houses survey

We are going to have to move sooner than later because our house we're renting (where I've started all my gardens) is falling down from termites... (YUCK!)

We are looking for our dream house and a friend suggested making a list of all the amenities we want. We will be buying an existing home, not building, since we need to get out of here before they start tearing the house apart to fix the thousands of dollars' worth of damage... sad, it's a wonderful old house, with lots of personality.

Anyway...two questions to my fellow garden lovers:

1. what do you LOVE most about your house/garden/yard?

2. What do you WISH you had that you don't have? Or what would you change to make it more convenient/private/interesting/conducive to gardening?

Thanks for your inputs, I think this may be a VERY interesting thread!

Love to all,
Janie
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I miss having a garbage disposal! We can't have one here because the septic tank cannot handle it! I would also like to have a bathroom upstairs where I spend most of my indoor time, a much larger livingroom and kitchen and an automatic sprinkler system.

What I like about this house is it's location. I will give up everything above to stay in the country and not have to live in town again!

Hi, Janie, I too am in love with an old house that will require major repairs in a few years. What I love about it is hard to describe. The floor plan is similar to so many houses built before WWII, and the rooms are too small, the doors and windows are arranged for cross ventilation and make for awkward furniture arrangement and traffic, the kitchen was planned by someone accustomed to a minimum of gear. But what I want most of all is a large back porch, partially enclosed so I can use it all year, partially screened and conducive to plastic covering for my plants in winter. In this area, I want a place for my laundry, including a folding table, a deep tub or sink, and a place for the ironing board with plenty of light. Also, it should have room for a few chairs that can be pulled around to wherever needed, and space for a grandchild to play boisterously without worrying about breaking or spilling anything. The screened part should be large enough for some plants and a swing and a small table for having coffee or tea "outside" without the mosquitoes biting. The flooring should be tough as possible, and there should be a place for cleaning supplies that are too bulky for inside the main house. There should be a back door for coming into the kitchen with packages, and another door for coming in from the yard onto the screened part where mud can be wiped and then ignored or shoes can be shed and left. If I had this porch-room, I might not even need the rest of the house!

I like the layout of this house pretty well but want a flordia-Spanish Style house next.
We have a laundry-Mud room which is a necciseity.
the next house must have room in there for shelving for seed storage, wash sink, place for muddy shoes, lots of room for washer and dryer as well as storage for lots of things in cabinets out of site.
I also have a blank for a Garden really which is great because I can make it anyway I want, IF, I had the money to do it right.
You gotta have either alot of mulch, back breaking trench digging or great Edging!!
Also I don't have a full grown tree here, Gotta have big Trees!! Gotta have Shade beds,lol.
YOu really need to get a house Inspector before you buy anything, make sure all the plumbing, wiring and roof is good on an exisiting home.

Windows - got to have light when the winter months come. I bought a traditional home 20 years old and the windows were not great.l Have spent $$ putting in larger windows and patio doors in kitchen and family room. I bring a few plants in to winter over but the windows are for me. I need the light in the winter and I have just put a gardening window above the kitchen sink - and I wonder how I "lived" prior to having al that light there!!!

lots of windows.....nice big kitchen....gotta have a fireplace(we have a big one)......lots of floor space(2500 sq feet still isnt enough...lol)...our yard is plenty big but our soil is not good at all....we just bought our this past february, we like it and i will even more when spring gets here so i can get back outside...lol

cindy

I like a split-plan house. That's one or 2 bedrooms on one side of the house and the others on the other side. This eleminates long dark hallways which make heating and cooling inefficient.
I like a full walk-out basement and a usable attic. I think I prefer the main living area on one floor. My knees and hips are beginning to age, and going up and down stairs should be at a minimum but of course I just reversed myself about the basement and attic, lol.
I like enough land for some privacy, preferably about 2 acres or more. I like the land to have variation, shady areas, sunny areas, even a boggy area and/or stream and the topograhy to vary. I want a flat space for a veggie garden.
I like trees. People are so bad to be afraid to have deciduous trees near their house, but believe me, living in the south before the days of air conditioning, I learned to really value my shade trees. Now that there are gutter guards to keep the leaves out, that's no longer a problem. And you save a lot of money on your utility bills when you have shade trees.
I also like country living but not so far out of town that I have to drive 1/2 hour just to get into town. That is hard to find unless you live near a small town. Also be sure you have a termite inspection and treatment and repair if necessary. Then be sure to completely line your dirt under your crawl space with heavy poly to keep out the termites and radon.
I hope this helps.

This message was edited Monday, Oct 29th 8:12 AM

You've gotten very good advice so far :) We have built two homes (one was 1300 s.f., the second was 3400 s.f.), and we now live in a 25 year-old home that is 2100 s.f.

