Location ( lot) & price to build. 40 yrs later still happy about both!

Location and lot. We have horses so needed some room. You can change the house but you can’t change the lot. Right size, right shape and right location.

Character and charm of the exterior. After 27 years, I still drive up and say "Wow! I can't believe how lucky I am to live here"!

I always say our house choose us. we were orignally going for an amazing house in the town next door (not even looking to buy a house at the time put an offer in and it fell through) a few weeks later our house came on the mRket. saw it that night met the owner and out an offer in. we loved the acreage, privacy, stream, fireplaces, barn and bar in the basement. plus it was the only 3 bedroom with a garage for sale in town that we could afford. it needs work but everything is liveable.

What made me pick my house were the first two things i saw when we pulled up to the property. The two things are pictured below and i pulled them from the listing. It was a new build. I fell in love with the house from the curb because to me, it looked like a castle. As soon as i entered the house and saw the openness and space, that solidified it for me. I knew i wanted wood floors but i didn’t even mind the carpet. It was very lush. Everything about the home felt very elegant and grown up. It was a no brainer. I love everything about this home.

We put an offer in on Paisano's Roost one week after it was listed. The houses that were high on our list either sold or weren't big enough. At the time of the offer, we had a flock of three sheep and purchased the flock the farm had. We needed acreage to to expand our flock. The Mesilla Valley is growing and most acreage gets subdivided into house lots and sold. Paisano's Roost is located in the county surrounded by livestock and orchards. We are close enough to town and have the benefits without all the futzing. The sellers were getting a divorce. The house is quirky and we are learning its quirks. For us, it was the right house and will work for the next 10-15 years until we move to Lost Hill to retire.

Location. Then style. My husband really wanted a split, No way did I want one. Kept looking.

Bought the damn split.

He was right. (After opening the kitchen, living and dinning rooms with a cathedral ceiling, adding on another garage and enlarging all the bedrooms, remodeling the downstairs and adding bathrooms!)

Amazing kid and now teen parties downstairs, while adults upstairs. Great neighborhood. Recently remodeled to mid century modern style and love the home even more.

Who knew? Great question, fun to read everyoes answers

Primarily location and light: An apartment at the back of my building, a building that backs onto a popular walking path and a century-old cemetery behind it (translation: no new construction will be dropping in something to add noise and obstruct the view). High-ish ceilings (9'), and full corner windows in my bedroom provide lots of light. As an added bonus, the master bedroom is large (about 170 sq ft), which is a rarity in most condo apartments these days.

Needed a home with two master bedrooms and the ability to accommodate a parent in a wheelchair along with a growing family and room for my husbands toys.

Location--in the city, near everything--price, condition. I got a great deal in a neighborhood that has boomed since I bought in, with a walk score of 97, transit score of 100, with parks and recreation nearby, a 30-minute walk to work, a 15-minute walk to concerts and theatre, 25+ cool restaurants within a 10-minute walk. No need for a car. And my house is now worth well over 3 times what I paid for it. Score!

*my* dream house, tatts. i had to compromise with my husband who wanted slightly less urban. the market has been kind to us, increase of 50% in 9 years. will it hold til i'm ready to sell, odds are not. but we'll have fun fun fun til ....

My aunt and uncle live 4 doors down. So that helped lol. But really, it is a very rare and extremely desirable neighborhood. An Oasis if you will. I've had people come over that lived in the area for 30 years and have never seen this neighborhood. Private Acre lots, custom built family homes with a rural feel but close to everything. Homes here range from 3,500-6,000sqft.

As far as the house, I loved the unique layout yet very functional. Everything was very well thought out to be very efficient and maximum use of space. The quality and craftsmanship of the house is unmatched. Would cost a fortune to build today. An old neighbor said he watched my house being built 40 years ago and he remembers thinking are they building a house or a bunker lol. I loved that all the custom woodwork was in excellent condition and untouched. This is how I felt way before I had any interest in this website or any of this remodeling stuff. The house has awesome features also. From the zoned radiant heated hydronic floors, central vacuum, separate commercial garage heater, real fireplace has a vent system that also can be used to heat the house, 3-1/2 car garage, just to name a few.

