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

[Anonymous]

Only one bathroom. Wouldn’t even look at them on Redfin. Our marriage couldn’t survive it.

[Anonymous]

sloped backyard

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fake anything. No vinyl siding, give me wood. No faux stone or any of that crap. Either make it with cheap materials but play to the qualities of those, or use the real thing. It’s so gross.

Isn't the insurance higher for exterior wood paneling due to it being a fire hazard? Also, I haven't seen wood siding in this area; what neighborhoods have it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Fair point about the ceiling height, though I'd argue that an extra foot is not really doing much. I'm short though, so maybe it's more of a benefit for tall people? As for separation, the ones I've seen are still pretty integrated with the rest of the house in a way that should just flow, but can't because of the step.

Then you haven’t had a sunken living room. Maybe it’s only a foot, but it feels like 3 or more somehow. If you don’t have an open floor plan (we don’t, I hate them, pandemic proved me right ), then the con isn’t there, and the pros are many: separates the space, elevates the height, allows for enormous christmas tree, allows for dramatic tall cabinets, and at least in our house, is set apart by a back way with three sets of custom french doors that wouldn’t work without the height. So…we like it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Things that are fixable are not deal breakers for me, so long as it's my budget to fix over time. Location can't be changed - so for me it's a thoroughfare. But even more important that that is living on toxic land - I'm talking about you Spring Valley. I used to own a home there (18 years ago), and to this day it's one of my biggest regrets. Yes we made a killing when we sold, but I also have a DS with significant learning challenges that I relate directly back to living in that house, on that land and drinking that water when he was an infant. I also developed two random autoimmune conditions right after we moved. Could they all be coincidental? Yes I suppose so, but I also believe strongly that there's a link.

wow. i was thinking about Mantua but I guess that's a hard no.

What or where is Mantua?

NP, but Mantua is a wealthy area of Fairfax County just outside the beltway. Part of Mantua is next to an oil tank farm and in the 1990s there was a leak that flooded a neighborhood. More here: https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/285632/crude-awakening/
Related: neighborhoods without sidewalks and curbs are a big no for me and living next to petroleum reserves would also be unappealing.

That was a very long time ago and only impacted two streets. Since then, they’ve testing the soil and water. If you have a problem with Mantua, you probably should a problem with a majority of Arlington and Alexandria neighborhoods.

My problem with Mantua is mostly the lack of sidewalks and curbs. Just giving context about the petroleum spill given the earlier thread.

And THAT is a valid concern. I am irked about the amount of misinformation regarding oil spills - and this one specifically bothers me because the posters keep pointing to that extremely biased agenda-based article that casts a lot of aspersions but doesn’t provide many facts, creating fear where it is not warranted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Things that are fixable are not deal breakers for me, so long as it's my budget to fix over time. Location can't be changed - so for me it's a thoroughfare. But even more important that that is living on toxic land - I'm talking about you Spring Valley. I used to own a home there (18 years ago), and to this day it's one of my biggest regrets. Yes we made a killing when we sold, but I also have a DS with significant learning challenges that I relate directly back to living in that house, on that land and drinking that water when he was an infant. I also developed two random autoimmune conditions right after we moved. Could they all be coincidental? Yes I suppose so, but I also believe strongly that there's a link.

I’m sorry to hear about your experiences living in Spring Valley. I agree … the two people I know who live there got sick. One died in middle age, the other beat one form of cancer and developed a second. Both relatively young.

Question for SV folks: We are looking at a house just south of SV in Kent. We have pored over the maps and Kent SEEMS ok. But the nervous nellie in me worries that it’s too close for comfort. Do you have any insight on this? We are deciding whether to put in an offer tomorrow!

[Anonymous]

cape cod w/master bedrooms in the eaves

[Anonymous]

Too dark with no way to fix. 8 ft ceilings. Too small garage so 2 cars can’t fit. Master closet and bath too small.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Fair point about the ceiling height, though I'd argue that an extra foot is not really doing much. I'm short though, so maybe it's more of a benefit for tall people? As for separation, the ones I've seen are still pretty integrated with the rest of the house in a way that should just flow, but can't because of the step.