Dream houses all depend on the stage of life you're in, but here are the things I think are most important to consider, and decide what's best for you.

1. Light - look for energy efficient windows, and the more light the better. If the windows are older, make sure they operate if you like being able to open the windows in the spring and fall.

2. A good size kitchen. A well-designed kitchen can be as small as 12x12 and be very functional, but the more counter space and cabinet space you have, the better off you'll be.

3. A private master bedroom. Someone mentioned a split floor plan, which is the same general idea. Privacy for mom and dad gets more important as kids get older, trust me.

4. Outdoor living areas - screened porches, covered porches or good size deck. Whatever suits your needs, but keep in mind if this area faces west, you'll want covering, either man-made or in the form of trees that block the worst of the evening sun. Otherwise, bbq'ing becomes a contest to see whether the cook or the meat cooks fastest :)

5. Space. We have 1.25 acres, and we live on every inch of it, and I wish we had more. But everyone has their own idea of what's a good size - for some, 1/4 acre is plenty, others need at least 5 acres to avoid feeling squeezed.

6. Garage or Carport. You really want a covered parking spot adjoining the house if possible. Hauling a week's worth of groceries in when there's a downpour in progress is not fun.

Other wish list things I wish I still had:
-Private master bath with a huge tub for soaking. We have a single Jacuzzi which is nice, but having that big ole soaking tub was really really nice.

-Study/library. We had one off the master bedroom, and it was great. If one of us needed/wanted to work into the night, we didn't bother the sleeping spouse.

-Gameroom/playroom. Our kids are older, and a gameroom was great. It was also an exercise room for mom and dad, and in the winter became our most-used living area, with a small TV/VCR that we could watch while exercising, and the kids could hang out with us.

Main floor laundry room. This is the one thing that I could never give up now that I've had it. I do laundry everyday with teenagers and not running up and down those stairs make such a huge difference.

What I Love Most? So much' Living in the country is #1' Our home faces south,for light/warmth' We take care of one another and work out any difficulties,no lawsuits'
Have had very large homes,with all the amenities and all the work of cleaning/walking TOO MUCH,waste of time and money'
Nothing to WISH for and only have a difficulty of gardening with clay soil,amendments(leaves,manure)are working for us'
Our home is a mere 850sq.ft.and 6 rooms/back porch' No garage,a 20gal.water tank,central heat,wall AC. We installed a 5ft.chainlink fence for privacy and motion lights for security,plus sensor lights for the gardens. Our next project is to install a prehung front door to accomodate for wheelchair accessability'
Personal lifestyles vary but for us is "simplicity" and affordability' The most important things in life ARE NOT THINGS' No offense intended,my own opinion,lol' Sis'Good Luck'

I think what I love the most about our home is that we bought a fixer-upper on 3.5 acres for 3/4's less than the our - I should say my dream home would cost. Our home was structurally sound, but needed a major facelift. My fiance has done most of the work himself and we were able to have paid extra on principal to reduce a 30 yr mortgage to 16 yrs in only 13 months.
Once we get this place paid for we are going to build an addition - so I will get my dream house eventually. ;o) I want a bigger kitchen, family room w/fireplace, and another bath.
If you and your hubby are handy, "sweat equity" may be an option to consider.

Wow, I'm SO delighted with all your advice, Sis, I agree with you that life is not about STUFF... wanting to pare down my life to its simplest without making my life a hardship...

I have fibromyalgia, sometimes it's very severe, and so that makes it imperative that things be EASY for when I have a flare-up... no long winding staircases, etc.

Hubby is NOT handy at all, but praise the Lord, I am! I love fixing things, even plumbing, etc. and look forward to that aspect of homeownership! Oh, and the decorating... wow. I can't wait to be able to hang a picture wherever I want. (Country/antique eclectic demands it!) The house we're in was built in 1935 or so and it's been a real eye-opener. Lots of things have gone wrong with plumbing, bathroom caulking, the basement backed up sewage into my laundry area and I had to remove the raised floor myself and clean it up and put the floor back down!!! It was fun learning how to do it all. I also assembled all of our "knock-down" furniture... so I'm handy with a drill and hammer and nails. :)

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to "dream" and "appreciate" their homes... I'm taking copious notes, asking God for wisdom as to what He wants for us.

Keep the ideas coming! I love you all for taking the time to help me.

Love
Janie
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Janie
I didn't see anyone list a GREENHOUSE.

Paul

Good one,lol':D

Janie,

For everything you find wrong with the houses you're looking at, assume that there are 7-8 additional things wrong that you won't find out about until after you move in. I had a friend/realtor tell me that AFTER we bought the house we're in. We found all kinds of surprises. :)

I'd also suggest you spend some time in prayer about it. God will be glad to help you in your search if you ask Him.

