!
At least you're having fun and getting an idea of what you want! Remember that for things like shag carpet, it's super easy to hire somebody...
Of course I say this as a handy person.
I love house hunting. I still look even though there isn't a snowball's chance that we are moving any time soon. I will have to live vicariously through you. Keep the house hunting updates coming!
Ahh... house hunting. You should ask E about his take on house hunting.
10 things of what I learned in being a single-family homeowner. This could get lengthy!
1. Getting up at 5 am to do a practice drive into work was not that bad of an idea. I found a lot of neighborhoods/suburbs I did not want to live in.
2. Laundry cannot be in the basement!
3. We are handy but yet I still have yet to find my handy way in making drapes for our windows.
4. Mowing the lawn is not fun at all. Okay, it was fun the first few times.
5. Never buy a foreclosed house where the previous owners take everything but the kitchen sink! Two years later and we still have basement style light fixtures.
6. A 3-car garage does not mean that 3 cars will be going in there. With all of E's things, I am the lucky recipient of the 1 space that is available.
7. A cooktop island is really cool, until you bang your head on the pot rack.
8. Finished basements with no place to store things (i.e. holiday decorations) is not a good idea.
9. Always get a master bathroom that does not have two entrances (and house guest will not use). Well, unless you want to find out at 3 am that you have to go around to the other entrance and unlock your entrance from the bedroom.
10. This is the final thing. Count how many drawers are in your kitchen. I kid you not, my sissy didn't, she has two drawers.
Happy house hunting. That is on E and I's to do list for 2010. :)
I'm very confused about the radiators. What's wrong with radiators? Every house in the UK has radiators (apart from ones you wouldn't want to live in because they don't have a bathroom!). You turn them on, they give heat, you turn them off in the summer. You have a timer switch so they turn on before you get home from work. Any problems, you keep the plumber's number handy. What is difficult about radiators???!
Radiators are scary to those who never grew up with them. They emit noises, they are often dusty and they are the thing (besides the bureau) that jumps out in the middle of the night to stub toes and bang elbows.
Hah - I love "footy"! My husband and I are the epitomy of footi-ness. We have been in our house for 5 years and have barely touched the "to-do" list from when we moved in. And we can't hardly keep up with the yard. We've totally let the "original" landscaping go to crap. Oh, and one more thing to keep an eye out in a "new" house - Wallpaper is from the devil!
You also need to have the house be in Maryland...preferably the Rockville/Kensington/North Bethesda area. Kthx!
Post a Comment