I do! I'm sitting in my newly re-glazed Four Seasons sunroom (my house and the sunroom frame is thirty years old ... and I subbed it out thirty years ago) with a new high tech Mitsubishi heater/cooler unit. Believe me, this is not a commercial for either company. But this is a great space to chill in. It's a perfect temperature and I'm comfortable. So, what do you like about your living accommodations?.
In reply to Gary :
I like the cement block construction and tiny high-set windows that make it feel like a bunker. Seriously. I also dig the 70's paneling in our living room.
In reply to Pete Gossett:
Our sunroom is fantastic. It's the best space in our house. We spend most of our time there. Sunlight in winter is important. I think everyone should have one.
I like that we don’t have too much storage so we have to be picky about what’s kept. Plus I’ve spent the last 8 years making it what i want, only one room to go then i get to start on the outside. Strongly considering digging out the crawlspace and making the basement full, it’s about 1/4 of the house currently, I could fit lots more race tires in a full basement. Reading lots about underpinning and bench footings right now. That’s not my deal, i’m a carpenter.
There's a lot of things I'd like to do, especially in the garage. Next project is insulation and heating in the garage.
I like it because it's new(ish) and it doesn't need anything.
I dislike it because it's new(ish) and it doesn't need anything.
We've got low taxes, cheap utilities, 5-10 minutes from work, largest Ponderosa Pine Forest (National Forest) bordering our property, and a house that's relatively low maintenance. Things I would change? More parking, more "dirty" storage, washer/dryer on first floor, and a whole bunch of other stuff that isn't worth me spending a dime on because ROI would be terrible.
In reply to Gary :
We have a Florida Room, which is basically a more enclosed sunroom. It's nice too, but I wish they'd bothered to insulate it. Even down here it gets pretty could out there during winter.
My apartment is objectively terrible, but it has hotel-like water pressure in the shower.
That makes up for a lot in my book.
I like that my apartment is situated above the garage of a log cabin on a dead end dirt road in the middle of nowhere, yet it's five minutes from my driveway to the interstate, the landlords are chill, and the open floor plan makes it feel not quite as small (360sq-ft).
Dont like: not much natural light, little appliances, nowhere near as nice as my last place, small.
6.5/10
what I dislike about my place. It's cheaply built. This was a house built by a builder not because it was part of a development, but because he had the land and lots of left over wood, drywall, and appliances. It was hammered together cheaply and everything is undersized like the 25 gallon hot water heater and the furnace. The Hot water heater is also all the way on the opposite sides of the house from any and all sinks and bathrooms. It's also 20 years old and things are now failing as they reach the end of their useful lives.
The good, it's paid off and only 15 minutes from work.
The bad, the yard is badly sloped and there is not enough room for a garage, and the taxes are very high
The good:
Well built 1950s ranch in a quiet suburb, across from a park, on Lake Drive (Lake Michigan). See all the wildlifes, walk out the front door and in a forest. 2 driveways and 4 garage spaces with a high bay. 10 minutes to the freeway, 20 minutes to downtown Milwaukee, 1.5 hrs to O'Hare, 30 minutes to work. Great neighbors. Will be paid off in 7 years (10 year mortgage)
The bad:
Kinda small (1050 sqft with full basement), corner lot with sidewalks on both sides, taxes are brutal.
Proper high speed internet coming from DSL before. Otherwise I'm counting down to my lease being up at the end of June.
I LOVE my house. Wish the garage were bigger, but give it time. I'll figure that out.
835 sq ft of cheap-to-heat house with a very efficient layout. It really didn't need anything, but I'm doing some minor improvements. Came with all appliances and I even like the paint on the walls.
Last month my electric and gas bill was at its highest so far this winter. Electric was $46, gas was $68. Gas forced air heat set to 70 degrees. My water bill was $14.88.
I'll let you do the math, but I've owned it for about 6 months and I owe $33,000 on it. My mortgage payment (with escrow) is $352/mo.
I live in an HOA community....I got nothin'
Well, at least I can count down the years until we can leave.
In all fairness, I'm very lucky to have what I have. It's a large 4 bedroom/3.5 bath house with full walk out basement. It's on nearly an acre, which given we're in a subdivision is pretty good. I love our tankless hot water heater and the overall house layout is fine. So I do realize how good I have it. But it's still an HOA subdivision, which I am not fond of. I still miss my PA house...it was nearly 5000 sq ft (not including the full basement), 3 car garage on 3.5 acres and overlooked a 550 acre farm across the street. No HOA, closest neighbors were 2 football fields away. I don't miss the taxes there though...$12k/year.
HOA's are dilemma for me. I generally hate them, but now living someplace where I feel like I overspent on property and I've got a neighbor across the street who treats his place like a junkyard, I wish I had some recourse to get him to clean up a little. Thing is, not only do I not have an HOA, but because of our rural community, I also don't have a county property maintenance ordinance or any other way of getting him to clean up.
