Caribbean Nesties
Aliza131
member
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Home Buying
Tell me about your home buying experiences. Were there things you thought you wanted and ended up not really wanting? Was there something you wish now you had focuses on.
I of course know what I want right now but know a lot of you have done this in the past few years and wanted to hear others.
Or in general any other advice. We just got pre-approved, meet with our agent and spent a day looking. So we are fairly early in the process.
Re: Home Buying
Yay! I am so happy for you. Are you looking in Metairie or New Orleans?
You can never have enough closet or kitchen cabinet space. Never.
I wish in the kitchen we had got something with a center work space or enough room to put a portable on in there.
Have a bathtub.
Don't get caught up in the asthetics. You can always repaint or change flooring. You need to focus on a place with good bones.
Ceiling fans. You need them to keep the cost of cooling down
Make sure the attic has insulation.
I would love a tankless water heater.
Get a home warranty if it is an older house.
Drive by at different times of the day when you find one you like. See about noise levels and parking issues.
I'll try and think of more.
Thanks! We are looking mostly in Orleans but slightly into Old Jefferson by Oschner hospital. J really wanted to stay Uptown but I think we can get more and house in Lakeview/lakefront, Lower Garden, and Midcity.
I wasn't looking for celling fans, but we love the one in our apartment.
Of course the kitchen is my #1 along with off street parking.
Over-educate yourself about the entire home buying process. Don't rely on other people to help you through it. When I bought my first place, I thought I was "safe" even though I didn't know what I was doing because I had the help of my sister and dad and realtor. But none of them bothered telling me to get an inspection even though the house I was buying was As Is (I didn't know you could), or even something as simple as "you don't have to offer full price on a house". My realtor was a big ol' liar.
So go into this process knowing as much as possible about what you can and can't do. Don't rely on your realtor or loan person or even your inspector. And don't expect family to fill in the gaps either. Watch a lot of HGTV, read a bunch of stuff, etc. Get educated.
"That chick wins at Penises, for sure." -- Fenton
I agree with cali too.
Also, are you looking for a temporary home or a forever home? My first place I was just buying for shorter term. You need to know what you are buying for.
I would say both of these with extra wordiness. Don't understimate how much cosmetic stuff is going to cost, but buying a house that's cosmetically challenged can save you a lot if you're willing to work.
And putting in ceiling fans is easy as long as the wiring/box is there already. If it's not, it's a huge pita and not worth it. But they're a must.
I definitely agree on the attic insulation, storage, and bathtub. I really, really wish we had a big soaker tub.
Get a good, recommended inspector, and a good termite inspector. Also, I would want to have proof that the house had a termite contract.
I like having a 1.5 story, but I honestly wouldn't recommend it for our climate.
I should have driven my new commute for a week. I might not have bought the house then.
We got most everything on our list, except a screened porch which we built anyway. Honestly, neighborhood and price trumped everything. We should have considered the location more.
The nerve!
House | Blog
Thanks guys, I am feeling so caught up in the whole process right now. It is my obsession so I have been reading as much as I can and looking a lot. Any books, sites you guys can recommend? I have home buying and home inspections for dummies (my Dad sent them as a gift) but well, those can only take you so far.
The whole thing is really exciting but so stressful. Especially with all the Katrina home/rebuilds/flood zone stuff.
i cannot imagine how that must affect it, especially if you are looking lakeside or mid city.
i didn't have any books, just used my dad.
I know you said you got pre-approved, but have you figured out what your price range really is? You'll always be approved for waaaaaaaaay more than you'll want to spend. Make sure you figure out what house payment you can afford comfortably (including taxes and insurance and PMI if you aren't able to put 20% down) and then figure out the house cost from there. Otherwise you'll end up falling in love with something only to discover the house payment will be 3x what you're willing to spend.
One other thing -- people get really caught up in fantasizing what their life will be like in a certain house. You start daydreaming about becoming some fantastic gardener or throwing huge dinner parties and so you buy a house to suit that fantasy. But then reality sets in and you realize that now you have an enormous dining room you never use because you eat in front of the TV every night and a garden that's an overwhelming amount of work. So just try to stay realistic. That's probably the hardest thing to do.
"That chick wins at Penises, for sure." -- Fenton
oh no
is this you?
Ha! No, thankfully. But I had big ideas with my first place. I was going to do this and that and plant a huge garden and eat my meals outside and blah blah blah. Never did.
Although our new place does have a pretty big dining room we'll hardly use and a garden that's a lot of work, we knew what we were getting into.
"That chick wins at Penises, for sure." -- Fenton
I didn't think beforehand about natural light, and in which rooms it was most important to me to have it. Luckily, our bedrooms get good light, but our living room is pretty dark.
I'll make him a bed in the potting shed and he can be our full time gardener.
"That chick wins at Penises, for sure." -- Fenton
Yea, location is so important. The crazy thing about a lot of the places in Lakeview and Midcity is that they are newly built up and remodeled so sometimes they are a better deal even on insurance because of the new stuff but you still never really know.
I entertain a lot in my tiny one bedroom apartment so I know I really will do this. I also kill every plant I touch so my yard will within the next year have a pool (Above ground) because a garden just isn't going to work. I will have to pay someone to take care of the front, cause yea, I stink at that.
We are plant killing twins! I actually like cutting the grass but I'm terrible at everything else.
It is stressful but definitely exciting too.
I would get flood insurance even if you're not in a flood plane. If you're not in a flood plane it is super cheap.
The nerve!
House | Blog
Yea, I think here it is the law in Orleans Parish. We'll have home owners, flood and and maybe a few others.
Thanks for the advise guys. I'm excited to actually get more into the looking part. We just finished all the money stuff so now I'm thinking it will be more fun.
The home inspection is a must. It gave me piece of mind that I was buying a house with no major issues.
when you're looking at closet space, don't just think about closets in bedrooms. Look for good sized hall/linen/storage closets.
Have the property surveyed, especially if the property or neighboring properties have fences or buildings near the boundary lines.
A good inspection should tell you this, but if you're buying an older house, make sure that you find out the age of all of the major systems in the house
Care about school districts, even if you don't have kids
Baby Boxer is coming! 5.23.12
www.focushunting.com
A must for us was a house with at least 2 bathrooms. I can't imagine what we would have done a few weeks ago when our plumbing was kaflooey in our main bath. Even though our basement bathroom is old and kinda gross at least there was a place to pee! :-)
It's easier said than done but try not to get too emotionally involved with every place. I would get way too excited about a house for silly reasons and then DH would have to talk me back down. In the end the original places I got excited about would have been a bad fit for us. It will all work out in the end the way it's meant to. :-)
Good luck! :-)
I will echo what everyone is saying. Make sure your home inspector is ASHI certified. My home inspector was AMAZING. Before he even started the inspection he gave us each a binder with common home care and maintenance advice from everything from outlets to grade of the ground outside the house, which i have found very informative. I will be happy to scan it for you if you want.
I was lucky and had a phenomenal realtor who has also been a developer, and builder (he is like 70 years old). When we first looked at our place we liked it, but we had falen in love with another one. When we didn't get that one we came back to our place and he threw out ideas, and we then saw all the potential. I am so happy we ended up with this house, we are on a quieter street, great neighbors and it is more us. The backyard will be our ongoing project, but that is OK.