House Hunting Frustration.

[DawnCt1]

DH is now working in the Boston area. We live in Ct. He commutes between 1 hour and 40 minutes to 2 hours each way. He doesn't go every day. Some days he works from home, other days he travels so it isn't imperative that we move. It also not like I am totally attached to my house and I would love a new or newer house, so I have been looking. I have a wide range of towns that are acceptable so I started looking at houses. The newer the house the larger the foyer, the smaller the formal living room. I know that fewer buyers feel the need for a large living room, but we use ours. I have my piano there. I read in there, I like it when we have company. The dining rooms are good size so no complaint there. I am also seeing pillars separating the dining room and living room. It may look pretty but it eliminates another wall to place furniture. Then there is the office, when there is one. They are often small and often rather visible. Our office has lots of books, papers, etc. I don't like the idea of a visible office right off of the foyer, which I have seen. Some of the master bedrooms are rather large but the placement of doors, windows and yes, even a fireplace would require that I eliminate either a triple dresser or an armoire and my chaise.
Some of these homes have more square footage than mine but it seems that the space isn't being used well. The kitchens? I like most of the kitchens although I did see a house I liked with the kitchen table on an interior wall with no window near by. I don't think I could live with that. I not only have to think about what we like but what would be good for resale, so a larger home has to be off of a main drag or at least have a yard for kids, decent schools, etc. We plan to put our house on the market mid. Jan. I am thinking that others will be getting the same advice so there may be a wider choice. Oh yeah, did I mention money? We are within 100 miles of the area we are looking in but the prices are not at all comparable. It might be worth considering buying a commuter car, redoing our kitchen and staying put.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

I commute 2 hours in one direction every day. While it stinks, it is doable. I say buy the commuter car and re-do the kitchen!

 

[Liberty Belle]

That's why we bought an older home. Unless we wanted to go way over budget (we didn't), any new(er) home we looked at had small rooms and little to no yards.

Have you considered building? I would imagine your price range is a lot greater than ours and I'm surprised you can't find something you like.

Oh, our kitchen table is on an interior wall, but I enjoy it that way.

 

[DawnCt1]

That's why we bought an older home. Unless we wanted to go way over budget (we didn't), any new(er) home we looked at had small rooms and little to no yards.

Have you considered building? I would imagine your price range is a lot greater than ours and I'm surprised you can't find something you like.

Oh, our kitchen table is on an interior wall, but I enjoy it that way.

I am not sure we have the time now to build. I was sure I could find something. We have to relocate to take advantage of the relocation package by the end of June. That is plenty of time to sell and buy, but not necessarily plenty of time to build. We are also mortgage free and like it that way so we would have to spend more to buy a house to even equal what we have. My house is smaller in square footage but my rooms are larger. Don't ask me why.

 

[golfgal]

I am not sure we have the time now to build. I was sure I could find something. We have to relocate to take advantage of the relocation package by the end of June. That is plenty of time to sell and buy, but not necessarily plenty of time to build. We are also mortgage free and like it that way so we would have to spend more to buy a house to even equal what we have. My house is smaller in square footage but my rooms are larger. Don't ask me why.

It all comes down to layout and the number of rooms. My BIL is always commenting on our house and why would anyone need a house "this big", well, buddy, take out your tape measure because your house has more square footage than our house but you have a dumb layout and we don't.

You should have enough time to build if you have a lot picked out soon and get things going within the next month. I agree that the huge foyers are such a waste of space. We have a just right sized one, big enough for several people to stand in, take their shoes off, etc. but not so big you could put a king sized bed in there and still have room to move around.

 

[liamsaunt]

It's true that the towns close to Boston are outrageously expensive compared to many other areas of the country.

Traffic is horrible also, so you really need to factor that into the places you look. For example, I now live outside the city in a house that is exactly 12 miles from my office in Boston. If I drive to work (which I usually don't--I ride the commuter train), it takes a full one hour door to door! If I ride the commuter train, then switch to the subway, my door to door commute is 45 minutes. But on the weekends, I can drive to my office in 20 minutes!

Good luck in your continuing search.

 

[DawnCt1]

It's true that the towns close to Boston are outrageously expensive compared to many other areas of the country.

