So I built a house around 9 years ago, and I reached out to this forum and got a lot of great insight. It's not set in stone yet, but I might be building another house in the next 3 or so years. While I feel like I did a great job building the house, I realize that you can never be prepared for what you don't know (sounds obvious I know...but when you're considering a million things, it's easy to push aside things that don't have immediate relevance)....so I'm starting this thread to get out in front of that as much as possible, I know I won't catch everything, and I know that there are a zillion resources online, but I think what I've learned in my 20+ years on this forum is that I'm a pretty good representation of the population of the folks who post here.
In large, I have zero ideas on what a house with 2 teenage boys should like (beyond giving them their space). Also, I'd like for this to be the last house we're in, so need to consider long term as well, although priority is on next 15 years or so. I do have two aging parents who live 15 minutes away, but I know we'll have to take care of them when they get older...not that they have to live with us...but I figured I'd mention it to get some thoughts going.
Why consider building a new house"
We could survive in our current house forever without a question. If we build, it will be a nice to have and not a necessity...I don't want to portray that. That being said, I'm all for building if it will enhance our lives over the long time. Luckily, we're in a good financial position, where this is something we can consider. Some drivers (in no particular order):
-We own the land outright (no debt) where we would be building. Currently, we use that land (fenced in next to our current house) for a large field where our boys can basically just go outside and play anything. As they get older, they will utilize this less and less as priorities change for boys. I estimate that time to be about 3 or so years from now give or take. I could sell the land, but as I mentioned above, we don't need the money and would end up just dumping it into retirement (which I very comfortably have under control right now)...so it's more of a "pay myself now" mentality with it.
-Given the above, as the boys get more independent, we'll likely be spending a lot more time at our house than we do currently (constantly shuffling them around to things)...so we want to maximize that to our preferences as much as possible
-More space in general. I've always wanted a nice "man land" type area. Currently have 4 bedrooms: 1 Master, 1 office, 1 playroom and 1 bedroom that the boys share. Eventually, the boys will split and one will take over the playroom. Wife works from home, so needs the office...also, we like having an "extra" room in general to adapt over time (current playroom, could be guest bedroom, etc)
So all that being said, please give me your thoughts/schtick/etc. Ask me anything, here are all of the pertinent details that I could think of...I'm sure y'all will think of more...I'm an open book
TF Notes
-wife and I are both 40 and we'll likely both retire before we're 55...maybe we'll work after that, but as of now, the plan is wide open and just to enjoy life.
-all of our close friends and family live close to us
-twin boys age 9.....they share a room now, assume they'll want their own room when teenagers for obvious reasons. Both do well in school, love sports, stereotypical boys
-Obviously, we have a budget in mind, but for the purpose of this thread, I'd like to keep everything open....no bad ideas
-We are very social.....we rarely "do nothing" on a weekend...typically involves hanging out at our house or a friends house watching football, cooking, drinking, etc. This is a huge part of our lifestyle
-I love being outside. I'm stuck inside a building all day at work and when I feel sunlight hit my body, it feels like a freaking drug. I have a nice setup right now where I can watch a bunch of games and hang outside with family friends. This is a huge priority.
-I'm super organized...my friends eff with me a bunch about how organized my garage and attic are...I'm just super disciplined...not a hoarder at all....I'm constantly getting rid of #### we don't use
-My time is worth more than my money....I hate any waste of time at all. I have no desire to worry about anything that I don't have to....I'm big into home automation, smart stuff, etc.
FWIW - here's a list of the current pain points or things to consider that I have observed with my current house. Some could be fixed with renovation/quick fix, others couldn't.....but I just wanted to copy/paste to get the ball rolling.
Major Things (harder to fix on current house)
So all that being said, what'cha got....I love this sorta ####, and I know y'all have some good ideas.
In large, I have zero ideas on what a house with 2 teenage boys should like (beyond giving them their space). Also, I'd like for this to be the last house we're in, so need to consider long term as well, although priority is on next 15 years or so. I do have two aging parents who live 15 minutes away, but I know we'll have to take care of them when they get older...not that they have to live with us...but I figured I'd mention it to get some thoughts going.
Why consider building a new house"
We could survive in our current house forever without a question. If we build, it will be a nice to have and not a necessity...I don't want to portray that. That being said, I'm all for building if it will enhance our lives over the long time. Luckily, we're in a good financial position, where this is something we can consider. Some drivers (in no particular order):
-We own the land outright (no debt) where we would be building. Currently, we use that land (fenced in next to our current house) for a large field where our boys can basically just go outside and play anything. As they get older, they will utilize this less and less as priorities change for boys. I estimate that time to be about 3 or so years from now give or take. I could sell the land, but as I mentioned above, we don't need the money and would end up just dumping it into retirement (which I very comfortably have under control right now)...so it's more of a "pay myself now" mentality with it.
-Given the above, as the boys get more independent, we'll likely be spending a lot more time at our house than we do currently (constantly shuffling them around to things)...so we want to maximize that to our preferences as much as possible
-More space in general. I've always wanted a nice "man land" type area. Currently have 4 bedrooms: 1 Master, 1 office, 1 playroom and 1 bedroom that the boys share. Eventually, the boys will split and one will take over the playroom. Wife works from home, so needs the office...also, we like having an "extra" room in general to adapt over time (current playroom, could be guest bedroom, etc)
So all that being said, please give me your thoughts/schtick/etc. Ask me anything, here are all of the pertinent details that I could think of...I'm sure y'all will think of more...I'm an open book
TF Notes
-wife and I are both 40 and we'll likely both retire before we're 55...maybe we'll work after that, but as of now, the plan is wide open and just to enjoy life.
-all of our close friends and family live close to us
-twin boys age 9.....they share a room now, assume they'll want their own room when teenagers for obvious reasons. Both do well in school, love sports, stereotypical boys
-Obviously, we have a budget in mind, but for the purpose of this thread, I'd like to keep everything open....no bad ideas
-We are very social.....we rarely "do nothing" on a weekend...typically involves hanging out at our house or a friends house watching football, cooking, drinking, etc. This is a huge part of our lifestyle
-I love being outside. I'm stuck inside a building all day at work and when I feel sunlight hit my body, it feels like a freaking drug. I have a nice setup right now where I can watch a bunch of games and hang outside with family friends. This is a huge priority.
-I'm super organized...my friends eff with me a bunch about how organized my garage and attic are...I'm just super disciplined...not a hoarder at all....I'm constantly getting rid of #### we don't use
-My time is worth more than my money....I hate any waste of time at all. I have no desire to worry about anything that I don't have to....I'm big into home automation, smart stuff, etc.
FWIW - here's a list of the current pain points or things to consider that I have observed with my current house. Some could be fixed with renovation/quick fix, others couldn't.....but I just wanted to copy/paste to get the ball rolling.
Major Things (harder to fix on current house)
- Not enough natural sunlight
- Garage vs. carport
- Bigger laundry room
- Playroom over the garage
- Walk in attic
- Brown gutters that don't show the dirt
- Entire closet for wire panel
- Griddle with hood (inside or outside)
- No Digital thermostat
- Island with overhang for stools for everyone to sit
- Key pad
- Bathroom lighting that doesn’t suck
- Consistent light bulb wattage throughout the house
- Very bright lights outside
- Foldable storage table for garage
- Ice machine
So all that being said, what'cha got....I love this sorta ####, and I know y'all have some good ideas.
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