Selling/Buying a House in Today's Market

[Donuthole]

The home was spectacular. Upgraded lighting and large detached garage with a nice pool and spa. However, the lot sucked as the backyard was small (would have been without the pool) and it was at the entrance of a subdivision. Guess $92/sq ft was about right but we won't be paying it. Hopefully something else opens up during the summer that fits the criteria.

Out of curiosity, what are your criteria. Sounds like we probably have similar wish lists. Some of our dealbreakers:

Deal Breakers:

3-car garage;
4 bed if one of the bedrooms is big enough to fit 3 girls--if bedrooms are small, then 5 bedrooms;
3 full baths;
Backyard big enough to fit a pool, half-court basketball court, grassy area, and grilling/eating area;
Walk-in pantry;
Kitchen open to great room;
Zoned for highly-rated public school (some do exist in Las Vegas, believe it or not)


Pretty much everything else is flexible depending on price/location/logistics of a given property. Ideally we would buy something with a pool already installed, but so often people place the pool in a location which renders much or all of the yard useless for any other purpose. So we've accepted that we'll probably have to take the hit for installing a pool how we want.

[fusnik]

I bet you drop 100-125k on a back yard like that.

My buddy has a killer pool, no spa, pad for bball hoop, BBQ station, palms, no grass, and he spent 85k. His lot was much smaller than what you are thinking.

I need a new job apparently.

[Flystripper]

$150 a foot is a pretty good deal.

Homes where I live in CA are mostly over $300 psf right now. Prices have come back big time.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Out of curiosity, what are your criteria. Sounds like we probably have similar wish lists. Some of our dealbreakers:

Deal Breakers:

3-car garage;
4 bed if one of the bedrooms is big enough to fit 3 girls--if bedrooms are small, then 5 bedrooms;
3 full baths;
Backyard big enough to fit a pool, half-court basketball court, grassy area, and grilling/eating area;
Walk-in pantry;
Kitchen open to great room;
Zoned for highly-rated public school (some do exist in Las Vegas, believe it or not)


Pretty much everything else is flexible depending on price/location/logistics of a given property. Ideally we would buy something with a pool already installed, but so often people place the pool in a location which renders much or all of the yard useless for any other purpose. So we've accepted that we'll probably have to take the hit for installing a pool how we want.

My biggest regret is not having a 3-car garage. Not worth moving for in our case, but man I wish we had an extra bay.

[creekster]

My biggest regret is not having a 3-car garage. Not worth moving for in our case, but man I wish we had an extra bay.

Me too. otherwise happy in my house.

[falafel]

My biggest regret is not having a 3-car garage. Not worth moving for in our case, but man I wish we had an extra bay.

Me too. otherwise happy in my house.

My wife found a house that she was absolutely sold on. Loved every single bit of it. It used to have a 3rd car garage, but they converted it to an office (which still felt like a garage). Deal breaker.

[smokymountainrain]

My biggest regret is not having a 3-car garage. Not worth moving for in our case, but man I wish we had an extra bay.

My house would mostly pass DH's dealbreakers, but backyard with a pool, halfcourt bball, grassy area and grilling area - I guess I'll have to be good with grassy and grilling. Apparently I should have become a lawyer.

[falafel]

I bet you drop 100-125k on a back yard like that.

My buddy has a killer pool, no spa, pad for bball hoop, BBQ station, palms, no grass, and he spent 85k. His lot was much smaller than what you are thinking.

I need a new job apparently.

Based on watching Encino Man 50 times when I was younger, I'm convinced you can put your own pool in with a shovel and a cave man.

[creekster]

I bet you drop 100-125k on a back yard like that.

My buddy has a killer pool, no spa, pad for bball hoop, BBQ station, palms, no grass, and he spent 85k. His lot was much smaller than what you are thinking.

I need a new job apparently.

or you could sell a couple of watches, right?

[Donuthole]

My biggest regret is not having a 3-car garage. Not worth moving for in our case, but man I wish we had an extra bay.

Me too. otherwise happy in my house.

Yeah, we currently manage to park 2 cars (a minivan and a compact ) in our 2-car garage. I think we might be the only people on our entire block who do that. That said, with every child it is getting tighter and tighter. We've found some great homes in neighborhoods we are familiar with and really like, but the houses only have a 2-car garage. It has been tempting to cave on that item, but I've put my foot down (as has Mrs. D with the pantry).

[Jeff Lebowski]

Yeah, we currently manage to park 2 cars (a minivan and a compact ) in our 2-car garage. I think we might be the only people on our entire block who do that. That said, with every child it is getting tighter and tighter. We've found some great homes in neighborhoods we are familiar with and really like, but the houses only have a 2-car garage. It has been tempting to cave on that item, but I've put my foot down (as has Mrs. D with the pantry).

Stay strong!

[Donuthole]

Apparently I should have become a lawyer.

Then you can drive an economy car, too!
benStillerDoIt.jpg

[Moliere]

Out of curiosity, what are your criteria. Sounds like we probably have similar wish lists. Some of our dealbreakers:

Deal Breakers:

3-car garage;
4 bed if one of the bedrooms is big enough to fit 3 girls--if bedrooms are small, then 5 bedrooms;
3 full baths;
Backyard big enough to fit a pool, half-court basketball court, grassy area, and grilling/eating area;
Walk-in pantry;
Kitchen open to great room;
Zoned for highly-rated public school (some do exist in Las Vegas, believe it or not)


Pretty much everything else is flexible depending on price/location/logistics of a given property. Ideally we would buy something with a pool already installed, but so often people place the pool in a location which renders much or all of the yard useless for any other purpose. So we've accepted that we'll probably have to take the hit for installing a pool how we want.

Very close. Some of those are givens in this area since I've never seen a house without a kitchen open to a great room and a walk in pantry. Here's our list:

Non-negotiables:
3-car garage (prefer detached but will consider attached)
5 bedrooms (don't care about size, it's more about separating the squabbling kids)
Backyard big enough for a pool (most we've looked at already have a pool) and with at least some grass for the dog
Not on an access street (we live on a busier neighborhood street as it's an access to a large subdivision)
3 1/2 baths (pretty much a given in any 5 bed house)
Master bedroom downstairs (again, I've only seen one house that didn't have this)
Same elementary school boundaries (MJ actually wants something just as close are our current home so the kids can still ride their bikes but she's willing to bend and move farther away if we get the right house)

There's plenty of other stuff we want, but location and structure are hard to change so those top the list.

[imanihonjin]

Yeah, we currently manage to park 2 cars (a minivan and a compact ) in our 2-car garage. I think we might be the only people on our entire block who do that. That said, with every child it is getting tighter and tighter. We've found some great homes in neighborhoods we are familiar with and really like, but the houses only have a 2-car garage. It has been tempting to cave on that item, but I've put my foot down (as has Mrs. D with the pantry).

I recently moved from a no garage home to a four car garage. When we moved in I thought we had so much space in our garage (none of my kids are of diving age yet, so we only have two vehicles). However, a year later and now and its seems that I have to reorganize our crap every month or so because somehow 4 kids and a wife will find a way to fill whatever space you have available. Long story short, it seems like you a one more car garage than whatever you currently have.

[Moliere]

My wife found a house that she was absolutely sold on. Loved every single bit of it. It used to have a 3rd car garage, but they converted it to an office (which still felt like a garage). Deal breaker.

Sounds like it should be easy to convert back to a garage. I've found over the years that home improvements like that are really not that difficult.