Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Kinda’ in the same situation. We’ve been in our home for almost three years and I’m not overly feeling it.

Mainly bc of the wild life - Yes!!
More recently we’ve had to combat not only squirrels but raccoons (this week) destroying our home - literally ate through side of the home and moved on in.
And while the home has amazing views and stream in the back it’s exhausting dealing with ALL the wildlife.

We absolutely didn’t even think about that 😬

We need a new deck anddddd want to do the basement over.

Also, all 10 neighbors are 70+ and while super nice - we kinda’ feel like they may be aging us.
We don’t wanna’ bird watch nor constantly hear “ we have kids older than you” or “ you have a lot of cars”

It’s been super interesting!

Kind of sounds like you didn’t do due diligence with your research on both the neighborhood and what comes with living near woods and water.

I’m sure it’s a gorgeous neighborhood so hopefully you’ll eventually love it.

Agree with you there... Researched just about everything but the wildlife piece ..argh.
It is a nice home though.

Oh don't let the sour PP get to you! There's no way to predict every outcome. When we were house hunting, we used to joke that we should spend a night or two in the house before making an offer. Need to see how late the neighbors stay up, how nighttime sound carries, any creaks or squeaks etc. And it was a JOKE. The proportion of time to money spent on houses versus literally anything else is insane. We spent a couple of hours in a house before buying it. We spent multiple weeks researching appliances / driving cars before buying one. Homeownership will always entail a leap of faith.

This is SO true - I appreciate that

HisIs this your first house?

I ask because being in your dream neighborhood is a huge win … and all houses have a lot of work and the work is honestly endless. It could be helpful to accept that the house always needing an expensive something or another is the norm. DO NOT believe any of your friends, social media, or HGTV who say they have a perfect house. I love my house of 15 yrs and I just spent $5k literally this morning to replace basement pumps that I assure you I had zero interest in researching and would have much rather used the money on a vacation.

I looked at the headline and I was like shit is this me from 3 years ago. I hated our house too. We made a list of things we had to absolutely change to make our lives better, and things we could give it time to grow on us. We did, and now the house has grown on us. Is it still perfect? no. But we no longer hate it and can see ourselves growing old here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Kinda’ in the same situation. We’ve been in our home for almost three years and I’m not overly feeling it.

Mainly bc of the wild life - