? for those who have recently househunted

[ChristinaM]

I don’t know that shows like House Hunters accurately represent the mindset of the average buyer. I know that DH and I would have LOVED granite countertops, stainless steel, etc. but that would have been soooooooo unrealistic on our budget. (Actually I would prefer soapstone counters - easier to work with, and I like the look.)

We just bought our first home and while it is almost 60 years old it was very clean when we came in to look at it and had some nice updates. The seller had put in new carpet and new laminate flooring. I like the laminate so far…it looks great and it isn’t as much of a hassle as hardwood. The kitchen cabinets were new and a dining area had been added as well. Appliances are “no name”, cheapo versions but coming from an apartment, it was a big plus to even have appliances included. This house also has pretty large closets for a house built in the 50s, and a large attached garage.

One thing I wish they had done was take the linoleum flooring out of the bath and replace it with tile. The bathroom was the only area of the house I didn’t much care for. We just took out the linoleum and laid tile. Oh goodness, what a pain! 2 layers of old, nasty linoleum and the adhesive under it, and for some reason there was 2 square feet of old tile in the area under the vanity that had to be chiseled up. It wasn’t too bad of a DIY but I would definitely think twice before doing it again. The bathroom is still tiny, of course…but now that we have tile and a new vanity it looks fabulous!

The electrical service also had to be updated to 100 amps and a new breaker panel put in. We repainted all the bedrooms ourselves. The living room had been freshly painted but the bedrooms were done in cheap flat white paint…just not very attractive at all.

 

[dontknow]

Listen to 1ke and any others that post similar responses…

We recently sold our house at top market price in 18 days & purchased a similar one. Both in upper middle class neighborhoods. Neither house had/has granite nor stainless steel appliances.

In fact, we particularly hate stainless steel appliances and granite as well as tile. Our new house has tile which we are tearing out because we hate it.

Cosmetics are nothing more than fads for the period which will eventually become dated. For example, people went ga-ga in the 70’s with Z brick and unique colors for the time in flooring and counters as well as paint. It’ll all change over time.

For us, sound mechanics, extremely clean, decluttered, organized and showing we kept up with the major needs (roof, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, proper grading near house for drainage, etc…) sold the house. It’s also what we looked for in a new house.

Speak with more than one agent to get feedback!

 

[CB_Catholic]

I definitely agree.

I’ll expand on that to say that you have to “honor” the style of your house, if there is one.

Most houses are probably just houses. But the kind of things that you might want to do to a house if you live in a rainy, woodsy place are probably very different than those you would do in a very hot, dry location. Linoleum on the kitchen floor of a “farmhouse” may be a good choice while tile is probably the best for a Mediterranean style house. You probably want to consider the latest trends for counter tops, appliances and bathroom furnishings.

And remember, (as has been mentioned before), that you are unlikely to get much more for your house than what those in your neighborhood are selling for, regardless of how nice it is. So if you are making upgrades beyond what is typical for your area, accept that you are doing it for yourselves and not for investment purposes.

I agree with this. When my neighbors bought their house, they invested oodles and oodles of money into it with major remodeling, etc. and discovered, a few years later, when they wanted to sell it and move to another neighborhood that they were going to take a major loss on the house and decided to stay. They had expanded and remodeled to the extent that they could not get a fair market value for their house in the neighborhood in which it is located. Now, with the housing market the way it is, they are even worse off, as home prices around here have been declining, their children are grown and out of the house, and they are stuck with a beautiful monster of a house they don’t need. They are just going to have to cut their losses when they sell, I guess. Fortunately, they are well off, but still don’t like the idea of losing all that money.

 

[leonie]

I’m watching too much hulu, I guess. I was surprised that on House Hunters, all the buyers would exclaim that they wanted granite counter tops, hardwood floors, and a “master suite.”

I’ve never actually househunted.The first house we bought we had been watching because of its location. When it came up for sale, we jumped on it. And, then my bil offered to sell us his house with a nice break–that’s the house we live in now. Because it is a three bedroom and we have seven kids, dh and I have the smallest bedroom and share a bath with our boys (it’s kind of icky for me–boys(ages 15, 12, 7 &4 aren’t the neatest bathroom users). It’s also the bathroom for general use.

