Home Requirements

Over the course of my house hunting, I have found that I have a few requirements for my future home.

1. Good kitchen

I like to cook. Which means I have to have a good kitchen. And I like to have room to move around in my kitchen. Anybody who has tried to prepare a full holiday meal of any sort knows that there's a lot going on. It's really freaking hard to prepare multiple things at once if you don't have counter space and/or if you don't have room to have someone in there helping you.

Examples:

Bad kitchen. Ugly cupboards. Small.Very little counter space.

Good kitchen. Open. Island with counter space. Good cupboard storage.

2. Sufficient Parking.

In case you've missed some of my other posts, Chad has a LOT of crap. He has 3 trucks, a golf cart trailer (that's right, golf cart trailer. no golf cart through), we've got dirtbikes, quads, snowmobiles, and a jet ski. We have to have a lot of space to park this stuff.

Also, I like to think we have a fair amount of friends. Which means we could have multiple people over at one time. And let's not talk about the Halloween parties... gotta have room to pack 'em in!

Examples:

Bad parking. Sure, it's a corner lot so you have TWO streets to park on. But that's barely enough for OUR cars, let alone any guests.

Good parking. Circular driveway. Garage. Extra fat on one side. Fenced off parking area perfect for trailers. PLUS street parking. (Side note: this is a house that we looked at and actually liked quite a bit)

3. Good bathrooms

This is something that I'm trying to get over. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a snob in the sense that the bathroom has to have some fancy soaking tub, granite counters, or some sort of upgraded sink or lighting fixtures. As long as it's not NASTY (you know what I mean), I'm not super picky. But one thing I AM picky about is having 2 bathrooms. 

Like I mentioned before, there are times when we will have multiple friends over (more likely, CHAD will have multiple friends over). I don't need to be feeling guilty about taking a shower or something when one of those boys needs to make a poopy. Same goes for just the two of us. I am NOT a fan of the bathroom over-booking. You know what I mean... when schedules collide and all of a sudden you're both trying to use the bathroom at the same time. Trust me when I say that I am on a serious schedule in the mornings. I have a routine. If it gets thrown off by Chad wanting to take a shower when I'm trying to do my hair or makeup, my whole day could be screwed. (and NO, I am NOT being dramatic).

Example:

I don't have any good and bad examples... one bathroom only = bad. 1.5 bathrooms or more = good.

4. Nice Yard

Again, I'm not a huge stickler about it needing to be a half acre lot or whatever. But the way a yard is laid out makes a huge difference.

I have a Beag. He needs to be able to play a little bit. We also like to barbecue sometimes... gotta have room for lawn chairs. It doesn't have to be perfect to start out, since Chad and his boyfriend best friend Dustin are pretty handy when it comes to sprucing up a yard. But it has to have potential.

Examples:

Bad yard. Sure, it's just the front. But there's trees right in the middle of it (I know, some people love that) but there's no chance of growing grass there. Not natural light. Not good.

Good yard. Not in perfect shape, but there's grass. It's open. It's big. There's sunshine (and a nice size deck).

Anyways, those are some of the things I look for. The problem I'm running into is that it appears as though finding all of those things in ONE house (in our price range) is damn near impossible. 

So my question for those of you who have gone through the process of buying your home is this: How do you prioritize these things? 

I get that you an always "change" a house, however for those sorts of things you kinda hafta have money (which we don't, or we could afford something that wouldn't need to be changed that much). 

I am just trying to be realistic and I KNOW that there are things that will piss me off eventually. I'll get tired of bumping into things, or not having room for my Kitchen Aid mixer (which I KNOW someone will buy me as a housewarming gift). I'll get tired of having to pee while Chad is making a shadoobie. I'll get tired of going outside on a warm summer day and shivering in the cold because there's no sunshine getting to my yard.

Advice??

*Disclaimer: All photos on this post are taken from active real estate listings in my area (and price range) found on www.JohnLScott.com