New House

Anything that I regard as a NEED is in bold and italics; everything else is simply a WANT

Price/size:

• We're looking at about a max of $225,000 but $200,000 would be a lot easier on the wallet
• At least 4 bedrooms, 2 baths; an additional bonus room or basement would be good, as would another half bath
• We'd prefer something bigger than our current house, which is about 1750 sq. ft., but layout and flow is more important than actual footage
• Turn-key is certainly nice, but not necessary
• We're willing to consider foreclosures as long as we can get a house inspector out before purchasing

Location:

• Peachtree City (doesn't have to be in city limits, but we do want to be on the golf cart paths); this puts us approximately in zip code 30269 or 30215
• Must be in the Starr's Mill or McIntosh school districts; Whitewater is okay, but not Fayette or Sandy Creek
• No busy streets! Cul-de-sacs preferred
• Quiet, nice neighborhood; one with young kids is preferable
• Being near a community pool, park, playground, etc... is a big bonus
• No cookie cutter neighborhoods; it must have trees and at least a little character

Lot:

• Not too close to the neighbors; prefer space on the sides so the houses aren't on top of each other
• Good size for children with place to play
• Wooded lot is nice for me; Bill wants a flat lot with grass. Not sure yet how we'll resolve this

Style of House:

• I LOVE Tudors; anything else in the French country or European style, especially ones that suggests a castle or chateau, are well-received
• We also like porches, balconies, and verandas. Bill really likes wrap-around porches; I really like screened-in porches for keeping the bugs off.
• We don't care much for "Post Modern Subdivision" or "contemporary" with harsh lines & metal everywhere
• Siding on houses is ugly; we don't like it. It wouldn't be a deal-breaker, but it would turn us off from the get-go
• We really don't care much for our current 70s split-level; strongly prefer something newer

General interior notes:

• MUST have a VERY open floor plan - kitchen should flow to the breakfast nook to the family room, etc...
• Good storage/closets is important
• Plenty of outlets
• Lots of windows; skylights would be a HUGE plus
• High ceilings are nice
• Radiant heat/heat pump for heating/cooling sure would be swell, but I'm not expecting it at the price I can afford
• Bill wants to have duel thermostat controls on each level of the house
• Garage not facing the street would certainly be a plus
• Hardwood floors; mmmm... I love hardwood floors
• A few extras that we'd really enjoy: already wired for cable/networking, energy efficient, fireplace in the family room, wired to have piped-in sound
• Obviously, the usual upgrades like granite countertops, nice floors, etc... are lovely

Bedrooms:

• Master Suite: want private master bath & walk-in closet; bedroom must be big enough for a king-size bed plus several pieces of furniture; we'd like space for a sitting area; master on the main floor would be nice
• Other bedrooms (3+): generous closets would be good

Bathrooms:

• At least 2 full bathrooms - one for the master & one for the children; a separate half-bath for visitors is really wanted, but not a deal-breaker
• Master bath: double sinks & whirlpool would be good; I dream of a skylight
• Children's bath would ideally have 2 sinks & separate toilet/bath enclosures to reduce fighting

Kitchen/dining:

• Kitchen MUST be open; not galley-style ones
• Walk-in pantry good, but a pantry of any size is nice
• Updated is nice, but not necessary
• Skylight and/or lots of windows good
• I REALLY want an eat-in kitchen; I want to eat all my meals in my kitchen, not in a formal dining room. This is pretty important to me. Must be big enough to take a 6-8 man table
• We don't really entertain, nor do we like formal dining. We have no need of a formal dining room at all.

Living areas:

• Family room: main spot in house! Should be well-laid out for furniture placement
• Formal living room: just needs to be large enough for seating arrangement & a piano; we could easily use a formal dining room for this purpose
• If possible, I'd like a playroom for the kids - a bonus room or basement or loft or extra bedroom. This isn't required, but is certainly a nice extra

Other spaces:

• Garage: attached 2 car garage, with work space would be lovely; we must have at least a one-car attached garage with space to park the second car without having to play musical chairs
• Either a shed or space in the aforementioned garage for yard equipment
• A deck or porch would be wonderful!
• Laundry room: I'd really give a lot for this to not be a dark, dingy space nor a closet in the hallway. A real laundry room that I don't mind spending time in would be heavenly.
• Office: space for both Bill & me; this might be a corner of a room
• Library: need a ton of wall space for our (literally) thousands of books; built-in shelves good!
• Media Room: a spot that we can close off from the rest of the house for the TV would be fantastic
• Bonus room/basement: an unfinished or only somewhat finished room would be nice that we can use as we need. A bonus room may cover one or more of the above needs.

Final thoughts:

• Window seats are nice!
• Sunroom would be nice
• I love stained glass; just throwing that out there
• Privacy fence would be nice
• We currently have a pool & don't keep it up because of the work involved, so we are wary of future houses with pools. Truth be told, we'd rather a house with a nearby community pool
• A bonus hot tub is another story, however...
• If the house came with a playset in the yard and/or a golf cart, we certainly wouldn't mind