Smilin,

He has already been so faithful to show us where to go and when and how... we know He has a plan and that He has already picked the place we're supposed to live... one day at a time, we learn what is happening and where we will go.

Thanks for suggesting prayer. I sometimes forget to ask my Heavenly Father (Abba) to show me what to do.

Love in Christ,
Janie
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lots of windows
dishwasher
disposal
2 car garage (or more)
some type of front porch or walkway area
living room windows NOT facing directly where the sun would come in
at least 2 full bathrooms
located close to what you like to do (near a movie theatre, park, or mall)
these are just a few

We bought our fixer upper two years ago and we have been very happy with it especially since it was a repossession. We recently refinanced it and we have added $33,000 value for a $5,000 investment in money and many hours of sweat equity! What I would want different is the Master bedroom on the main floor, a mud room, a pantry area, the washer, dryer in a handy place (not in the living room hidden under the stairs to upstairs), and new windows. We will accomplish our new windows next spring with our equity money, the pantry, Master bedroom on the main floor and the washer, dryer in a handier place will all be on our 5 year plan. The new trees and lawn as well as irrigation for our 6 and a half acres are being installed now and finished in the spring. I LOVE homeownership!!!!!!!! The worst thing we have faced is the well didn't supply enough water for use in watering the lawn or flowerbeds hardly enough for the household use so we have to design our outside watering from our half acre pond. Since we bought a repo we bought it "as is". Central heat would be a plus if you are in the north as we are and all we have is a pellet stove and so we can't leave during the winter for more than one day since the pellets must be filled every 16 hours or so. I also miss the garbage disposal and just recently read about one that is safe for septic systems. Guess what I am asking for for Christmas???? Good luck, Lani

Regarding the laundry setup:

A friend's MIL changed her master bedroom / master bath by making part of the master suite the laundry closet. She can close the doors and the appliances disappear, they lost a little bedroom space but gained the freedom of this excellent way of doing laundry. The only laundry she has to carry anywhere is towels to the guest bath and kitchen... and sheets to the spare bedrooms. Cool, huh?

I have been looking at plans for craftsman bungalows and I think I MUST have a sleeping porch. :) And a porch outside the kitchen entry, and a mudroom between the two, and YES, Paul, a greenhouse! What fun.

Now to find the house God wants me in, probably has NONE of these things in it, LOL

Love
Janie
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Looks like I am on the tail end of this discussion. :)
Right now we have a three bedroom ranch, which I would love if I had better neighbors and schools. What we have is a 'raised ranch. It is basically a ranch style home that sits on top of a two car garage an a basement. The lower level is only exposed where the garage doors are. There are only a couple of small things that I do not like. We don't have a living room and family room, so our combo room is right at the front door. Very bad when six people live in one house! The laundry room is in the basement which causes serious aerobic workouts for clean clothes. Lastly, I wish we could walk out back from the lower level.
I have a picture in my mind of the perfect house. One thing I would love is a wrap around porch, but it doesn't necessarily fit in with my 'perfect' house. The picture I see....I would love to have a cape cod type house or at least a story and a half with dormer windows. I love dormer windows! LOL I want a porta cove between the house and garage, with tile floors and doors to the outside in both front and back. Nothing would suit our life better than having that to use as a sort of mudroom. The porta cove should be connected to the kitchen on one side and the garage on the other. Awesome would be master bed and bath on the first floor with laundry closet, having a huge family room and a tiny living room (wasted space that needs to be cleaned if you have a bunch of kids like me), and a walkout from the living room. I would be in Heaven if I could have four bedrooms and two baths upstairs with another laundry room. One luxury item would be appreciated-a private 'office space' above the garage, with a greenhouse/solarium on the rear part. If I could have this house on 2-5 acres, I would want for little else. :) Don't guess anyone wants to give me one of these?? LOL

We lived in a mobile home for 13 years while planning our custom made dream home. Here are some of the things we really enjoy. Our home is a ranch style. We have a walk out basement. The mud room/laundry room with an adjoining bathroom is right off the walk out door. Living on a farm, this is great. The mud/manure is "supposed" to stay on that end of the house. We also keep our veterinary supplies in cabinets in this room. However, we also had the builder install a plumbing hookup in the garage on the main floor in case we can't climb up and down stairs in our "aging years". We made sure our hallways and doorways were wide enough to be wheelchair accessable. We have a wood burning furnace and a propane furnace. The wood burning furnace does not burn efficiently when the temp does not get below the upper 20's. The propane furnace will kick on if the wood burner runs out of wood and gets cold enough in the house to worry about freezing pipes. Our propane bill for one year is less than what it used to be for a month in our mobile home. We installed Pella windows and have been very happy with the exception that they are crank outs and our Nebraska winds have caught several on the south side and stripped the crank out mechanisms that we have had to replace. If I had to do it over, I would have installed the double hung type of windows. When you do buy, I would warn you about checking out the property taxes. Some areas are considerably more than other areas. Good luck!!

