# My First Home **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 27, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-home/679860 "2014-01-27T17:27:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-home/679860/21 "2014-01-31T00:50:32Z")
> [@artemis](#): > > That’s good. Also consider what your commute to work, the grocery store, etc., will be like -especially in bad weather. And pay attention to where the lot is tied as well as it’s size; a house set in a hollow will have more problems with basement leaks and foundation issues than a house set on top of a hill. That’s something that’s on our “must have” list - I’m a walker, so I must be able to walk to my usual things (groceries, drug store, library, that kind of thing). Somehow, when we found our last house, we missed seeing that we are on the top of a hill. That’s great for not being likely to flood, but it means that I walk home uphill from everywhere I go. My poor legs! It is a really good idea to walk around your neighbourhood for a house that you’re considering buying - there are things that you just don’t notice in a car (like all the uphill). Paint, carpet, fixtures (light and plumbing) - those are all very easy things to fix. It’s been mentioned many times on the Dope amongst us real estate porn fans that it drives us crazy when people use them as a reason to not buy a house - “Oh, I can’t stand the colours of these walls!” Five gallons of paint and two weeks will change that! ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-home/679860/22 "2014-01-31T02:08:39Z")
I bought about 4 years ago and it has been pretty positive with a few negatives. First is that while you know things are going to be expensive, it seems that the expenses that have popped up aren’t the fun stuff. You don’t really _get_ anything out of replacing the water heater or dryer like you do putting in a deck or buying furniture but you can’t do without the appliances. Another thing to consider is picturing the house in all four seasons. That lovely driveway will be a bear when it snows. I curse the honey locust in my front yard each fall as the tiny leaves get tracked into the house before crumbling. If inch-long pine cones were nickels, I’d be rich with the tall pine in the backyard dropping jillions of them which need to be raked and bagged. An unshaded southern broadside is pretty hot in the summer. I cannot imagine circumstances where I would look at a Homeowners Association controlled property. I have heard insane horror stories. I don’t think we have them here in Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-home/679860/23 "2014-01-31T02:13:37Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > … > > Paint, carpet, fixtures (light and plumbing) - those are all very easy things to fix. It’s been mentioned many times on the Dope amongst us real estate porn fans that it drives us crazy when people use them as a reason to not buy a house … It doesn’t bother me that they pass on good houses - it improves the odds for those who can see important v trivia. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-home/679860/24 "2014-01-31T04:11:09Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > \ > Another thing to consider is picturing the house in all four seasons. That lovely driveway will be a bear when it snows.\ Good thought. We bought our corner lot house in summer - it never occurred to me how many square feet of sidewalk we would be shovelling come snowfall! > [@usedtobe](#): > > It doesn’t bother me that they pass on good houses - it improves the odds for those who can see important v trivia. 😃 Another good point. My husband and I would usually prefer a house that hasn’t had a lot of “upgrades” done - since they’re usually done by the homeowners with questionable quality in the results. ---
**Author:** ![Zyanthia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Zyanthia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyanthia)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-home/679860/25 "2014-02-04T18:31:30Z")
Just found a [site](http://www.walkscore.com/) that rates walking distance of the house. The one I’m going to visit tomorrow has a low walking distance score, but if you look at the drive from work to home, it passes a pharmacy, a grocery store, and a gas station. So with a little planning I won’t be making any extra trips at least. p.s. First post as member instead of guest. p.p.s Sorry for hijacking. p.p.p.s Oh cool, all my posts are now marked as member. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-home/679860/26 "2014-02-04T19:06:11Z")
When I’m looking at listings online, I notice that they list nearby schools, churches, museums, that kind of thing, but they don’t list grocery stores, libraries, drugstores, banks, or restaurants, which is what I really want to know. What I’ve ended up doing is looking up these things myself - I need to get a map of the city we’re thinking of moving to, and putting all these things on the map for reference. Hopefully the listings will catch up and put these things on the listings map as well - who doesn’t want to know where their nearest grocery store is? ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-home/679860/27 "2014-02-04T21:33:20Z")
I’m in the looking-for-places process, myself, so I wish you luck! Of course, I’m also in the trying-to-sell-my-condo process, so I have twice the headache. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-home/679860/28 "2014-02-04T21:38:54Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > When I’m looking at listings online, I notice that they list nearby schools, churches, museums, that kind of thing, but they don’t list grocery stores, libraries, drugstores, banks, or restaurants, which is what I really want to know. What I’ve ended up doing is looking up these things myself - I need to get a map of the city we’re thinking of moving to, and putting all these things on the map for reference. > > Hopefully the listings will catch up and put these things on the listings map as well - who doesn’t want to know where their nearest grocery store is? It would be nice if they included this. Otherwise Google Maps is pretty useful: restaurants near [address], pharmacy near [address], etc. ---
**Author:** ![Zyanthia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Zyanthia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyanthia)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-home/679860/29 "2014-02-11T21:53:47Z")
I am now under contract 🙂 Home appraisal and inspection are coming up in the next few weeks. The home is only 2 miles from work, and \< mile to grocery store, pharmacy, restaurants. And just a block away from one of the city parks that has a walking/jogging path! Fingers crossed, and hoping that the underwriter doesn’t become my undertaker [like this poor woman’s](http://realestate.msn.com/blogs/post--bank-denies-loan-tells-woman-shes-actually-dead#scpshrjwfbs). ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-home/679860/30 "2014-02-11T22:13:20Z")
