Your house...

[Diane]

Ann's thread to Donna about her wedding and her mentioning the house they had just bought started me thinking about when dh and I first decided to buy our first home.

I'm wondering... (not to be nosey but just something to talk about)

How many places have you lived in since you got married?
How many years have you lived in your house?
When looking for a home, were there certain things you were looking for? (Fireplace, # of bedrooms... Location?)
What turned you off from some of the homes you looked at?
What was the deciding factor in choosing the house you chose?

When dh and I were fist married we rented a 1 bedroom apartment about 15 miles from where we now live. We stayed there until our lease agreement was up (1 year) and couldn't wait to get out of there. (we woke up one morning to find bullet holes and blood on the walls in the hallway right outside our apartment door ) We moved into a larger apartment where we stayed another year. My dad's brother had just passed away. He owned, and had been renting out his house after a nasty divorce, so that needed to be sold. Dh and I had already been looking... liked it, and decided we wanted it. Our main interest was the great price they were asking for it. It needed quite a lot of work but we had the funds and the energy to do it... so we did. We lived there for two years before we decided it was time to move on. (the neighbors were something else... ) Over a two/three month period of time we looked at several different houses in several different locations. We put $$ down on another house we liked, but the owners decided at the last minute that they didn't want to sell. All the other houses we looked at didn't compare. It's hard when you've got your heart set on a certain house... you can just picture you and your family in it and suddenly it's gone. There was always something we hated about all the other houses. Most had very old appliances, ripped (or cat/dog stink) carpet, dirty/holey walls... bad location. My mom/dad actually found this house. We weren't too sure about moving so close to them... but we really liked the house. The people who lived here were obvious clean freaks. Unlike all the other homes we had looked at... there wasn't a thing out of place. They had just installed new carpeting in the living room and new flooring in the kitchen, plus they had all new/updated appliances. We liked that the rooms were so much larger than the house we'd been living in. We'd be going from 2 bedrooms to a 5 bedrooms. We quick made an offer, which was immediately accepted... but it was contingent on us selling our house. We actually sold it twice to the same people. Their loan didn't go through the first time (and we almost lost this house because of it) and a week or two later they came back and made the same offer. One of their parents had decided to pitch in and help them with the $$ and they were then able to get the loan. That was 30 years ago... What's your story?

[angie r]

1. Bought a condo about 6 months before we were married because we got it dirt cheap. 1 bedroom and a loft about 900 square feet
2. Condo burned down and we moved into an apartment for 14 months while we were rebuilding.
3. Back into the condo
4. We traded the condo for a house that a boss of mine owned it was 1100 square feet, 3 bedrooms 1 bath that needed a lot of work.
5. We moved again into a house that we hoped to "stay in." It was a block from my mom's house.
6. Brichard took a job an hour+ away so we moved to be closer to his job. We lived with my inlaws for 3 months while they were building our house because the house we were in sold so fast. We are still in the same house now. We loved the floorplan because of the openess, a main floor office, 4 bedrooms and a loft area. We choose this neighborhood because they had a giant park and as we drove around we saw mom's at home during the day with their kids. We've been here 6 years now.

[AnnW]

When we first got married, I moved into the townhouse that he had owned. It was a 2 bedroom/2 bath. It was about 1,000 sf. About a year or so later we moved to Dallas where we rented a 3/2. Our main consideration was price and close to downtown. About a year later we bought our first home. I loved that house..still do. It was 3,000 sf 4/3 with a pool and play yard, all open floor plan, built in the mid 60's but had been updated. Single story on a huge lot. We thought were were going to be in that house forever. We bought it for the neighborhood and price. We lived there 5 years and moved back to Houston and lived in a townhouse that I had owned as a rental (same complex coincidentally as dh's). It was a 4/2. We were there about 3 years and then bought where we are living now. We looked off and on over those 3 years, saw several that we liked, but didn't end up making any offers. We have been here 14 years. We bought this house for the neighbhorhood and schools, definitely intending to either move (it was smaller than we wanted) or add on..we have done neither.
With any house I have owned, I look at the location first and then the floorplan and then the price. I don't pay any attention to the decor..that can be changed.