I guess the ONE thing becoming important to me space-wise besides the kitchen is a laundry area on the main living level. I think I could save countless hours by that.... and I could use those hours in my garden, LOL!

However, as I learn more about energy efficiency, and how we waste precious and costly energy, I'd have to vote for very good windows (so I could have LOTS), shelter from North winds, and good southern exposure.

Of course, I'd NOT buy another house without the garden area having more importance than the house. I can always change the house, but not the land (excepting soil amendments).

Good Luck!!

Things I found important, have windows that are easy to clean and with screens that do not have plastic corner connectors (we have the ones that break easily-Pella's from a few years ago) If to re-do again, would check the windows that flip around, so no ladder for outside cleaning. Easy to install and move storm windows/panels ( had some made this year-because the big windows facing North-while beautiful view) air conditioned in the WI winter. What I wish ( I have fibro also) fewer, if any steps to the laundry, a mud room, screened porch. more area with south light for the plants that have to come in, not so much wall to wall carpeting (dust mites). More room for gardening but still as close to medical facilities. Covered and larger gutters and rain spouts- easiler to clean, better path lighting ( that means $$$$$$$), tools shed, so could put car in the garage) Just a few things that come to mind. Also, my last house, I should have paid for a good home inspector, before even thinking about buying, a little paint, plaster etc. can cover a LOT of problems and did !!!!!!!!!!

MUSTS; A house where it has a grey water line or one can easily be installed. Mud room and Laundry area located where most needed. LOTS of big windows for light.
Frills: Big porches or decks to enjoy all the hard work in your yard and gardens.

We deceided to buy this place before we even set foot in the house...I fell in love with the yard. We have 10 acres most of which is left wild. The yard proper is also pretty wild..my thumbs are brown and we've had many problems with the well,but the birds don't care..they LOVE my wild yard and I love watching them. If we had the money a second bathroom would be #1 on the todo list. Dh is an aluminum installer..a few years back he built me a 12x24 screen room..my very favorite place to be when not schlepping in the yard. Ginger

SEVERAL Things We Really Like:

Install four plug outlets next to Master Bed on each side!
Foyer facing south w/corner stairs to allow for plant ledge
Good old fashioned front porch!
Installed phone lines & cable lines in almost every room

SEVERAL Wishes After the Fact:

Wish we had window sills on windows for plants :(
Wish we had 2.5 or 3 car garage (even with basement)
Prewired for internet connections anywhere in house

LOL, morph re: internet/network pre-wire: I have 25' & 50' ethernet cables snaking all around the downstairs, some taped down to the carpet with masking tape ... haven't had the nerve to drill through the ceiling or wall joists to run them upstairs yet... do have one that goes out the sliding door in the back and into the back yard, though!

you all have such smart ideas. I love your creativity...
thanks, everyone

Love
Janie
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p.s. right now my furniture is outside on the front porch because the landlord pulled out big strip of flooring the with his bare hands, but the new floor doesn't come till Thursday. In the basement, the raised flooring is unscrewed and pulled away from the walls and my washer and dryer are disconnected and put into a corner. My storage stuff is pulled away from the walls so the termite guy can drill holes to insert his chemicals tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. I asked my DH today if I can look for a buyer's agent... and noticed a rate of 6.01 for a 15 year mortgage... !!!

Keep us in your prayers.

Love
Janie
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Janie, I don't know the real estate laws in the state you live in, but in Oklahoma and Tennessee (where we've bought and sold homes), any agent who shows you homes is considered a buyer's agent, but you their fee is still paid by the seller. They have to sign a statement that they are working for the buyer. Until we purchased this home, I had always been on the seller/listing end of the transactions in the past, so I was a little skeptical of whether a realtor whose commission is paid by the seller would try to push us toward an expensive choice, but ours really helped us weed out the homes that weren't right, and encouraged us to get the home we wanted, even though it was certainly not the most expensive one we looked at. Happy house hunting; have fun looking!

Janie, you will qualify for sainthood for tolerating that situation! I would have put it all into storage units and moved into a furnished apartment. That kind of disruption is only bearable if it's your own house and you can reap the benefits for years to come. I think you need to be going to Joan's and leaving all that behind for a break.

I love my house. It is a three bedroom ranch on 2 1/2 acres.
We had just finished decorating it last year and had a fire that burned the familyroom and kitchen down. Sooooooo we were out for 6 mo, while they rebuilt. We added a window for more light, everything is lighter now cupboards, floors, tile, walls, carpeting the house looks bigger. Also figured if I could live without things for 6 Mo I didnt need it. Lots easier to take care of now. Couldnt do without all of our trees either. I would take the smaller house with more property.