Possible house to buy
 

Ok, so I wasn't sure where to put this (Daox move it to where ever you think is best).

My wife and I are looking to buy a house outside of our city. We went to look at a house today, wasn't exactly what we were looking for but I thought I'd ask you guys what you thought of it. I'd personally rather have a bungalow on a plot of land this big, but this was pretty well built inside from what I could tell walking through it with 2 kids that were running around.

ComFree | House for sale in Lorette - Manitoba homes for sale by owner | ComFree

So here are the pro's:
- Big yard, 2 acres. Lots of room for the kids and dog to run around.
- 3 car garage which means 1 of the ports could be used for storage and he's also got a work area in that third part and it's really nice. The garage is fully insulated.
- The kitchen, dinette and living room is awesome and there's lots of light everywhere.
- He's got spray foam in between the joists in the basement which is a plus.
- Silent joists in basement ceiling.
- The master bedroom is nice and is a good size with lots of light. He also spray foamed under the master bedroom as it's over the garage.
- It's on a short road and there are no off roads. One of the neighbors is someone I work with and she really likes the other neighbors (something I can't say about where I live...after 6 years I barely know any of the neighbors and barely anyone ever comes out). I love this neighborhood and there's lots of kids on the road. This is at the end of the road as well so we'd be almost the only traffic at the end.

Cons:
- It's a cab over...I hate those.
- It has vaulted ceilings...I hate that as you lose too much heat, even though they have ceiling fans. It also means that in order for me to get more R value in my ceiling it would meant that I'd have to rip the drywall off the ceiling and somehow either spray foam it or increase the thickness to get more insulation in it.
- They pay $194 a month average on electricity. I only pay 137 average per month. There house is 1863 sq feet and mine is 1447 sq feet. But my basement is the same size as my main floor...there's is much smaller (so I'm heating approx the same amount of space).
- The kids rooms seem a touch small.
- There's not a lot of walls...everything is very open...and although I like openness...this is almost too open. Like it seems EVERYTHING is open. I mean, I don't want to be watching TV and have to blast it just to hear it.

Anyway, I'd like some opinions on this house. I wish they had more pictures...and I wish I had remembered to take pictures. I was too busy trying to stop my kids from running through his house and tearing it up.

Now, there's also another house around them that is going up for sale in the spring. It's a two story...again not my favorite (why build a 2 story or cab over when you have that much land...seriously...). But this house has geothermal and it's on the river...which means it's going to be more expensive then this house...which I'm not keen on as much as it would probably save me in the end.

Ok...let me have it. Shoot out whatever opinions you have to give me on this.

Thanks.

It looks sweet from the pics. Why don't you like 2-stories?

If I must.

It's a McMansion out in farm country, the worst kind of suburban sprawl. Look how far you'll have to drive to get to Winnipeg, and remember that your children probably don't have cars. I'd rather raise children in a wealthy neighborhood in an urban or even dense suburban setting, rather than out in the country.

2 acres is about 1.9 acres more than you need, and more than you want to mow.

Do you want another 300 extra square feet? You can have some of mine; I'm trying to downsize. But I can't find a 400ft² single family home in the city with a 400ft² garage and walls with 10" of insulation.

Patrick: I'm just not a two story fan. This isn't a true two story. I sometimes get knee trouble so walking up and down stair isn't super fun for me. Plus it's just my preference. I like the spread out feel of a bungalow.

Robert: If you include my basement and the basement in this place, I'm probably actually losing sq footage if I moved into this house. I'm probably close to 2900 sq feet with my basement, and this place is probably a little less then that as their basement is smaller. Again, sq footage isn't something I'm concerned about as far as house goes. I'd rather have a small house and lots of yard. I'd love a big yard. I want a bigger garden in my yard, and I'd love a greenhouse someday. It would be nice for the dogs to run around. My dog barely runs in my yard yet when we go out to friends houses outside the city she just goes crazy and runs. The air is fresher. Their are also more eco things I could do with a big yard that I can't do in a city lot. I also hate looking into my neighbors house.

This is actually only 10 minutes from where I live, so it's not a huge distance difference. Also it's only 3 minutes from the town of Lorette where my kids would go to daycare or school. And the bus comes down that road to pick up the kids for school. There's also lots of kids their age on the road too from what my co-worker tells me...including her daughter.

But you are correct, mowing that size of a yard is not my idea of enjoyment, even if it's on a riding lawn mower. If I could find a lot size double the size of mine, I'd be happy...but I'd also be paying through the nose if I bought it in the city. And that's the issue. I wish I could find my own plot of land and build my own house with my own specs as I'd rather have a super insulated house with some form of eco powering that would get me off the grid, or at least partly off the grid anyway.

Love the yard

Hate the giant bathtub because of how much hot water it will take to get full to any useful amount.
Hate the vaulted ceilings because you're heating a bunch of space you will never use. This will be nice during cooling season which probably isn't a huge concern in manitoba.
Hate the fact that it's so wide open you have to heat the entire place to be comfortable and can't just close off unused areas.

Ya, I totally agree with you Strider. I would never use that tub...and my wife even said she'd rarely use it. We're shower people.

And like I said...I hate vaulted ceilings. I love the kitchen, dinette and living area...but why vaulted? You waste so much heat...and for what? It's just too open.

I don't think this one will be a go. Too much work to do any type of eco renovations. Super insulating the roof would be ridiculous too.

Who says you have to mow it?
Wildflower meadows
Other lawn alternatives

You could plant evergreen saplings around the perimeter, spread meadow seeds in a U shape with the open end facing your house, and leave .25 acre of traditional lawn. Once the growing season is over, mow it down to keep it meadow or leave it be to let it slowly become a wood lot.