Help us (hypothetically) buy a house.

J&K10910 · January 2012

So let's just pretend for a second that we found a house today that we might be interested in putting an offer down on. And let's say, HYPOTHETICALLY, that we were able to get in for a second showing.

What should we be looking for, HYPOTHETICALLY, to make sure we want to buy this house?

I'm talking little (hypothetical) details, like how many outlets there are and stupid shiit like that that you forget about. And....let's go with big obvious things, too, just to be sure.

HYPOTHETICALLY.

cheeseandrice · January 2012

HYPOTHETICALLY I am really excited for you! Is it the blue-ish one you sent me?

Random things I love/hate about our house:

*outlets in the bathrooms

*outlets in the garage (if you're doing any work out there, or hanging Christmas lights)

*placement of hose taps outside

*closet doors/how they swing in the room

*ceiling lights/fans in bedrooms

*inclusion of window treatments (that shiit is expensive)

*doors hung properly/molding on doors/floors

*good entryway storage/layout

*walls/openings in awkward places (in one house we looked at, there was NO logical way to put a tv and seating in the living room.)

ETA: DJ reminded me... good USEABLE counter space. Our kitchen has a ton of counter space, but it's laid out kind of awkwardly, so it's hard to maximize it.

J&K10910 · January 2012

Helpful, so helpful. Thank you!

Steph, I haven't showed you this one yet.. AND IT'S ONLY HYPOTHETICAL!

cheeseandrice · January 2012

SEND IT TO ME NOW... hypothetically.

J&K10910 · January 2012

I don't want to jinx it

cheeseandrice · January 2012

Oh, honestly? As weird as this might make you look... pretend to live there. Picture where you'd put your stuff. Especially in the kitchen. Can you see the layout working well for you? (Can you tell I hate the way my kitchen is laid out?)

If laundry is downstairs and your room is on the 2nd floor, are you going to be annoyed running up and down to get stuff? Little things like that. They wouldn't necessarily make or break a house, but it's stuff that could annoy you once you start actually living there.

J&K10910 · January 2012

(Hypothetically.)

cheeseandrice · January 2012

oh. Another random one. Play around on Google maps and make sure stuff is close. If you go grocery shopping a lot, make sure the store you like is close enough. We got lucky there.

BUT we are in delivery-food hell. NOTHING delivers to us except pizza. We're kind of between two cities and big shopping areas. So we're in an awkward deadzone for EVERYTHING. Like we're right in between delivery zones for the two Jimmy Johns, the 5 Chinese places, etc. Not a huge deal, but when we're lazy it really fucking sucks.

ETA: this rant brought to you buy grocery delivery. I just went through the whole process only to find out the one place only delivers after work on Wednesdays to our zip code. The other only delivers to our zip code Friday 2-4pm. wtf.

J&K10910 · January 2012

We're familiar with the neighborhood and it's the #1 neighborhood on my list.

Actually, the house has all of our "must haves", and all but one of our "would be nices."

And it's managed to satisfy my desire to have a second floor bedroom, and H's desire to have a walk out lower level (so there are three levels total) all in the same house. (Steph, YGFM)

dmiller9274 · January 2012

If you plan on gardening or doing any landscaping, ask about or dig around a little in the areas that you would plant. Make sure it's not full of rocks or weird shiit that will cause it to be a complete pain to work with.

Check out the way the water lines are run. The thing I hate most about my house is that the washer and dishwasher use the same too small drain pipe. Water backs into the dishwasher when the washing machine runs. Nothing like having your dishes get a rinse with dirty laundry water.

Look at the gutters to make sure they are hung off the house, not nailed through the gutter. The nails make it a huge pain in the ass to clean out in the fall.

[Deleted User] · January 2012

This is a weird one (and usually more relevant for apartments), but make sure all the exterior doors are hung right- that is, with their hinges on the inside, swinging in. I've been extra-aware of that since my friend's apartment was robbed- and the robber got in by getting the door off of it's hinges.

