Forever home wishlist

[mariafromnj]

4+ Bed - 1 has to be large Master with large walk in closet and master bath with shower and tub
2 or more additional baths
Large Open Kitchen with center island and pantry
extra Large Family room with fireplace for entertaining
2 car garage
large backyard with pool and patio and built in outdoor grill/ kitchen
excellent schools
lower taxes so we don't have to move when we retire (this requires our house to be in 1 of 3 towns in north jersey where we want to live
would really prefer being at the end of a dead end street

[mariafromnj]

May 19, 2015 17:25:01 GMT -5 h said:

May 19, 2015 13:27:40 GMT -5 shell403b said:

I hope you guys will like this answer. H and I just spent 2+ YEARS finding our forever home. We moved in 1 month ago. We are closing on our not-forever-home (where we lived for 10 years, brought our son home to, etc.) at the end of May. I'm going to put together the wishlist and then I'll tell you what we actually got/what we were willing to make concessions on. These are in no particular order:

3000+ square feet
big closets
3+ bedrooms
deck, place to grill
taupe carpet/paint
tile in bathrooms/foyer
3 car garage, driveway
a toilet that is not right next to the counter in my personal bathroom (H and I each have a bathroom since I get up at 5 to go to work--he gets up at 8).
a yard for our son to play in
not to be right on top of our neighbors (space between the houses)
modern colonial (1990 or later)
neighborhood zoned for good schools
under 700K (VHCOL)
well-kept (we sure as hell weren't putting in a ton of work after we purchased it, willing to go up in budget to not have to do any work to it)
close to my work (15 miles or less)
good-sized space for H to have his home office
laundry room upstairs, updated appliances
2+ levels
deep sink and high faucet in kitchen

What We Got:
4800 square feet (TONS of space)
good schools
2 car garage, driveway
built in 1996, modern colonial
perfect, model home condition (save a rickety railing and some chandeliers that we didn't like)
the toilet in my bathroom is in fact right next to the cabinet (BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO)
over budget by a small percentage
deck (will need to be refinished or something in the next year or so)
yard, although it is more side yard than backyard b/c of the neighborhood property lines
beautiful landscaping
4 bedrooms
3.5 bathrooms
laundry room upstairs (not new appliances, spent 1100 to buy new W/D)
brand new kitchen (appliances, tile, cabinets, etc.)
big closets
3 levels
deep sink and high faucet in kitchen!
8 miles to my work (OMG!)

It has this vanilla/yellow paint that I don't love. Eventually we're going to have to paint those rooms (boo). It didn't bother me when I first saw the place, but now I don't like it.

We got very lucky. The house down the street was for sale as well and the people that ended up buying that one made an offer on ours--but we didn't have the contingency of selling our TH first. That's why we got it.

I'd love to answer questions if anybody has any.

I am impressed that you managed to get 4800 sq. ft. in VHCOL for ~$700k with so little work needed! That seems like a crazy good deal--I would have thought it was pretty much impossible to get that kind of square footage in that kind of condition for anything less than seven figures in a VHCOL area. Heck, we spent $550k for what is essentially a fixer upper in M/LCOL with less square footage, and we have already put ~$75k into repairs and renovations in our first year in the house.

I am also very impressed. We were in a high cost of living area and had searched last year for a new home with a budget of around $750K and the houses are around 2000 sq feet and need tons of work. There were a few that were 2500 or more but needed to be basically knocked down so the size didn't matter. We didn't move and decided to wait.

[ruthie7532]

We moved into what we plan to be our "forever" home a couple of years ago. We were able to find most of what we wanted:

-4+ BR, 3+ baths (we have 5/4.5)
-Good schools (we're in an excellent school district)
-Finished basement (it's a walkout)
-Space for a pool table and theater room (we do have a pool table now, and a theater "corner", not an enclosed room)
-Hardwood floors on main floor (ours is about half hard woods. We will get rid of a few carpets in future)
-Either a 3 car garage or 2 car with space elsewhere for a shop (we have a 3 car garage with a second garage underneath that serves as DH's shop)
-Wood burning fireplace (we have 3)
-Deck, screened porch, or sunroom (we have a screened porch with attached deck)
-At least 1 acre, preferably wooded. We didn't want to see our neighbors (3 wooded acres. We can see neighbors in the winter)
-No more than 30 minute commute to work (generally only 15-20 minutes)
-Not too far from the city (this was a very squishy requirement--we were willing to go further out for meeting more wishlist items, up to a nebulous point, loosely defined as "too podunk")
-Maybe a pond or a creek (we have a small pond)

We truly thought we'd have to build to get everything we wanted, but we found a foreclosure that was in really good shape and went above and beyond what we were hoping for.

