Hellobee Boards

Our list fluctuates and sounds like it may be different than what you're looking for. We really wanted indoor laundry and a pantry.

We made a list and weighted things giving two points for more important things when deciding between homes. We wanted a yard, no Home association fees, short commute, easy access to freeway, open layout, quiet noise level, good lighting. I can't even remember things we compromised on. Probably neighborhood. It wasn't on our radar when we first started looking. Also we compromised and didn't get walkability although technically we can easily walk to a park and grocery store. I just don't want to walk!! I'm talking about living near a street with a bunch of businesses. Guess I don't want that after all.

Our big compromise was between size of house and distance from the city. For the money we could have had a small house closer in or bigger far out. And I wanted to be close or walking distance from something, a little town center or coffee shop or park or something, but I also wanted to be on a quiet street in an actual neighborhood. Basically we could find one or the other but not both.

We ended up in a further out suburb, 10 minute drive from town center, but in a house that's plenty big for us in a great neighborhood on a cul de sac where kids can play in the street (with plenty of work to do on the house as well). When we started I definitely said this town was too far it to consider!

ETA: I am really glad I didn't compromise on the neighborhood feel. I was starting to think it didn't exist when we finally found our house. I drive past the closest contender regularly and am glad we waited and didn't buy that one (nice house but on a main road).

Must haves that we wouldn't compromise on:

Flat, useable backyard (the #1)
Designated playroom area (preferably a finished basement)
4 bedrooms, at least 2.5 baths
Hardwood floors
Certain school system
2 car garage
In our budget (I flat out told our realtor I didn't want to see anything not in our budget)
**Must not have: a pool, non negotiable

Things we really wanted:

All rooms (except maybe guest) on same floor
Non busy street, young neighborhood
Good master bathroom
Fenced yard (only thing we compromised on -- it had the ability to fence, which we ended up doing)

I would say we didn't really compromise on anything, which was nice.

Our must haves were:

4 Bedrooms (we wanted 2-3 kids at the time, each with their own room)
2 Bathrooms
Finishable basement (didn't have to be already finished)
Fireplace

Everything else was fair game. Our must not have was a pool. Neither one of us wanted to care for it, and I saw it as a liability with kiddos. I'm glad we didn't budge on anything.

We wanted at least 3 bedrooms, a big backyard, and did not want to be on a two way street but in a development instead. We also ideally wanted 2 full bathrooms. My sister only has 1 bathroom in her house and she really talked me into making sure we went for a 2 bathroom house.

We didn't compromise and now have a 4 bed, 2 bath house in a nice neighborhood with a big backyard. I love our house, but I wish we had an eat in kitchen.

4 bedrooms was a must. And we wanted to be on a side street, not a main road, with a good yard. And in one of the towns we narrowed down on for the schools.

We were pretty flexible on most everything my advise is just to look at a lot of homes and get a good sense of what is out there and what you like/dislike! It took us a long time to find the house we are in now and I'm so glad we spent so much time looking and waiting. We also were able to put in an offer immediately after we saw it and felt 100% sure it was the right decision which was great, as 4 offers came in after ours.

Our biggest items were a large yard for a dog and a 2 car garage as we both wanted to park inside and not outside. I think my husband was so tired of me vetoing houses with small yards that were right on top of each other but in the end he's happy I insisted on a larger lot (1/3 acre).

@NCSUchick27: We're coming up on househunting this summer, and our must have list is short because at this point we just want to stop renting. The list is:

-safe neighborhood
-Highly prefer 3+ bedrooms but open to 2 if everything else is right- the kids already share and we love it for now
-Yard that the kids can play in, doesn't have to be huge but we need something
-1.5+ bathrooms (our current rental has just one, which we did to get a rental house in this neighborhood, but we'll be moving neighborhoods for sure!)

That's it! Prefer bedrooms on one floor too but we will make it work if the price and the house are right. Our list of things we'd like but aren't deal-breakers is pretty long though. We're aiming to get at least some of those in.

@Mrs.Pinecone316: This is our list! Not a must have list but dream list.

We have pretty much narrowed it down to must have 4 bedrooms plus another room that can be closed/separated off (could be a homework room, etc). We would love at minimum 1/3 of an acre but would love about 1/2 acre (we have 3/4 acre now!)