The previous owner was an old lady. Her husband passed away 10 years prior and was probably having a hard time maintaining the house as there was minor signs of neglect (outdoor). That winter in particular seemed like no one was buying houses. I used all of this to my advantage. Paid cash and got it dirt cheap. It was a little outdated but after 3 years, bargain hunting, $30k, and doing the work myself, I've transformed this place into a luxury estate. With 2 floors of custom hardwood floors and the main floor custom crema marfil marble, beautiful crystal entry doors, deck, shed, ect.. No one ever believes I only spent $30k. Just under actually.

Its been 3 years and do not regret it in the slightest bit. People come over and think its at least a million dollar house. When I tell them how much I paid, their jaw drops or they think I'm lying. I love seeing the nature in my back yard while sitting on the deck. Whether its a family of deer, coyotes, a hawk swooping down to take out a chipmunk (lol), or a falcon chasing another bird. Its freakin awesome. I feel like I'm on vacation every day. Within the 3 years most of the houses in the neighborhood have been sold. And sold very fast. (I think the word is out.) The older generation is leaving and the new is moving in. I was worried at first not knowing the direction the neighborhood was gonna go. But so far 5 houses have added huge additions. Making these big houses even bigger and more beautiful lol. So Its a good sign. According to zillow, prices have sky rocketed. The recent sales prove it. I got lucky. I remember a month after I bought my house, the house across the street sold in 15 minutes (wow). When they moved in they told me they were looking at my house but weren't ready to buy yet. A month later when they checked again, it was sold. So I got it perfect timing cause if I waited any longer, bye bye.

Wow I typed a lot and still have more to say lol.

The house had a cattery for our 4 cats. That sealed it. Also, I love the location on over an acre.

@Belahn I would love to see a photo of your residential cattery!

location, price, potential

It was my first house and I loved it -- a solidly built, well maintained, late 30's home with most original features intact; on a dead end street in a small town 35 miles from San Francisco; reasonably close to my workplace; with views of downtown, boats on the strait, and city lights across the water; plus (perhaps most important) within my sadly limited price range. I've been here over 20 years and don't expect to leave until I can't manage the stairs.

Over 20 years ago the first house we looked at was the one we bought. But we looked at so many other houses before we knew it was the one. Luckily we were new at all of this and it was a buyers market so we had time to look around. We came back to the first on and it was the best one., but we thought we should shop around to be sure. What sold us on our house which we still have to this day is the park that we back onto with soccer fields. No houses behind us, the park rarely used and sunsets that I still get excited about and call my husband to come see! Knowing there will never be houses behind us an looking out onto greenery and trees and sunsets was the best decision we made. The house itself fit our bill as well but the park and view sealed the deal for us!

Location and new construction

Location, single story home, lovely neighborhood close to everything. But what convinced me was the feeling I got when I first stepped in the door!

Location and price. The house was completely unremarkable, as I walked through every surface needed changing, every light fixture, everything. But the house was in a neighborhood I wanted to be in.

Significant Other lives in it:)

Always buy for location. That’s something that cannot be changed. My current home was purchased only because of it’s fantastic location ( beach, high demand area, lots of natural light, etc. ). The house itself was a mess. Took a lot of the interior down to the studs, new roof, windows, flooring, etc. etc. Best investment I’ve ever made , it’s worth at least four times what I paid for it, in 14 years. People often leave notes or write letters to our address asking if we’d be interested in selling. And that’s not even counting the realtors contacting us....

@K Laurence "People often leave notes or write letters to our address asking if we’d be interested in selling."

I also get those like twice a year in my mailbox. lol Its actually getting annoying now. I think I'm gonna write back one day with a big fat NO! lol

If the house appeals to your sense of style. If it has the amount of space rooms that you are looking for. If it’s in the location that you are looking for-close to schools/work. So many variables.

J Design Group - Miami Interior Designers
225 Malaga Ave
Coral Gables, FL 33134
Ph: 305-444-4611
https://www.JDesignGroup.com

We decided to buy a larger home when I was expecting our third child. Our previous house had three bedrooms, but the kids' rooms were just too small to put the baby in either my daughter or son's bedrooms, especially since they were already in school. It took longer than we expected for the house we chose in a new, nearby development to be ready. We were more than ready to move after three months of having our new daughter sleep in our bedroom! What really sold me on the new house, besides the two extra bedrooms, was the powder room with laundry space right next to the kitchen. (Having a laundry room upstairs was not an option, although it is more common now.) We have lived here for 34 years now, and it's still a great home, especially when our three kids, their spouses, and the six grandkids all come to visit!