[macmars45]

Forever SFH wish list:

-2 car garage attached to home

-1 story house

-smaller back yard

-3+ bedrooms

-2 bathrooms

-laundry room near bedrooms

-no carpet in the dining room

-den/office

H and I closed on a townhouse 2 months ago. What we currently have:

-1 car garage attached to home

-2 bedrooms/2.25 bathrooms

-no yard

-laundry on 2nd floor with bedrooms

-loft area for den/office

-carpet in the dining room

[Deleted]

I have my forever home and love it. Now that my basement is nearly done, I'm good!

Eta: I listed some of my favorite things but the internet ate them. Grr.

Fireplace in bedroom
Library
Outdoor patio with fireplace
Dedicated home office
Kickass theater room!!!! Built with my own two hands (and Hs too!)

[insominac]

Two bathrooms. Three bedrooms. Outdoor area big enough for a bistro table and chair. 15 min away from jobs.

Beggars can't be choosers. Lol

[Emerald1486]

Aside from a good school district, and a good size yard...
My dad would be designing my dream home, and that would certainly be my forever home if I could ever afford it.


A full basement
4 bedrooms and walk-in closets
An office/library
2-3 baths, one of which is a master bath
Good size laundry room where I can fold, hang, and sort laundry with ease
Large kitchen with room for an island, and a separate dining room
2-3 car garage
Mudroom
Outdoor entertaining space with room for a fire pit
Covered front porch
Central heat and air

[heliocentric]

I must be dumb, but what exactly is a forever home? A dream home? The ideal home that you can afford? Are these actual requirements or just things you'd like, if possible?

Our current house is not perfect. There are things I wish it had. If we were house hunting I could come up with a list of things I'd like, but very few would be mandatory. Not having certain things now doesn't make we want to move just to have them. I mean, I'd like a larger kitchen, master bath and a mud room, but I'm not interested in getting a new house just to have them and assume getting those things would probably be out of our budget.

[IrishBelle]

May 19, 2015 9:38:26 GMT -5 cajunmom said:

Large island in kitchen. I don't want the stove or sink on the island, though. I want it one smooth surface.

Yes! This 1000%

[cajunmom]

May 22, 2015 9:21:07 GMT -5 heliocentric said:

I must be dumb, but what exactly is a forever home? A dream home? The ideal home that you can afford? Are these actual requirements or just things you'd like, if possible?

Our current house is not perfect. There are things I wish it had. If we were house hunting I could come up with a list of things I'd like, but very few would be mandatory. Not having certain things now doesn't make we want to move just to have them. I mean, I'd like a larger kitchen, master bath and a mud room, but I'm not interested in getting a new house just to have them and assume getting those things would probably be out of our budget.

For me, it would be a dream home. A home I could see ourselves in for the rest of our lives without constantly wishing that the house was different. I'm not talking about things like paint color. Things that I would have if money were no object. Or, if we were building a custom home, they would be the things at the top of my requirements list. 

[shell403b]

May 19, 2015 17:25:01 GMT -5 h said:

May 19, 2015 13:27:40 GMT -5 shell403b said:

I am impressed that you managed to get 4800 sq. ft. in VHCOL for ~$700k with so little work needed! That seems like a crazy good deal--I would have thought it was pretty much impossible to get that kind of square footage in that kind of condition for anything less than seven figures in a VHCOL area. Heck, we spent $550k for what is essentially a fixer upper in M/LCOL with less square footage, and we have already put ~$75k into repairs and renovations in our first year in the house.

I am beyond surprised that we got this house at that price. Apparently it had been on the market last spring w/ no takers [at about the same price--H had sent me an email of the original listing which he saved--that's totally surreal to me now], so they took it off, did a big kitchen reno, paint, carpet, etc., and then relisted this spring w/ a slight price reduction (crazy) from the original price + reno costs. The owners were retiring and moving to a new state, so I guess they just wanted to get out of here. 

We got very lucky. Very lucky. 3 other houses in the neighborhood have gone for 800, 825 and 840 in the month that we've lived here, w/ less sq footage (they are a bit newer--5 or so years--w/ slightly bigger yards, so I get it price-wise). But it all still tells me that we got a crazy-good price.  

We've been doing some minor cosmetic things in the last month that we've lived here--chandelier lights, landscaping, shelving, and we need to renovate one unfinished room on the first floor (basement). Other than that, it's perfection. 

[shell403b]

heliocentric, for us, a forever home is an ideal home that we can afford. A home with the needs met (# of bedrooms, bathrooms, close to work, etc.) and as many of the wants as we can cram into one selection. (ETA: and that doesn't require major structural changes w/ a high price tag to get there)
 
The house we bought last month is indeed our forever home, one that we will raise our son in and beyond, until life circumstance changes.

It took us 2+ years to find it.

[carfar]

Big, huge dream list?

Within 45 mins of SF ( I'm not certain on exact dream city, as it changes... But we don't plan to leave the bay, ever)
4 bed rooms + office and craft room
3 baths
Pool
Huge kitchen designed to my taste
Huge walk in closets
Out door living space
Separate laundry room.
Craftsman style
Large, formal dining room


Anyone have a few million to make my dreams come true ?