Ok, what house advice can I get here?

digitalwanderer

wandering
Legend
So my wife is now fixated on getting a new house and I've got my kids talked into it, what should I be looking for?

Loose budget is around $350k and we're probably looking at moving to Munster, but we haven't decided anything fast and hard yet. My wife found a house or two in Crown Point she loves but I sort of hate that town...

Here's the one in Munster me and the kids fell in love with yesterday. It has a big backyard with pool and a courtyard for the puppies to play in front, plus a 75gal water heater. (We currently have a 30gal I'm learning to loathe)

Here's the one my wife liked, which I gotta admit is pretty sweet but Crown Point? They have tea bagger rallies there regularly. :???:
 
Buying a new water heating is cheaper than buying a house to get a bigger water heater. :)
 
Figure out something between what you want and need. Look out for construction flaws (cracking, settling) and problems in the area (flooding, sewer backup).

You mention a water heater, but that's a relatively cheap thing to have changed when compared to the cost of a home. You'll also find it costs quite a bit more to keep 75 gallons of water hot than it does to keep 30 gallons of water hot. Get an on demand system if you want to be cutting edge energy efficient.

So keep an eye out for things that you want that are built in, some things you don`t like might be easy change or fix. Especially if you're remotely handy with a hammer/saw and paintbrush.
 
Well considering this house we found out all about cracked foundations and busted drain tiles I think I got an idea about what to look for, and I do like being handy around a house.

I think I'm crossing Munster off our list though, I believe they have a 2 dog limit per household unless you have a kennel license. :???:

EDITED BITS: Nope, it's a 3 animal limit...we have 5. :(
 
Buy bigger than what you need. you guys will grow into it.

Also you should look into adding water heating units to the point of use. the go inside the wall in your bathroom and kitchen and provide hot water on demand instead of paying to heat hot water even when you don't need it. I just finished adding them to my sisters house when we redid the bathrooms. We also changed the water heater to a smaller unit and they are saving alot of money and my sister took a 30 minute hot shower and no change in water temp even with the dishwasher on and my brother in law watering the lawn.
 
Look for a wooded acre with a creek. :)

Then check your house for any opens that an animal can get it and fill it or use a metal mesh to cover it.

We get enough field mice in jersey, wouldn't want to know what would happen with woods and a creek near the house.

I had to catch a racoon the other day thats been bothering us and I caught 3 skunks last year.
 
Struth! Don't you have to put a safety fence around pools in the USA?!

Either a safety fence around the pool or the property needs to be fenced in. This house has a wooden fence.


Speaking of the pool make sure its not a liner pool and its just cement or tiled. Liners break all the time if you have animals
 
Then check your house for any opens that an animal can get it and fill it or use a metal mesh to cover it.

We get enough field mice in jersey, wouldn't want to know what would happen with woods and a creek near the house.

I had to catch a racoon the other day thats been bothering us and I caught 3 skunks last year.

2x Siberian Huskies solves that nicely.
 
Just buy an inline water heater then you don't need the tank anymore. If you get it sized right it is unlimited hot water and more efficient that a tank one anyway.
 
Just buy an inline water heater then you don't need the tank anymore. If you get it sized right it is unlimited hot water and more efficient that a tank one anyway.
I guess you guys don't have "off peak" electricity?
 
I guess you guys don't have "off peak" electricity?

In the US we mainly heat water (and homes) with natural gas as it's quite a bit cheaper than electricity.
On-demand water heaters come in both flavors, but Consumer Reports found them no better - their high cost (for large capacity ones) negates their higher efficiency - than traditional heaters.
 
In the US we mainly heat water (and homes) with natural gas as it's quite a bit cheaper than electricity.
On-demand water heaters come in both flavors, but Consumer Reports found them no better - their high cost (for large capacity ones) negates their higher efficiency - than traditional heaters.

Yeah that's something I started keeping track of a few years ago. Increased efficient does no good if the amortised extra cost (over the projected life of the unit) for the unit ends up being more than the cost of a less efficient unit + energy useage over the same lifetime.

Regards,
SB
 
In the US we mainly heat water (and homes) with natural gas as it's quite a bit cheaper than electricity.
That's also quite common in the UK, but some houses use electricity (and increasingly, believe it or not, solar). Electricity can be 1/3rd the price at night so it might actually be cheaper - I've not actually looked into it.
 
It's rare for electricity to be lower than natural gas in the US as we have ample natural gas reserves. It does happen, but rarely. A large amount of our electricity is generated from gas turbines so gas->electricity->heat is necessarily more expensive than gas->heat for regions with natural-gas-fired power plants. Coal, on the other hand, can produce very cheap electricity...
 
Not much for a back yard. Google maps is off about 3 houses but found it because of the pool. The houses on the other side of the street have the pond/lake in the back yard but your on the wrong side for that.
 
I dunno Snipe, we went out and took a look yesterday and the backyard is HUUUGE compared to what we got now...even with the pool and hot tub.

Bing overhead view of the new house

Our current house

You gotta admit, it's a bit of an improvement. ;)

The house is in absolutely gorgeous shape, if anything it looked better than it did in the pictures. It is a bit of a drive though, and we're REALLY too close to southern Indiana for my comfort. :???:
 
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