For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

To jump off of DJ's post a bit I would say to not get sucked in by the cheap, DIY "project" houses. No matter how great of a condition the house is in there will always be some kind of project for you to do and add your own flavor to the house.

We bought a "flipper" that came with a new roof, remodeled kitchen, remodeled bath, added a bathroom downstairs, upgraded electric, added A/C, finished the basement, and took out a couple big trees and mature plants that were hiding the house. Since the house is good shape it allowed us to focus on really making it our own by doing little things inside (ie: repainting) and really get down to business outside.

[Redacted01]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

This is why I built new. I got what I wanted and there is nothing really I'll ever have to do inside, just landscaping really. If there are any tax breaks in your area, they'll only be offered on new construction/newer homes. That was the other reason I built.

[mgoblue]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

Consider your life in 5 years. Are you going to have kids, etc?

That will impact number of rooms and how you use them...Don't want to get a smaller house or something where you build out a man cave and then have to turn that into a kid's room....

Also applies to all the living space in general. Kids need play areas and places to store toys, so possibly consider that...

[jeremym480]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

Consider your life in 5 years. Are you going to have kids, etc?

That will impact number of rooms and how you use them...Don't want to get a smaller house or something where you build out a man cave and then have to turn that into a kid's room....

Also applies to all the living space in general. Kids need play areas and places to store toys, so possibly consider that...

This and consider your floor plan too. We have a four bedroom house and our master bedroom is on the other side of the house from the other three bedrooms. Same thing with bathrooms we have 2.5. A master (I would look for an En-Suite), one for guest/kids and a half bath for convenience. We never even really hear our guest when someone does stay over.

[mgoblue]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

This and consider your floor plan too. We have a four bedroom house and our master bedroom is on the other side of the house from the other three bedrooms. Same thing with bathrooms we have 2.5. A master (I would look for an En-Suite), one for guest/kids and a half bath for convenience. We never even really hear our guest when someone does stay over.

Yeah, also good to think of if you'll have guests stay over regularly. My MIL will stay with us a few weeks when she visits, so next house we may consider one where there's more of a guest room type setup with its own attached bath.

Right now we're getting rid of a lot of furniture (craft table, bookshelves, etc) that we got but now take up too much space for our soon to be 3 children. We have 3 bedrooms, so we'll be ok for a while, just start to lose the easy guest room at some point. Our next house will have more room, along with more living space than just our huge living room...

Kids and guests change things....just all things to ponder...what you want now won't be what you need in 5 or 10 years.

[GAMEC0CK2002]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

This is why I built new. I got what I wanted and there is nothing really I'll ever have to do inside, just landscaping really. If there are any tax breaks in your area, they'll only be offered on new construction/newer homes. That was the other reason I built.

This. I didn't want to deal with "projects" so I built new. Lawn care is the only thing I've had to deal with.

Also, if you get a 2 story home, a 1/2 bath on the first floor is a nice thing to have. Don't have to worry about guests having to use your "everyday" bathrooms. To me, that has been a must have.

[RockinDaMike]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

2nd on the DIY projects. Maybe I just hate doing it but just removing the popcorn from my ceilings was the last thing I did. Plus when I was living in AZ you can find "cheap" labor pretty easily. I just had to have the plans ready which most of it i got off of pinterest and youtube.

Also everything DJ said. Definitely check the windows and doors, and if they are ok you can also add additional weather stripping for extra seal.

Also you have to save money when **** breaks. Luckily my renters paid for my mortgage and utilities so I always had money to fix and maintain all my appliances. I even ended up getting all my bathrooms redone and getting new appliances before I moved in 2013.

[Speedy]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

Any of you have a tile shower, including the base (something like this)?

My dad used to be a plumber and says that having a tile pan will cause problems down the road.

[RockinDaMike]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

Any of you have a tile shower, including the base (something like this)?

My dad used to be a plumber and says that having a tile pan will cause problems down the road.

What kind of problems? All my rooms in the resort are setup as tile showers.

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[mgoblue]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

Our shower is smaller but uses the same tile as the floors and whatnot...seems fine to me lol

[Burns11]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

I think the idea is more that a tile bottom is more dependent on quality installation, a cast iron or resin tub is fairly bullet proof, a tile shower has the possibility of being improperly installed and leaking with little warning until you are rotting and moldy.

[ODogg]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

I am late to the party, bought our first house on Halloween 2014 but I never saw this thread until now. Our house is a 5 bedroom in a nice neighborhood. As a lifelong renter I never realized a house required so much work on an ongoing basis!!

[kwebbvols4423]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

2nd child on the way. We will definitely be buying another house in the next year or two


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[allBthere]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

Our shower is smaller but uses the same tile as the floors and whatnot...seems fine to me lol

mine is a tad smaller, but I'm noticing a lot of mold/mildew build-up which is getting at the vinyl grout/sealer a bit, so I'm planning on getting rid of the build-up, but if I have to remove and reseal it, that will suck and be a pain in the arse.

[kwebbvols4423]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

mine is a tad smaller, but I'm noticing a lot of mold/mildew build-up which is getting at the vinyl grout/sealer a bit, so I'm planning on getting rid of the build-up, but if I have to remove and reseal it, that will suck and be a pain in the arse.

I remodeled our 2nd bathroom last year.... We had a little mold was not too bad but very annoying.