Home Wish List

After visiting those model homes last week, I decided I should get realistic about my wish list. I must confess that I watch way too much HGTV! House hunters and Property Brothers are my favorite shows. And I think the most over used phrases are "I NEED granite countertops and stainless steel appliances", and "Must have an open floor plan". And my least favorite is when the real estate agent says that first time home buyers shouldn't expect to get their dream home. Why does the first home HAVE to be a starter home? Why, if we are planning to have 4 kids (we currently are not - ijs) should we not be looking for a home that can accommodate that? Obviously you have to work within your budget but in all other aspects of life people will tell you to aim high. Personally I think that should apply when you're going to invest potentially 15-30 years of your life and money on a home. That said, I personally prefer black appliances to stainless steel, and I would prefer the cheapest laminate possible because I rarely like the granite that I see. I'd much rather put in what I like without feeling like I'm wasting money by replacing the granite that I don't like for something that I do. So here's my list! (not necessarily my dream home but pretty close!)

• Min 3 bed/ 2.5 bath
• 2 car garage
• Good sized kitchen (either with an island w/seating or room to add one) open to the great/family room, or dining room. 
• Master suite large enough to accommodate a king bed plus dresser set. Space for a couch or a sitting room would be great but not must have!
• Two walk in closets or one large one! 
• Outside green space. I'd like to try my hand at gardening. If the yard isn't big then I'd like a neighborhood that either has its own or is very close to a park or green space.
• Good school district.
• Neighborhood I feel safe walking around in. 
• If newer construction - energy efficient! 
• I'd prefer move-in ready. We are not the handiest people over here!
• Closer to DC or a Metro than we currently are.
• Rentable basement apartment would be a bonus but not a must have
• All bedrooms on 2nd floor
• Laundry on 2nd floor
• Office space
• Mudroom off garage. 

Now if I was dreaming - I love this! It's a Toll Brothers home called the Malvern. All Brick. 1 Acre lots - the model I toured was a little over 9K sq ft! The basement level had a wine cellar, movie theater, workout room, kitchen (no stove but everything else including a dishwasher) and the most beautiful "in law suite" I've ever seen with a walkout to the spacious backyard! This model has 6 bedrooms (including the in-law suite) and 8 (yes 8) Bathrooms  - 5 full and 3 half. Did I mention the 2 2 car garages? Of the 4 bedrooms on the second floor, there is a "Princess Suite" which is a spacious room with a full bath (incl linen closet) 2 spacious additional rooms with a jack and jill style bath. And then there's the MASTER SUITE. It is essentially half the floor. You walk through the double doors and to your left is a large bedroom. Lots of windows and a wet bar with cabinets that match the ones in the kitchen above and below.To your left, the sitting room. Two LARGE walk in closets with built-ins, separate vanities, a large jetted tub HUGE 4 person shower and in addition to the private "water closet" there is hands free urinal. The model of course has all the extra rooms on the main floor. You could host a wedding there and it would be AMAZING! I do wish I had a picture of the outdoor kitchen and fire pit. It was just amazing. And while I call this my "Dream Home" I have to say - unless I have the money to hire someone to help me keep it clean, there is no way I would ever get a home that is almost 10K sq ft! That is just really too much! Even if we could afford the $1.1mil starting price, I'd much rather something cozier! But the neighborhood is also really nice. There are only 35 homes in the community and it's off a nice street in a nice area. Some homes are this size, others smaller. All lovely. 

We also saw some homes in a golf community. Lovely homes, much better pricing than the Toll Brothers. Its a great community with single family and estate homes, and townhomes. I just love touring model homes! I love getting ideas for decor and color schemes! It is so much fun to me! And my cousin loves it as much as I do so we're gonna get together every few weeks and check out new areas of town! We're both interested in buying out here in the next year or so. So we need to get familiar with the different cities and the pros and cons to each. We've narrowed down the counties we want to be in, now to find the right neighborhood!

Do you like touring model homes? Sometimes I feel bad when the builders agent is trying to give me the hard sell. So I'm always upfront - I'm just looking. At the million dollar home, we told the agent it was WAY out of our price range. She gave us a brochure that showed other subdivisions with options that were closer to what we will be looking for. She was so wonderful that honestly it made us both want to work with her in the future. This has gotten a bit long and I need to get some clothes folded!

Here's to a wonderful week!