Overall yes I like my home. Some silly things in it since it is nearly 100 years old and been slowly and inconsistently updated though. Bathroom is funny upstairs, with a ton of wasted space and yet a tiny sink and shower. Closets are way too small. Since it is so old, the downstairs was never meant for a tv, so there is no real good place to put it if you want more than two people to watch it at the same time.
Overall though I like my house
pheller said:HOA's are dilemma for me. I generally hate them, but now living someplace where I feel like I overspent on property and I've got a neighbor across the street who treats his place like a junkyard, I wish I had some recourse to get him to clean up a little. Thing is, not only do I not have an HOA, but because of our rural community, I also don't have a county property maintenance ordinance or any other way of getting him to clean up.
HOAs get a bad rap online, but they're not all bad. In general I'd even say they're good, but we just hear the horror stories.
I really like my house. We've been here 6.5 years now but doesn't seem that long. Its an odd place in some ways. We got an absolute steal on the place in 2011 (while the market was in the tank) Paid 60% of the original asking price. The house had been on the market for 3 years.
Was built in 1973 as a summer home. That guy kept it 8 years and sold it to a second guy who used it as a summer home. So, 38 years after it was built we were the first people to annually live in the house. Things were in very good shape but very outdated. My bathrooms are so outdated that they are nearly back in style.
Most notable the master bath has Pepto Bismol pink fixtures with gold knobs. Here is my pink bidet. The guest room bidet is yellow and chrome.
From a GRM perspective some oddities are that it is a 2 bed room house with an original attached (not added on) 3 car garage. In my entire (small) county there are no direct appraisal comparable properties. There are no other free standing (not condo) homes of 2 beds and 3 cars that are near 2480 sq ft.
Also odd in a cool way is my 80ft by 40ft concrete pad out front. I have more of a parking lot than a "driveway."
This is 7 cars parked and not one is blocked in by the other. If I park them all in a line like the Miata and Mazda 5, I can actually fit 9 cars without blocking anyone in.
I have a 1/2 acre lot and about 25% of it is concrete making for roughly 1/8th of an acre of concrete.
mtn said:pheller said:HOA's are dilemma for me. I generally hate them, but now living someplace where I feel like I overspent on property and I've got a neighbor across the street who treats his place like a junkyard, I wish I had some recourse to get him to clean up a little. Thing is, not only do I not have an HOA, but because of our rural community, I also don't have a county property maintenance ordinance or any other way of getting him to clean up.
HOAs get a bad rap online, but they're not all bad. In general I'd even say they're good, but we just hear the horror stories.
No, they really are all bad. Just varying levels of bad. The one I'm in at least isn't the worst.
In reply to Gary :
I tore my old house down and I built a double timber frame in its place. I designed, got approval and built with my own two hands
Darn I’m trying to post pictures
Believe it or not, my house is over 160 years old. It was quality built so no old age problems. It has a full cellar with cement floor. Washer ,dryer, furnace and hot water. work shop, storage room in the front.
It is built on a side hill with ground level entrance from the attached garage.
It's on a corner lot with a minimum of lawn to take care of
It has an enclosed porch facing south. Nice at times. Either too cold or too hot other times.
I have lived here for 50 yrs. It is cheaper than an apartment so I guess I'll stay.
It makes my wife happy. That’s about all I got or need.
iceracer said:Believe it or not, my house is over 160 years old. It was quality built so no old age problems. It has a full cellar with cement floor. Washer ,dryer, furnace and hot water. work shop, storage room in the front.
It is built on a side hill with ground level entrance from the attached garage.
It's on a corner lot with a minimum of lawn to take care of
It has an enclosed porch facing south. Nice at times. Either too cold or too hot other times.
I have lived here for 50 yrs. It is cheaper than an apartment so I guess I'll stay.
Not only me, but I'm sure there are a few that would dearly love to see this Paul Bunyan masterpiece....
I love my house for the most part or at least it is getting there.
What I don't love is the massive hole in the backyard that used to be a pool and the wreck of a detached garage.
Let's see. It's a 55 year old brick ranch that had been a duplex which I converted into a single family home. Some of the neat benefits of that is the second living room (awesome for people with teenaged kids) and that it's 5 bedroom and 3 bathrooms. Spare kitchen in the daylight basement. Loads of storage. Off street parking behind the house and two one car garages. All hardwood floors. Annoyingly the windows are old single pane nasty things, they are probably next on my to-do list.
Convenient location, 10 minutes to work. Less than 2 minutes to the grocery store. Backs up to a neighborhood park so decent green space but not great privacy.
Nicest feature is the covered back deck. I can grill in the rain and we eat out there more than 6 months out of the year.
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