I loved reading everyone's responses here!! In order of importance:

1. Location – we wanted to move to a specific neighborhood in the city & ditch the burbs

2. Single-family – we’d had enough of condo living with neighbors above & below

3. Yard – we have a dog, a yard was a must

4. Price – it was in our budget

5. Character – I’ve always loved old houses, ours was built in 1885

6. Renovated – everything was new enough & freshly painted in neutrals so we just moved in

1. Location: this house was not only in our must-have school district, but in our favorite neighborhood and very close to the neighborhood park.

2. Backyard: this house has a nice backyard, which is hard to find in the area we are looking at, at least without going to well/septic.

3. Price: within our price range, including necessary updates, though we will have to wait a little to finish all of the updates we have on our wish list.

4. House size & layout: perfect for our wants/needs, and cute to boot!

5. Views: not on our must-have list, but this house has amazing views and open space behind it so we have privacy as well.

location, price (there were bidding wars for every single house being sold, this one started low enough for bidding room), extra (freakishly) high basement, relatively deep undeveloped yard with a hill, so potential for taking advantage of elevation changes, even tho it was ugly, came with no special extras, and was an old persons property (no maintenance, no renos in eons, cat lady decor), attached on one side, there were multiple offers. neighbourhood went from a lot of older persons to a popular new couple with babies destination.

Location. Location. Location. Hated everything about the house (1980's contemporary design, split bedrooms, outdated kitchen, etc.), but we LOVED the neighborhood, the street, the mature trees, and the proximity to things that were important to us. We negotiated the lowest per square foot price in the neighborhood and had instant equity in the house. We've been in our home for a little over five years and I'm so glad we bought the ugliest house we looked at. We have the best neighbors, an enviable location, and are working our way through updating the ugly - including a complete exterior renovation that will be finished next week.

location for sure, 2 acres close to a major metropolitan area, but in great suburban school district. House was 'large' at 2250 sqft, compared to other older homes on small acreage around here. It was also livable as it, while we worked on updating bits here and there. The price was right at 190k 5 years ago. Even though we flooded, tore it down and are building new, I am still happy we bought that house on this property.

Red brick traditional like the elegant home of a woman I admired, master down, big closet, big blank canvas back yard. Mostly that it was a builder spec and the asking price made it well-priced. The payments just a little more than our townhouse rent. We have been here 24+ years - moving in as a family of two and now seeing our three children begining to go off to college. We don't plan on moving.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/poll-would-you-choose-your-current-home-again-yes-or-no-dsvw-vd~3607430?n=315

It was the only house we could afford that wasn't in a horrible part of town and not as much of a fixer upper as some we'd seen. Not enough $$ in our pockets to be choosy or base it off anything else.

school districts and lot size. i felt over time i could rehab.

We were thinking of downsizing and making a major life change/move. We put our house on the market as " coming soon" . The night before it went on the market a guy called our realtor. He wanted the house sight unseen. She said come see it with your realtor tomorrow morning. He did and made a full price offer...then #2 came and made an offer for more...so #1 upped it and we accepted. Thus we needed to move LOL ! We had looked in this little town in VA for over a year but hadn't seen anything we would even go into. Went walking with 6 yr old grandson and he said " look dammie that house is for sale and my friend lives right there..". He was pointing to the house next door.

I had missed this house on the MLS as it had been on the market for almost a year and had dropped down. It had a gazebo in the backyard which had special meaning to us . It is like a mini version of the wonderful house that sold . There isn't now a year later, nor was there in the previous 2 years, a house in town within walking distance of everything that was vintage ,1920 in this case , that hadn't been ruined by remodeling.

Location as many have said... a beautiful yard ,an amazing old alley that ends at our back yard,a perfect music studio conversion of the old 1920 garage/henhouse that suits my DH to a T ,walking distance to everything and fantastic bicycling here and in the whole area. It was more than we wanted to pay but you only live once. We knew we would do a fairly major remodel at some point. We will add on a couple 100 sq ft and make a new gourmet kitchen/eating area/sunroom. Luckily cost isn't a major issue and we got back almost all we spent on our last home after remodeling every single square foot.