Also, (hypothetical) congrats! Exciting (:

J&K10910 · January 2012

Ooh, good tip on the water lines and gutters. Thanks!

emarston1 · January 2012

- If the refrigerator has an ice/water dispenser, make sure it works. Both us and BIL/SIL forgot to check this and both of ours didn't work.

- Ditto about the storage space.

- Check all the lightswitches/outlets. Are they in usable places.

- Flush all the toilets/check water pressure

- I checked the sex offender registry to make sure that the neighbs weren't on it. **Although, I talked to my dad (former cop) and he said you're pretty much going to find one in every neighborhood and just because you don't have one now, doesn't mean one won't move in.** Something to think about (even though you may not want to)

- This sounds dumb but check to see where the fire hydrants are placed. Where is the police station/fire station in relation to the house? One of the random questions our home owners insurance asked was how far we were from both a fire hydrant and the fire station.

- PP pointed out shopping areas which is a great idea. But also look at how far you are away from the highway.

- Check out the driveway/sidewalks. Are there any noticable cracks?

- This time of year, check to see if you see a lot of icicles around the house. If you see them, it means there isn't enough insulation in the attic so heat is escaping. Not a deal breaker but just know you most likely will have to add insulation (although a home inspection should pick this up too)

- How far away is it from work? Factor in the additional commute/gas money if necessary.

Hmmm that's all I can think of that moment. Hypothetical good luck Jess!

J&K10910 · January 2012

There is a hydrant right outside the house. I totally said "that's awesome if our house is ever on fire!" to H.

Nebb · January 2012

Id look around in the basement for buggies (like dead ones, to see if anything gets in/is a problem), tree locations/proximity to the house, lift all the windows to see their quality, check for leaks near sinks/water, try to plan out where youd have certain things set up so you can make sure plugs/lighting is right for your needs. Thats all I can think of.

cheeseandrice · January 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_hypothetically-buy-house?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:17Discussion:261785c4-b872-4abe-bc33-0968a720f638Post:1cb1e513-bcdf-478d-bace-a733df67a4a1">Re: Help us (hypothetically) buy a house.</a>:
[QUOTE]There is a hydrant right outside the house. I totally said "that's awesome if our house is ever on fire!" to H.
Posted by J&K10910[/QUOTE]

<div>Unless you ever want to have people over, then they can't park in front of the house.</div><div>
</div><div>We're running into that issue with our neighbors right now. They always park on our lawn (yup, like a few feet off the street. they're stupid), because the hydrant is in front of their house.</div><div>
</div><div>Obviously I'm super optimistic today. ha</div>

Nebb · January 2012

Id also check the sun/shade levels in your yard if you ever plan to garden, look for any invasive plants (i guess thats hard to do RIGHT NOW), if you like storms id see if you have a good vantage point to watch them (thats big for me).

Gabrielle76 · January 2012

If it's been repainted recently, make sure to ask about water damage. I had a friend move into a freshly painted apartment only to find that the paint had covered expansive water leakage stains.

Try to see it at different times during the day so you can see how light comes in.

emarston1 · January 2012

Also how big is the garage (if you have one). We thought our garage was big but it's a tight squeeze once you fit two cars, lawn mower, garbage cans, recycling, etc etc in it.

Look at the other houses in the neighborhood. Are they all well kept? A little harder to do in the winter but it's still something to notice. How many other houses are for sale in the area?

J&K10910 · January 2012

The other houses are well kept. It's a nice neighborhood. There are a decent nnumber of houses for sale in the neighborhood. I'm guessing it's because most of them were built in the early 2000s, and now people are upside down because they built too much house right before the economy hit the shitter.

3 car garage, full 3 car driveway.

J&K10910 · January 2012

Plus there's a storage shed in the back where we'll put the lawn mower and all that stuff.