Traffic is horrible also, so you really need to factor that into the places you look. For example, I now live outside the city in a house that is exactly 12 miles from my office in Boston. If I drive to work (which I usually don't--I ride the commuter train), it takes a full one hour door to door! If I ride the commuter train, then switch to the subway, my door to door commute is 45 minutes. But on the weekends, I can drive to my office in 20 minutes!

Good luck in your continuing search.

We are looking at places on the T. We have friends that live in Wellesley. She thinks we should stay in Ct. but if we move to the area, we should buy in Wellesley because homes turn over quickly if we want to 'escape'. I don't think that there is a chicken coop in our price range in Wellesley. In fact, I will bet there are no chickens in Wellesley.

 

[shortbun]

You have my sympathy. I finally found a house when I stopped looking for one. We had been looking for a year. We didn't even have the issue of changing communities or deciding where we wanted to live. It's stressfull.
Good luck. Remodeling is no picnic.

 

[tinatark]

I think the trend for the past several years has been to build homes with as many rooms as possible - when we bought our house, we wanted between 3000-3500 sf. Some houses in that size range had 5+ bedrooms, or choppy, small rooms which were there solely for square footage space.

We probably looked at 25 houses over 6 weeks (our SF is one of the larger ones in this area)...We ended up with a house with a plan that was suitable, but needed updating. We have huge rooms, and a good flow. THis is the only house we both walked through adn said it "could work" for our family.

BTW, you wouldn't believe what you could get here for the price of a chicken coop anywhere in CT! It would be a substantial commute, however!

 

[DawnCt1]

You have my sympathy. I finally found a house when I stopped looking for one. We had been looking for a year. We didn't even have the issue of changing communities or deciding where we wanted to live. It's stressfull.
Good luck. Remodeling is no picnic.

We don't have a year or its on our "dime". Thanks! Its also stressful because the DSs feel we are selling their HOME.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I commuted an hour and a half one way 5 days a week in a van. I didn't mind because it was the only time I had to myself every day.

I did it for 6 years and would probably still be doing it except DH hobby business grew so much he needed me to stay home and help with it since he works full time too.

When we looked at houses, we had the same issues about bigger houses but actual less usuable space. We settled on this house because it had the most usuable space for us but I really hate the stupid vaulted ceiling in our living room. We could have another room up there instead.

Good luck on the house hunt.

 

[FormrCastMbr]

We are in the process of relocating too. We have decided to build. I agree that there is time to build by June. They broke ground on our house today and the tentative closing date is 3/10.

Other than that, if there is a house that you are somewhat happy with, there is always the option of taking down walls and or building new ones.

Good Luck.

 

[DawnCt1]

I commuted an hour and a half one way 5 days a week in a van. I didn't mind because it was the only time I had to myself every day.

I did it for 6 years and would probably still be doing it except DH hobby business grew so much he needed me to stay home and help with it since he works full time too.

When we looked at houses, we had the same issues about bigger houses but actual less usuable space. We settled on this house because it had the most usuable space for us but I really hate the stupid vaulted ceiling in our living room. We could have another room up there instead.

Good luck on the house hunt.

I have vaulted ceilings in the living room, family room, my bedroom and masterbath, and yet we still have good sized rooms. I don't know why it doesn't seem that way in the new construction. I have seen living rooms 13 X11!

 

[pyrxtc]

I say stay where you are and redo the kitchen or add a room to the house. My DH commutes about 2 hrs to his job in MA and we live more to central NH. My Dh had tried to stay at my mothers whic is a lot less miles then our house (it is in MA) but the traffic was so crazy it took him almost the same amount of time to get to work despite it only being a 3rd of the miles.

 

[vgrandy]

I live in Natick, the next town over from Wellesley. Much cheaper and we also have a commuter rail. Natick is very family friendly.

Victoria

 

[DawnCt1]

I say stay where you are and redo the kitchen or add a room to the house. My DH commutes about 2 hrs to his job in MA and we live more to central NH. My Dh had tried to stay at my mothers whic is a lot less miles then our house (it is in MA) but the traffic was so crazy it took him almost the same amount of time to get to work despite it only being a 3rd of the miles.

DH can stay in Lexington at Hanscom AFB for about $35 per night, no tax, when he has an early morning meeting, etc. About the cost of commuting. That is one advantage we have.