via ListingBook
One of my wife ‘s favorite channels is HGTV, and it seems like they are always airing a show called “House Hunters”. In this show, a couple tours three different homes, talks about the positives and negatives of each, and then picks which one of the three to purchase. Every time I have ever watched this show, my reaction is “Keep looking! None of the three are good enough!”
Back when we were shopping for a home several years ago, I think we might have set a record. We probably went inside of sixty different houses before we finally found one that we felt was worth putting an offer on. Without a doubt, our real estate agent wasn’t thrilled with us.
The house that we ended up finding (thanks to our patience), ended up just about perfect for us. This is rare, because typically the only way to get a house that is perfectly suited to your likes, is to build one yourself. If you do that, it will most likely have to be further away from the city, which will lead to much longer commute times going into work, and thus making the house not perfect at all.
Thinking back to our great house hunt of a few years ago, sometimes there were little things that caused us to pass on a house. But many times there were major issues, that would immediately disqualify a home. Sometimes, you could spot these things on the online listing, but just as often, we didn’t notice until we were actually inside of the house. I thought it would be fun to share a few of those things:
My List of House Hunting Dealbreakers:
An Above Ground Pool
I still don’t get why anyone would do this; An above ground pool is too deep for little kids to play in, it smells bad, it attracts bugs, and it looks terrible. If you buy a house with an above ground pool, you can’t even plan on removing it, because they probably poured cement underneath it. Most people don’t want a parking lot in the middle of their back yard. In-ground pools are fine, as long as you have the time to take care of them. With our house, we actually did even better when it comes to pools, as our neighborhood has a pool (and swim team!) that is only a five minute walk away.
Pet Smells
There is certainly nothing wrong with having pets. We had a cat for many years, and have been discussing getting a dog in the near future. But you can’t let your animals stink up your house. There were several houses that we walked into and were immediately hit with various zoo aromas. We just turned around and walked back out. If the family cat has “marked his territory” somewhere in your house (ours never did), then you will certainly need to replace flooring and possibly even drywall.
Busy Streets and Steep Driveways
We are lucky enough to live in a subdivision, instead of on a main road, but I still wish that the street in front of our house had less traffic. I worry about my kids playing ball or riding their bikes in front of the house, because cars sometimes drive by at 30-35 mph. But honestly, it could be so much worse. There are some houses that have trouble even pulling into their driveways because of traffic. I can’t imagine letting my kids play in the front yard, if I lived on one of these thoroughfares.
Similarly, I am glad that our home doesn’t have a driveway with an extremely steep grade. There are homes nearby who have to park at the end of their driveways, if there is any possibility of snow in the forecast. If they forget to do this, they will be trapped by their own driveways!
Environmental Factors
There are a variety of environmental factors that would lead to me eliminating a house from contention; HV power lines overhead, an interstate highway within ear range, proximity to the airport (we lived directly in the flight path when I was a kid in Atlanta), and worst of all, having a large drop-off (a cliff) nearby. Basically, If I am not comfortable with my kids playing outside around a home, I don’t want to live there.
Changeables
I am not a very handy guy. I admit it, I am terrible at fixing things. If a house needs a ton of work, it is not the house for me. But even with that being the case, you have to look at potential when examining a house. Anything related to paint color, floor choices, appliances, or decor should not be a deciding factor. For example, I am not a huge fan of laminate flooring. I just hate the way that it feels on my feet. But if everything else was perfect– I would buy a house with laminate, because I know that I could rip it out and replace it with hardwood if I so choose
What about you all? What are your House Hunting Deal Breakers?