Nebb · January 2012

Can you get any idea of yard maintenance based on how big the yard is and all the trees? We have a lot of upkeep cause we have so many trees and its so effing annoying.

dmiller9274 · January 2012

Ooh ask if the driveway has ever been sealed, or when it was sealed last. That way you can keep track of how often it needs to be done, and can stay on top of it. Once the seal is gone, it'll start to crack. Sealing it before it gets bad is about $700, having a new driveway poured will cost about 3-4k. Try to keep it nice as long as you can.

J&K10910 · January 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_hypothetically-buy-house?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:17Discussion:261785c4-b872-4abe-bc33-0968a720f638Post:5490763b-ba1a-4dad-9ab1-d704e9c6f1ff">Re: Help us (hypothetically) buy a house.</a>:
[QUOTE]Ooh ask if the driveway has ever been sealed, or when it was sealed last. That way you can keep track of how often it needs to be done, and can stay on top of it. Once the seal is gone, it'll start to crack. Sealing it before it gets bad is about $700, having a new driveway poured will cost about 3-4k. Try to keep it nice as long as you can.
Posted by dmiller9274[/QUOTE]

Great tip! Thanks :)

Nebb, that's a good question. It's got a good sized yard, and two semi-mature trees in the actual landscaped portion (part of it is the start of a little ravine, so we really wouldn't have to maintain that). So not too bad. I don't think.

J&K10910 · January 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_hypothetically-buy-house?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:17Discussion:261785c4-b872-4abe-bc33-0968a720f638Post:54cdd179-b539-4171-94d6-b5dfcb8c5be5">Re: Help us (hypothetically) buy a house.</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Help us (hypothetically) buy a house. : Oh yes, even with newer home, you can have foundation/water problems. Our neighbors moved in (I had looked at their house when it was for sale & the entire basement was carpeted-even around the HVAC stuff-red flag) and th first big rain? Total flood in their basement & pulling out wet carpet.
Posted by jcbsjr[/QUOTE]

It's so hard to tell that stuff--it's a fully finished walk out lower level. So some of it IS below ground level, but some of it is not. (It's built into a hill, it's really, really common around here) I'll ask though, and we'll check out what we can.

Nebb · January 2012

would this house have the same garbage pick up/rules that your current place does? is that something that matters?

J&K10910 · January 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_hypothetically-buy-house?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:17Discussion:261785c4-b872-4abe-bc33-0968a720f638Post:fa2e7433-0a84-400b-8e2e-b9d7c91b5f87">Re: Help us (hypothetically) buy a house.</a>:
[QUOTE]would this house have the same garbage pick up/rules that your current place does? is that something that matters?
Posted by Nebb[/QUOTE]

We have our choice of about 5 different companies, but since it's so close (the house is about a mile and a half away from our current house), I'd imagine if we stuck with the same company, everything would stay the same, probably including pick up days.

J&K10910 · January 2012

No, finished. Fully finished. Did I say furnished? Not what I meant, haha.

emarston1 · January 2012

As far as Box Kitty is concerned, will her litter box be in a place that is easily accessible to her? Will she have free reign of the house? If not, will it be easy to keep her out of rooms you don't want her in? I know you had anxiety issues with her in the past and the *hypothetical* new house is going to be a big adjustment. Bella was completely on edge for about the first week we moved in. She calmed down but it was really stressful for us seeing her so anxious.

You mentioned that it's two story, do you have bannisters that she could possibly walk through? What about a ceiling fan that she might try to jump on from the bannister?

Is box kitty an outdoor cat? If so, are there any major roads nearby? Wooded areas where wild animals live? In the spring, double check to make sure you don't have anything planted that's poisonous to her.

J&K10910 · January 2012

She's totally indoors, so that's no issue.

This place actually has fewer Box Kitty hazards than our current house. We checked! As far as anxiety with moving, this will be her 3rd move, so she's used to that, though she does get freaked out. She won't be moving for a long time after that though

emarston1 · January 2012

Well it sounds like you've been pretty thorough

Yay! :::fingers crossed:::

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