[Beth/TX]

When we first got married, we were both still in college. We lived in a typical dumpy college apartment: 2 bedrooms, 1 bath. I can't remember the footage but it was very small. We were there for 5 yrs.

Once dh graduated, he accepted a job in California, in the far easy bay area of San Francisco. We rented a 2/2 house, about 1900 sq ft if I remember right. After being there for only a year we decided California was not for us. The housing prices were ridiculously high. It would take us years and years to own a house, and even then, it would have been an extremely small house. So we packed up everything and moved back to Texas. It was a tough decision because there was no job in Texas in the field that dh got his degree in.

In Texas we rented another house (3/2, 1900 sq ft). After a year we had saved enough money to build a new house. We first looked at location and schools. Once we found the right city, then we built as big a house as we could afford at the time (4/2, 2100 sq ft). We were there for 3 years. Then the interest rates started dropping. We decided to take advantage of that, and built a house that we would live in for a long time.

We stayed in the same city, and neighborhood even, because the schools are exemplary. Our major deciding factor was square footage, with amenities we had always wanted, like a game room, media room and study. We built a 4500 sq ft house, with 5 bedrooms, 3.5 baths. It came with the game room, media room, and 2 studies that we wanted. We're going on our 3rd year here. It really is our dream home. Our only gripe is that the lot is really small, so the back yard isn't as big as we'd like. We thought we'd stay here for a long time, but now we're considering moving again, but only if we find the same size house on a big lot.

[MaryL]

We built a 4500 sq ft house, with 5 bedrooms, 3.5 baths. It came with the game room, media room, and 2 studies that we wanted. We're going on our 3rd year here. It really is our dream home.

Wow!!! That's alot of square footage!!!

[MaryL]

We lived together before we were married (we were engaged though). Anyway, dh graduated from college and moved to the big city near where we live now. He rented a two bedroom apt. Kind of in a bad area...but it was affordable. When I graduated (9 months later), I got a job in the same area...and moved in with dh. About a year later, our lease was up and we moved into a 2 bedroom condo (rental). LOVED it there. Perfect for a young couple. We got married during the time we lived there...probably 2 years, or so. We wanted to start a family...and wanted a house before we did that. We found a great 3 bedroom...1800 sq. ft. home. That house was wonderful...and both of our boys were born while we lived there. Unfortunately, the neighborhood began to decline (crime, etc)...and we decided to move. We sold our home...while we were building our new home. Ended up living in a 2 bdroom apt. for 6 months. Moved into our current home (2400 sq. ft), and have lived here for about 6 years.

So...I guess that would put us at 5 "moves" since we've been together.

[BevJ]

Diane, you woke up to bullet holes and blood in the hall outside your door and you didn't hear anything?!?!?!

My story is short. DH and I moved in together when I was 21 and he was 23. We stayed in a one bedroom apartment for 2 years. My Dad bought a cute little 2 bedroom, 750 sq ft house that we lived in/rented from him. I was 23, dh 25. 18 years later we are still here. Of course, we ended up buying the house from my Dad when ds was 2.5. And of course we just added on. Ann, location is the reason we've stayed here as well.

[kat]

Ds and I lived in my parents' one bedroom guest house for 3 1/2 years while I finished up college. After I met dh and we decided to get married I moved into a 2-bedroom duplex in town. We lived there about a year when we bought our first house, a 3/2 with the most beautiful fenced in backyard in a quiet neighborhood in town. I loved the house but the bedrooms were really small. We bought 2 acres near the lake and planned to build a house, but we could not agree on much and I didn't want to fight over every little detail. We just so happened to look at our present house on a whim and we both loved it and the location near the lake, near my parents, etc. So after 6 years in our first house we sold it and our land and bought this house. It's about 2500 square feet. I guess we've lived here 13 years. I would like to add on a sunroom, another bedroom, and enlarge the dining room in the future. I love the neighborhood and most especially our lot. It's about an acre and tree covered with a constant breeze off the lake.