Congratulations! My best wishes!!! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-home/679860/31 "2014-02-12T01:59:19Z")
Congratulations indeed! A warning - we’ve had some serious bumps in the road with every real estate transaction we’ve done, but they’ve all gotten straightened out in the end. If this happens with your sale, take a deep breath and just do what it takes to fix the issue. So, are you going to tell us about the place or what?!? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-home/679860/32 "2014-02-12T02:12:34Z")
Congratulations, my fingers are crossed for you, that everything goes smoothly! And another vote for “you should tell us about it”! ---
**Author:** ![Zyanthia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Zyanthia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyanthia)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-home/679860/33 "2014-02-12T02:28:56Z")
Okay, twist my arm. _ouch_ I’ll talk, I’ll talk! Where to start. The lot is 1/4 acre in size, with i’d guess 2/3 of that being the back yard. The back yard is fenced so I’ll finally be able to have my friends again (pets), that I’ve missed having and playing with. I plan on getting a doggy door in the basement door so they can come in and out as they please. The front yard has a cherry tree (I forget the type exactly, but I’ve seen pictures of it in bloom and it’s absolutely gorgeous). The house is edged with shrubbery. The front and back yards are separated by a chain link fence. The fence has a gate on either side of the house for ease of access. The backyard has a tool shed in the back of the lot, and an attached shed near the basement entrance. The main floor opens up onto a patio that is encased in glass. I’ve been told the room is called a “Florida Room” or “Carolina Room” when I simply called it a sun room. I think that covers the yard. The house itself is a single story with a 1/2 basement, 1/2 crawlspace with vinyl siding totaling 1300 square feet. The entry foyer leads has an open passage into the living room, and swinging doors that lead back directly to the doors to the basement. The living room has a wood burning fire place that has been kept meticulously clean. The only room with an entry to the living room (other than the entry foyer) is the dining room. The dining room is about 1/2 the size of the living room and has a built in china hutch. The dining room leads into the kitchen and into what I can only call the back foyer. The kitchen has beautiful pine cabinets (friend of mine at work hates them saying that pine is so old school, but I think they are beautiful). The back foyer opens up on the Carolina room, the two car attached garage, and what I’m going to be using as a walk-in pantry. The kitchen also leads back to the entry foyer where the basement door is. This hallway leads to both the bedrooms and both the bathrooms. The two bedrooms are almost identical in size, one is 13’ by 11’, the other is 12’ by 11’. Both have full closets accessed by sliding doors. The bedrooms are side by size with a cute little “phone” cubby for an old style land-line phone. The full bath is outside the 13’ by 11’ bedroom and the 1/2 bath is outside the 12’ by 11’ bedroom. The basement is two rooms. One is a beautiful den where the second fireplace is. The den is large enough that I can fit a 9’ pool table in it (something I’ve always wanted but never had the room for). The other room is the laundry room/work room. It has a built in work bench which I plan on using as a folding table :). The laundry room and shop has a door that leads into the crawl space. The crawl space is lighted and has a switch by the laundry room door. They have put new carpet in, but according to the MLS sheet I received, the floors are hardwood. I plan on taking a peeking at the hardwood floors to see their condition once the property is mine. If they are bad, I’ll leave them until I can afford to replace the hard wood. If they just need a good loving touch up, I’ll pull the carpet and get the hard wood floors back. I’m not doing it justice, and if everything goes well, I will take pictures (or it never happened). ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-home/679860/34 "2014-02-12T04:58:57Z")
It sounds great! Could you maybe link the listing for us, if it was online? ETA: Actually, scratch that - it would have your soon-to-be home address on it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zyanthia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Zyanthia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyanthia)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-home/679860/35 "2014-03-17T19:09:08Z")
Just a little update. I go in this Wednesday to sign papers. I have contacted all the utilities and they will also be in my name as of Wednesday! Pictures soon. \ ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-home/679860/36 "2014-03-17T19:10:13Z")
Congrats! We’ve got a pseudo-contract on the house of our dreams up north, but we have to sell our condo before we can really get the ball rolling. It’s all over but the waiting, and it’s _killing_ me. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-home/679860/37 "2014-03-17T19:21:41Z")
Congrats! We bought our first home a few months ago. I feel like we got surprisingly lucky in spite of the competitiveness of the market. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-home/679860/38 "2014-03-19T04:17:20Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Get an Angie’s List membership right now. Use it to find a reputable home and termite inspector. ID a few quality contractors, plumbers, carpenters, etc. so you have a list of people to contact. You may even want to bring in individual plumbers, electricians, other specialists to check over a prospective house’s systems rather, or in addition to, a general home inspector. > > But that stuff is a ways down the road for you right now. You can get an awful lot of this from your neighbors once you live there. They will know about service people who do this stuff, and nearby, reliable ones. Get recommendations from them. Our neighborhood email list is filled with this kind of requests, with many responses. That and lost pet reports. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-home/679860.md?page=1)