What's an absolute "No" in your house search?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When you walk in the front door and are confronted by a staircase a few feet in front of you. I hate that. It makes me feel claustrophobic.

That's, like, every house in Chevy Chase and Georgetown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Busy street. My love of silence greatly outweighs any amenity a house can offer. Cannot relax with car noise, sirens, etc constantly bombarding my home.

+100. Or the backyard butting up to a busy street. Small closets, damp basements, split level foyer.

Does the size of the foyer make a difference to you? I'm with you on those little ones where you only have space for two people to stand there, because I want my whole family to be able to come in and take their shoes off at once. If it were a big enough foyer to fit 5-6 people taking their shoes and coats off though, I'd be open to it.

NP. I always said I'd never buy a split foyer because I hated walking into a stairwell landing, but we ended up buying one we loved where the previous owners had bumped out the entryway forward, creating a big foyer with room for a bench and coat closet and all that. Totally solved the issue for me.

[Anonymous]

The benefit to step-downs is a higher overall ceiling height, so there is a benefit. It also provides a separation of space in cases where floor plans are open, which is probably why you see it more starting in the 70s into the 80s when floor plans opened up a lot.

[Anonymous]

In no particular order:

1. No powder room on the first floor
2. Insufficient light
3. Busy street
4. Any flooding issues in disclosures

[Anonymous]

A pool or busy street are my only real hard no things

[Anonymous]

If I'm not looking to renovate; a cooktop in an island is a hard no.

[Anonymous]

1. Washer dryer more than one floor from the bedrooms
2. Musty smell, indicating mold
3. Stairs leading to kitchen, so I have to carry groceries up flights of stairs. Nope.

[Anonymous]

Just a note for the "no gas" and "island cooktop" people... I used to have those same hard NOs. And then I bought a house with an induction cooktop on the island. It was AMAZING. I thought I would hate it, but I loved it. And now I have gas again and really miss my induction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Open first floor. I need rooms to retreat to, and I want my kitchen apart from the living room. I know I'm in the minority here.

I’m with you!

[Anonymous]

Fixer uppers. We know ourselves and know it's not for us. We got a newish build 5 years ago and have had blissfully few repairs or issues to deal with.

[Anonymous]

Well water and septic tank.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I'm not looking to renovate; a cooktop in an island is a hard no.

Same here. I don’t understand why they do that. It is so dangerous.

[Anonymous]

Loud, busy freeway in backyard
Most of the house is underground

[Anonymous]

Owned by someone on DCUM

[Anonymous]

Less than 3.5 bathrooms.