[Leigh]

Well, dh and I were married while dh was still in AIT, so I stayed with my parents while he finished that. He was then transferred to Germany, and I stayed with my parents until I went over there. We lived over there in a 2 bedroom 1 bath apartment on base for almost 3.5 years. When we returned, we stayed with my parents until we found this house which took almost 4 months. We now live and have lived for 5 years in a 3 bedroom, 2 bath mobile home on 1.16 acres. I am not sure of the square footage. We picked this place because of the price and location. It is only about 2.5 miles from both parents. It also met both of our criteria. Dh wanted a screened in back porch which it had, and I wanted a dish washer which it had. It also has a nice shop in the back and a storage building. We are surrounded by trees, and we didn't know it at the time we were looking, but we found out before we bought that dh's first cousins are our neighbors. We do plan on building a house, but that probably won't happen until we cash in our mutual fund, and we will probably build it right here. We love this piece of property. It has wonderful grass and lots of trees for shade.

[Melody]

Lived in a one bedroom, one bath apartment for a year after we were married. Bought a condo, had 3 beds and 1 1/2 baths. It was 3 floors, needed a lot of work to make it nice. We put in about 10 grand and lost it when we sold, we were anxious to get out of there and move to the town we are in now before ds1 started school. It was a money loss but it was worth it in the end. We have been here for going on 8 years. I love the town. This house is not the one we had our eye on, it sold before we could sell the condo. We looked at many houses here, that either sold or were not for us. This is the one we chose because it was close to the school, in our budget, not a bad house, no major work needed to be done right away but could have used our touch ups. lol And, this house came with a 1/3 of an acre where the newer houses in this town came with property the same size as what we had in the city. So, this is a 3 bed up and 1 down. 1 1/2 baths, and attached garage. We did a lot of renovations here, the only room we have not renovated is our bedroom, which is the room I always wanted to do last. Not sure if it will happen this year or not, depends on the time dh has to do it and exactly what I want done. This isn't my dream home, I want something much bigger with more bedrooms, a library/office for me but it works. I am very lucky dh is handy and that Fil is too since he made all my kitchen cabinets. We chose this town because it reminded dh of his hometown growing up, I liked the layout and the 'prettyness' of it. I'm so glad we chose this one and not another town, this is now my home.

[Linda/NE]

Well, am I the only one who has never owned a house?

Dh and I got married when I finished college and lived in a beautiful (in terms of size and yard) 2 story, 5 bedroom, 2 bathroom farm house that belonged to his employer. About 5 mos after we were there the boss put the house up for sale (he was going bankrupt I guess) and gave us about 45 minutes notice before the realtor showed up to look over the property. (Yes, that means dh calls me within 15 min. of being told himself, and tells me that the boss is selling our house and the realtor will be there in a half hour to look over the property).
We couldn't find any rentals anywhere and couldn't afford to buy anything so his boss offered us a disgustingly run down farm house and all we had to pay was $75 for electricity. This house was probably nice in its day. It had 3 bedrooms and 1 bath. The yard was overgrown terribly and the porch was rotting out. It was nothing to walk into the kitchen, flip on the light and the mice would scatter!! OH did I mention I was pregnant with ds #1 during this whole ordeal? He lived the first 5 mos of his life in that house.
I got a teaching job here and we moved to a little village north of town. The house was a major improvement (of course it didn't take much). It was a 2 bedroom 1 bath, 1 level. We lived there a year until we found a bigger farm house in another town south of here. It was a 3 bedroom 1 bath 2 story house. It was much nicer than the last. Ds #2 was born here. Dh's boss was working diligently to find him a house closer to work and talked a neighbor into letting us fix up an old farm house that was just a mile from dh's work. We paid $100/mo plus natural gas. This house had a beautiful fenced in yard, once we found it again! It had 4 bedrooms, living room, dining room, 1 bath, & screened porch. We lived here about 2 years when I lost my teaching job.
Dh found a job in Kansas about 4 mos later and we moved there. The house we lived in was provided by the employer. It had 2 bedrooms and big finished basement. The landlord (who was not the employer) build another room downstairs for us. Dd #1 was born while living in this house. Dh hated his job, I loved mine (at Head Start), but we all missed Nebraska so he job hunted again.
His new job was west of a town that is 45 minutes from where we are now. The house, owned by his boss, wasn't the greatest but we had 3 bedrooms and 1 bath. Dd #2 & ds #3 were born here.
After 4 years there my dad offered dh a job on the family farm. I didn't want to move but dh did, so we moved into my grandparents house. It originally had 4 bedrooms. Right now we have a big room in the basement sectioned off for the girls' room. It is definitely too small for 7 people--it was built for 2 people!
We have never owned a house (except the preschool) and probably never will unless my mom (who owns it) leaves it to me in her will.
Our choice of housing has always been decided by price (rent) and the job offered to dh. If I ever get to build though I think I've seen enough houses to know exactly what I want and don't want.

