Every time I watch a house hunting show on HGTV, the buyers always say that they want something turn key or with only a small amount of work. I think this is probably the case for most homebuyers. I mean who wouldn't want to just open the door, drop their stuff in the room and go on living their life. But if you've ever watched an HGTV show from start to finish, then you know how rare it is that the buyer is able to find exactly what they want down to every detail. I think it would be safe to say that even though most buyers want turn key, the reality is they want it customized to them more.
The good news for Nicki and I is we don't have to stress over the decision of turn key versus renovation. Our budget and locations of choice are making that decision for us. At our price point, anything we see is going to need some renovations. My goal in our hunt is to find a house that has updated systems. Meaning, I would prefer only cosmetic updates versus having to replace a roof, plumbing, a furnace, or god forbid the electric. But even this might be a stretch for us.
The mantra that I'm going into this house hunt with is a house can be changed, but the location can not. That's not to say that I'm going to buy the worst house in the best location, I'd just like it to strike a happy medium between good location and good bones. We are almost certainly going to be updating a kitchen, which in truth kind of excites me. I love the thought of being able to make the kitchen my own. Lay it out exactly as we'd like it for function and beauty.
I love looking in a house and seeing that it would be possible to take a wall down and open the kitchen up into a living room or dining room. I'm not the type to use a formal dining room, so that space is just going to be wasted for me unless I can turn it into an expanded kitchen or family room extension. I get a warm fuzzy feeling inside when I look at house floor plans that would allow for that option.
But there is one room in the house that I don't want to have to touch, the bathroom. The idea of redoing a bathroom or both bathrooms is not something I'm looking forward to. I don't really know why the bathroom scares me so much. Maybe it's because I know I'm going to have to do some of the demo work myself and the idea of having to remove the toilet grosses me out. Or maybe because realistically you can live without a fully functioning kitchen for a few weeks, but a bathroom is not something you can live without. So I'm making a promise to myself (one that let's be honest, I will probably have to break), I will find a house with 2 bathrooms and at least one of them will not have to be renovated. Fingers crossed!
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