Our House Wish List

We had a very specific list of requirements that our future home would need to meet. Some of these we ultimately compromised on, but during our search this list was both our best friend and worst enemy. We knew exactly what we needed and many houses were never considered because one or more of these "non-negotiables" were missing.

We wanted our new house to have:

• At least one acre of land (the more, the better)
• Some privacy 
• A smaller mortgage payment than the house we currently live in (which left us looking at foreclosures and short sales)
• More than 1500 square feet
• 3+ bedrooms
• 2+ bathrooms
• No more than a 30 minute commute to my husband's workplace
• Access to either cable or DSL high speed internet

In the end, we were able to find a house that met all but one of these initial requirements. We ended up being forced to compromise on internet access. I will be writing a post on rural internet access in the very near future, because it's a very frustrating and surprising predicament. 

It took us about three months of constant searching to find THE house. Price, location, land, and internet ended up being very limiting and prolonged the search. We had our fair share of frustrations (there were houses that sold before we could even see them) and compromises were definitely made in the end. In spite of all challenges, I'm glad  that we stuck by our list and ended up with this lovely home.

What would be on your list of "non-negotiables" if you were looking to buy a new home?