[Diane]

Diane, you woke up to bullet holes and blood in the hall outside your door and you didn't hear anything?!?!?!

Nope... didn't hear a thing and neither did anyone else, but it was there. It was very scary... and time to leave. A lot of people left after that.
Something we'll never forget.

[Dnk119]

When we got married we live in a 1 br apt. We have to move from there to a 2 br because we had dd1. I had a similar situation to you Diane I talked about it on here back then. I wanted to move so bad. The lady below me got shot in the head by her ex husband. I heard the whole thing while dh slept with the fan on.I heard her last scream for help. How horrifying.It took awhile to get over. Anyways we stayed there for for 3.5 yrs (1.5 after that incident).We had dd2 there. We decided to get our 1st house.Then we had ds 2.5 years later. We lived there from 11/02 until 4/06. Dh's job opened up a new store here north of Charlotte. 2 hrs west of where we lived. Our house is still for sale. We live in an apt now.SO we picked something less than 3 miles away. Boy it was sad leaving our house I cried- it was our 1st house and I loved it.It is much cheapier here though. I just wish we could sell the house.It's hard making 2 pmts everymonth. It is hard getting used to apt living with 3 small dks too.
When we looked for our house we wanted 3 br's 'cause we were planning to have another child sometime. Size of the yard, close to interstate, good chance for resale, big livingroom...What turned us off from other houses then was size of LR and Br's and size of lot. Before we moved here now we planned on getting another house so we did a lot of house hunting. More than we did with the 1st. I cannot believe some of the stuff we looked at. They ought to be ashamed to show a house like that. It is a big turn off. ANyways we live in an apt for now. It's nice the kids enjoy it. We'll see how it goes.
Nicole

[Diane]

I cannot believe some of the stuff we looked at. They ought to be ashamed to show a house like that. It is a big turn off. ANyways we live in an apt for now. It's nice the kids enjoy it. We'll see how it goes.
Nicole

That's what I thought. You'd think if someone knew they were going to have an open house the least they could do was to clean their house so it looked halfway decent when people came through to look at it. We went through so many houses that were so dirty/filthy, mess inside. It looked like a few people had just crawled out of bed, threw their pj's (along with their underwear) on the floor and just left it lay there for all to see. Unmade beds... dishes in the sink. This one house had what looked like an engine of some kind sitting on the kitchen table... greasy parts laying around all over the place. The realtor told us not to look at the mess that was in the house but to focus on the house because all that other stuff wouldn't be in there when it came time to move in. Well... I think each and every time I walked into my kitchen I'd remember what that engine looked like sitting there. LOL It's pathetic how some people live and don't care who see's it.

[AnnW]

Linda, except for ministers, I never heard of employers providing housing. That's really cool.