Really enjoying reading everyone's reasons. So compelling and thoughtful !

Location, size, garage, large double lot, one story,no pool, in budget, fixer upper. Is it perfect? No but it meets are needs and housing prices have gone nuts where we live...

Location, size, acreage, layout, recently updated, windows!! Everything was perfect!

In the city with no rear neighbours. I hate being in the backyard with a line of houses and windows to look at. When I float in the pool I pretend I’m at a cottage but I can walk to the bank, grocery store and get downtown in 15 minutes. House needs some love but we are working on that.

The VIEW. Lovely sweeping views from all the upstairs rooms. Even had a great view from the bath tub in the Master suite! My husband still teases me that I got the house because of the view from the bathtub.

We're seniors, and were looking for what I devoutly hope will be our last house, so:

1. Location - on the macro level, we wanted a town (not a city) with good medical, dental and shopping facilities available, ideally close to the sea. On a micro level, we wanted to be within walking distance of shopping, restaurants, cafes, etc. Access to the beach was a plus. New house ticked all boxes.

2. Compact single story house - we didn't want to cope with stairs, and we didn't want a behemoth, but we did want some elbow room. We ended up with a 2000 sq ft house, 3 bedrooms plus TV room, every inch of which gets used (one bedroom is the guest, the second spare is our exercise/music room, while the TV room houses our library as well).

3. New or near new house - we didn't want to be in renovation mode after the move. We ended up building with a well-respected small local builder. Good mid-range quality construction and fit out, a working home rather than a showcase.

4. Design for aging in place - no stairs, wide halls and doorways, minimal threshold showers. Should have thought about grab bars, but other than that, we got what we wanted.

I was looking for an ugly house that I knew I could fix and that I could get at a great price. The man's father died and he just wanted to sell and get back to his own life. And because it looked so bad and needed so much work, he wasn't getting any offers on it so I knew I could come in low with an all cash offer and get it. When I was standing in the drive way for the first time waiting for the realtor to show up to show me the home, I absolutely knew it was going to be the one. I knew it would be my house. Yes, it was amazingly ugly, but it could all be fixed. The floor plan could get there with some walls removed and the lot was amazing, It's very strange but I can honestly say every home I've ever bought, I "felt" it, and my current one is no exception. Weird story, later on after purchasing it I befriended a neighbor down the street who had lived in her home since the beginning of the neighborhood. And she told me that the original owners of my home were a young couple who birthed all of their children in the tub in the guest bathroom. Just as I was thinking of how disgustingly strange that sounded, she said, "So there is a lot of love in your house", and I left it on that note.

The first sight of our house was a driveway lined with 20 crepe myrtles - my favorite tree. That was enough to convince me this was our new home.

New construction so we could choose all we wanted, especially our kitchen. And we love the modern exterior

Original 160 year old heart pine floors, untouched molding, original curved living room wall. Less than a mile walk to downtown/office.

Well it was about 8 houses down from our old house. We pretty much stuck our heads out the door one day and said “Oh, look, they’re building a new house there!”
We loved the neighbourhood, and the new house had all the extra things we needed (4th bedroom, family room, garage). And that was that.

Drew a circle around DH's work that offered a reasonable commute. Looked for good schools. Then price, couldn't afford much. Found a house that had some charming touches, no back neighbors, couple hundred feet from 2 shopping centers, community center just as close, close to hiking. Great weather here, can be 10* warmer just 8 miles away.

Location - and view!

I found a home with a very funky floor plan, 30 mins from anything, yard is a mess, deck needs to be replaced. Knockdown on all the walls and ceilings, horrid emerald green carpet (ripped out on day 1). Former owner must have gotten a good deal on mint green paint because everything trim, facia, gutters, siding etc... is painted with it.

But it was far enough out I could afford it without a second job, it is well built, had new windows and new roofing and the view ... I will let it speak for itself...

Location and lot size! After 16 years in a neighborhood of houses crammed next to each other...Ahhh...

Neighborhood, midcentury custom home from original owner who had not mucked it up with "improvements," well maintained and huge sunny yard for this gardener to transform from grass to orchard, vegetable raised boxes, flower gardens. Other than remodeling kitchen, I find the house and yard just perfect.