My personal list for a house would be lots of bedrooms, a family room and a living room, a big eating area, and at least 2 bathrooms. I wouldn’t care about appliances, floors, or counters. I just want more room!!! In fact, I’d be happy if it was an outdated house with lots of room because it would hopefully drop the price. My kids would probably tear up the house anyway.

It seems like though that wall to wall carpet and wallpaper used to be the desirables. Now, it’s paint and wood floors.

I guess I won’t worry too much about improvements for selling until we have a date in mind. Maybe Jesus will come back soon and I won’t have to do any painting or refinishing floors. I can hope, right?

 

[manualman]

I think the “realty TV” shows just haven’t caught up to the new reality yet.

People went plain stupid on house expenditures in the era of 0% down financing and 10% annual home value increases.

Granite costs, what, 10x as much as Formica? For what!?! More maintenance requirements, more stainable? How is that better? Formica with a beveled wood edging has a slightly upscale look without adding much costs, IMO. You’d be surprised at the look and variety of patterns available.

Same goes for stainless appliances. White and black may never be the IN thing, but they will also never look tacky. Contrary to the name, stainless steel is VERY stainable. And really, does it actually work better because it’s stainless? Nope. More vacant status symbol decor.

Think practical - it’s the next big thing.

There are CHEAP things you can do to add big function and aesthetics to a kitchen. If you are replacing cabinets, add switched outlets at the top so you can plug in undercabinet lighting (IKEA!) after the fact easily. It turns dingy space into bright, beautiful, useable space. Draping a rope light on top of cabinets also makes a nice upward glow that chases away dingy shadows (assuming no soffits).

If your range abuts an outside wall, add a hood with outside vent. This will pay you back in a few summers when it pulls hot oven&stove air outside instead of letting it fight against your AC unit inside.

If you have attic access over the kitchen, consider recessed can lights. Again, it makes work surfaces friendlier AND enhances the look.

If you have the electric capacity available, a small point of use electric water heater under the sink would be an awesome luxury. No more waiting and wasting for the hot water to move from the heater to the faucet!

42" upper cabinets add both luxury looks and extra storage space.

At our old house, I gutted the kitchen to the studs and paid a tradesman $35 and hour side job wages to completely redo it. For $8,000, we did ceramic tile, can lights, undercabinet lights, formica countertop (reused stainless sink and faucet), White thermofoil cabinets (42" uppers) and a built in microwave/hood. Yeah, we reused the fridge, dishwasher and range and didn’t bother with a disposer (bad idea in old plumbing), but we got an incredible upgrade for cheap because we didn’t spend money where it didn’t bring a useable return.

 

[Gearoidin]

We bought a house 18 months ago. We didn’t really house hunt. We wanted a house in a particular area, one that didn’t need too much work done on it and had a double garage. I don’t like dark rooms so a house that had light, neutral interior was important to me. I also love houses with the living room on the 2nd floor. I lived in a house like that as a student and loved the view and privacy from the living room on the upper floor.
Well, we ended up buying a house that was 18 years old, with the living room, dining room, kitchen and toilet on the second floor. We have large windows along 2 sides of the living room and an amazing view over the city and Inland Sea.
We had to repaint the entrance, reception room and bedroom on the 1st floor but the living room and kitchen had recently been redone. The 3rd floor is a converted loft. It has a Canadian pine vaulted ceiling and has 1 large bedroom and a smaller room that I use as a study.
The only thing I don’t like is the bathrooms. The 1st floor bathroom is small and we really need to redo it but can’t afford it at the moment. The toilet on the 1st floor is fine but I’d like to redo the second floor one.
Anyway, we weren’t interested in granite counter tops or any other convenience. The area, condition and design of the house were more important for us.
Gearoidin

 

[JustAnotherThou]

Don’t over renovate for your area and don’t be the nicest house on the block!!