Our home-searching process has stretched out over a very very long time since we were doing it so casually with no real need to leave our current home, so there was lots of opportunity to refine and tweak the list. I think that the kind of room-layout requirement that you described is the kind of thing I would have eventually evolved my thinking on - for us, I definitely preferred a house with an upstairs level above the main floor, but ended up picking a house with a main floor and a finished basement instead.

After looking at so many houses for so long, we had a very solid set of must-haves that I knew we definitely couldn't/wouldn't compromise on:
-4 bedrooms (or 3 with a bonus space that could be used as an office)
-2200+ sq ft
-at least 2 showers
-big yard that is easily accessible from the living/dining (or via deck is ok too) - I was adamant that we were not moving until we found a yard substantially more spacious/usable than the current one
-awesome location, ideally with good transit access and walkable area and close to a great grocery and parks
-not a lot of work that needs to be done
-garage for at least one car
-not on a busy street (i.e. major arterial)

We ended up getting all of those things (and a lot more, yaaaay! Big benefit of waiting so long) except the garage, but the house does have a covered car port attached to the house so that was fine with me. We'll probably buy a little yard shed from Home Depot to store stuff that would have gone into the garage.

@T.H.O.U.: No, we are turning our first home into a rental property. Juggling the buy/sell process has got to be so nerve-wracking! I think a good realtor who does both buying and selling can be a huge help though if that's what you want to do. If your current home is in a hot area, you could try negotiating into the contract that you would get to continue living in the home for a few weeks and rent it back from the new owners - that would buy you a little time.

@PawPrints: Yes! It feels impossible. But I guess thats also because our current house meets a lot of our criteria right now!

Fencing feels like an easy project!

This will be our forever home, as I'm not planning on moving ever again.

Must have:
Great school district
Not on a busy road , or anywhere where you can hear traffic
Yard not angled to dump water in basement or around foundation
2 car garage
Open kitchen. Didn't have to be new, but not in a boxy little room
No septic
central air
At least 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths

Our must haves were

Location (schools, commute, safety, quiet)
Ability to walk to a few places & sidewalks
1.5+ bath
4 bedroom (ended up with 3 & an office)
2 living areas (office & living room)
Not too open concept
No HOA
Somewhat flat street - we live in a hilly area and my mom was obsessed with the idea DD would just roll down the street one day into traffic.

We looked at 400+ houses because we're terrible decision makers.

We wanted a decent yard (got it), a quiet neighbourhood (got it), two bathrooms - a family and master ensuite (we got two bathrooms but not the ensuite), a newer house with good resale (house is slightly dated but perfectly adequate and liveable).

We knew we didn't want stairs so that was a deal breaker and we needed a fully fenced yard with no pool, which we got.

@NCSUchick27: We just went through this and ended up building instead! Should be closing in about 6 weeks.

We wanted:
1) Close commute (7 min for me, 15 min for DW)
2) Garage
3) Walkable to restaurants, bars, coffee house, park
4) First floor master suite (very rare in our area)

It's all so personal to each family. There is no right or wrong list! Good luck!

A desired location and a walkout basement or no basement and no mold or lead and 2 bathrooms and natural light and no crappy pipes. No attic. I could comp on the bathroom but uuuugh.

Must Haves:
-We picked the neighborhood first for the walkability to downtown
-Not on one of the busier streets
-At least 3 bedrooms
-Bathroom on every floor
-Charm
-A fenced in yard
-Hardwood floors or possibility of pulling up carpet
-Recent kitchen and bathrooms (last decade)
-Off street parking

We compromised on recent kitchen and bathrooms and parking for a house that fit everything else and was in our price range. I gave our kitchen a Pinterest makeover and we finally got our fugly bathroom redone 5 years after moving in.
I am so glad I didn't budge on location. I benefit from the location everyday.

We are about to put our house on the market and start looking again. We just bought our current house last year so now we know for sure we don't want to settle.

Must haves:
-location, closer to downtown than we are now
-3 bedroom, 2 bathrooms
-flat fenced or able to be fenced yard for dogs and kids
-good light, big windows
-laundry on main living floor- not in a basement
-garage
-no brown recluse spider infestation (current house has)

Would like to have:
-open floorplan or ability to open it up
-decent views, our city is hilly
-brick exterior

We are hoping to find our forever (or at least until kids are out of school) home and I'm willing to wait to find it.