More new house questions

[tkyes]

Well we signed the purchase agreement on building a new house today! woo hoo

A couple of questions

1. what is more important to you 4 smallish bedrooms all on one level (10 x 11 except for master bedroom) or 3 goodsize bedrooms all on one level (4th one in basement)

2. Anyone ever sold their own home? Any tips?


thanks

tamie

 

[soccerchick]

I'd prefer to have three larger bedrooms. 10 x 11 is small.

Congrats on the new house!

 

[pkasbohm]

i guess it would probably depend on your family! I, myself would prefer the 4 bedrooms all on one floor. I have 3 kids and each one would have their own room that way. In my house right now we have 3 up and had 1 down but buildt another down so my ds's can have their own rooms downstairs. I thinks it is ones own preference!!

Pam

 

[kadaten]

1. 3 good-size bedrooms with one in the basement is better from where I'm sitting! When househunting, I skip the houses that only have 10x10 or 11x11 bedrooms....not enough space for the kids' bed, dresser, toybox, bookshelf, and still have room to play Don't mind different levels....we had a townhouse first and now have a 3 story single-family

 

[Jenn Lynn]

Hmmm..That's a tough one!

10x11 is kind of small. So would it be 5 bedrooms total with the Master? 4 bedrooms w/o the Master?

 

[stinkerbelle]

I'd prefer all the bedrooms on one level - but that's just me.

About selling your house -

clean the snot out of it. I mean EVERYTHING. Organize closets - ALL closets (yes - people will open every closet door - you want the space to seem as large as possible), wipe EVERYTHING down (invest in Mr. Clean magic erasers if you have 'white' trim in your house), and start packing away some of the clutter (pictures frames/extra candles/etc...).

We got a LOT of compliments from realtors saying that our house was so easy to sell because it was CLEAN and bright.

We toured some houses that were just PIGSTYES...I mean...we were walking down to the basement and had to step over 20 pairs of shoes! looked like someone opened the door and just tossed them down the stairs.

best of luck and congrats on signing the purchase agreement! Keep us updated with all your upgrades and such!

 

[tkyes]

With 4 bedrooms total the master is 12 x 14 and the 3 other bedrooms are around the 10 x 11 range.

I'm looking at it from a resale because right now we don't have any kids so it's not an issue for us.


Oh, don't worry Stinkerbelle - I've already decluttered a ton! I've walked through some nasty houses before too, yuck. It's not the appearance of the house I'm worried about, I've got that undercontrol. It's more the paper work, logistics issues of selling it yourself. Just wondering if anyone had any problems.


tamie

 

[sue1013]

To me it would depend on the living area. I have small bedrooms, kids didn't keep their toys in their room. We have a family room on the main level and another room in basement. The room in the basement was the toy room. With all the toys in one room it was only one messy room the bedrooms were much easier to keep.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

I'd go with the larger bedrooms and make sure that fourth bedroom in the basement is also wired as possible office space.

 

[Jenn Lynn]

For me I would depend on the size of my family. I would want enough bedrooms on the same floor.

Tough call.

 

[crz4mm2]

I'd do the three larger with the fourth down too. Course I only have two kids. I think bigger is better too.
Best of luck to you!

 

[mickeyfan1]

For me, those bedrooms are very small. I don't have kids, either. The master is way too small, if I was looking for a house, I would probably pass it up for those room sizes.

I agree about the pig sties. I can't understand why listing agents don't tell their clients that if they picked up a a little, they might have a better chance of selling.

As far as selling on your own, I have not done it because I think the exposure in MLS and the other realtor systems is what gets people in to see your house. There are companies that can aid your in selling with out a tradtional realtor (HelpUSell and ISoldMyHouse.com are 2 that I am familiar with) but you need to be sure of the paper work, you don't want to sell to anyone who isn't pre approved (with letter in hand) for the mortgage, etc.

Good luck and have fun with the new house. As you can see in my signature, we are waiting for our new house to be finished. It is so fun to drive up and see the progress, now that the outside is done, I hope they get cracking on the sheetrock, electrical, plumbing, etc.

 

[skuttle]

I'd rather the bigger rooms. But that is a tough decision!

 

[missypie]

I sold a home by owner once. It all went great EXCEPT two days before closing the title company called and asked where the Termite Inspection was. It seems that the buyer's lender had required one, but didn't tell either of us. So I got out the yellow pages and started at the top of the list of termite inspectors and asked "Can you come out TONIGHT?" Found one after about 3 calls, and all was well.

So make sure you ask the title company or a mortage company or someone what inspections are generally required in your state adn don't forget to order them.

 

[mtemm]

I want 4 on one level. have small children so wouldn't be comfortable with the basement arrangement.

 

[tkyes]

I'm sooo torn!! I see both sides of the issue, just can't decide what works best for us.

DH keeps saying that he grew up in a tiny bedroom and survived just fine! lol!

 

[catsrule]

3 larger bedrooms and a fourth in the basement. This is what we have!

 

[CJMickeyMouse]

10x11 is WAY to small for a bedroom, IMO. I grew up in a tiny bedroom with a tiny closet and when it came time for us to build, both of my boys got a 13x16 room with walk in closet! So I survived, but I certainly wasn't happy about it!!!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

If you are looking at from a resale point of view 4 bedrooms same floor is better all around. However those are small bedrooms.

You can squeak by with the 3 bedrooms if the basement is a full walkout and finished. Then that makes it even better!
Just make sure you fill the requirement (city/county code) for a bedroom for your area.
Here it depends on window size and # to be considered a bedroom that is in the basement.

 

[tkyes]

the basement is a walkout basement and there will be legal bedroom windows in place for the bedroom or whatever we do with it.