Then you haven’t had a sunken living room. Maybe it’s only a foot, but it feels like 3 or more somehow. If you don’t have an open floor plan (we don’t, I hate them, pandemic proved me right ), then the con isn’t there, and the pros are many: separates the space, elevates the height, allows for enormous christmas tree, allows for dramatic tall cabinets, and at least in our house, is set apart by a back way with three sets of custom french doors that wouldn’t work without the height. So…we like it.

Every sunken living room I've seen is next to a dining room and if it weren't sunken, you'd be able to expand a table into the living room for Thanksgiving and large dinner parties, but you can't, because there's a step.
Maybe I'd appreciate the extra height for the 3 weeks of the year I had a Christmas tree if I celebrated Christmas? I suppose we'll never know, because I'm still walking out of any house with a sunken room.

[Anonymous]

Floodplain or low point in the watershed
fully submerged basement
low-performing schools
backyard pool
cracked foundation
crime

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Fair point about the ceiling height, though I'd argue that an extra foot is not really doing much. I'm short though, so maybe it's more of a benefit for tall people? As for separation, the ones I've seen are still pretty integrated with the rest of the house in a way that should just flow, but can't because of the step.

Then you haven’t had a sunken living room. Maybe it’s only a foot, but it feels like 3 or more somehow. If you don’t have an open floor plan (we don’t, I hate them, pandemic proved me right ), then the con isn’t there, and the pros are many: separates the space, elevates the height, allows for enormous christmas tree, allows for dramatic tall cabinets, and at least in our house, is set apart by a back way with three sets of custom french doors that wouldn’t work without the height. So…we like it.

Every sunken living room I've seen is next to a dining room and if it weren't sunken, you'd be able to expand a table into the living room for Thanksgiving and large dinner parties, but you can't, because there's a step.
Maybe I'd appreciate the extra height for the 3 weeks of the year I had a Christmas tree if I celebrated Christmas? I suppose we'll never know, because I'm still walking out of any house with a sunken room.

How many people have large dinner parties that involve making a single table much larger (and have the piece to do it) and don't already have a large enough dining room? I understand your concern, but I'm guessing it applies to maybe 100 people max.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Fair point about the ceiling height, though I'd argue that an extra foot is not really doing much. I'm short though, so maybe it's more of a benefit for tall people? As for separation, the ones I've seen are still pretty integrated with the rest of the house in a way that should just flow, but can't because of the step.

Then you haven’t had a sunken living room. Maybe it’s only a foot, but it feels like 3 or more somehow. If you don’t have an open floor plan (we don’t, I hate them, pandemic proved me right ), then the con isn’t there, and the pros are many: separates the space, elevates the height, allows for enormous christmas tree, allows for dramatic tall cabinets, and at least in our house, is set apart by a back way with three sets of custom french doors that wouldn’t work without the height. So…we like it.

Every sunken living room I've seen is next to a dining room and if it weren't sunken, you'd be able to expand a table into the living room for Thanksgiving and large dinner parties, but you can't, because there's a step.
Maybe I'd appreciate the extra height for the 3 weeks of the year I had a Christmas tree if I celebrated Christmas? I suppose we'll never know, because I'm still walking out of any house with a sunken room.

How many people have large dinner parties that involve making a single table much larger (and have the piece to do it) and don't already have a large enough dining room? I understand your concern, but I'm guessing it applies to maybe 100 people max.

NP but this isn't a "Defend your sunken living room" thread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fake anything. No vinyl siding, give me wood. No faux stone or any of that crap. Either make it with cheap materials but play to the qualities of those, or use the real thing. It’s so gross.

Isn't the insurance higher for exterior wood paneling due to it being a fire hazard? Also, I haven't seen wood siding in this area; what neighborhoods have it?

Haha, no. Are people walking around dumping gasoline on houses and setting them on fire? Where I grew up in NJ maybe half the homes had wood siding, and it wasn't a consideration.

Anyway though, I live in NOVA and all the houses in my area have wood siding although some are transitioning to hardie-board like products. And it makes a lot of sense given the maintenance nightmare wood siding is.

[Anonymous]

Neighbor with giant poster “Stop the steal.”

[Anonymous]

Open floor plan. If the only door/doorways downstairs are to a tiny coat closet and a powder room and otherwise it’s basically just one huge room, I’m out. No no no. I would lose my mind trying to find some peace in a house like that.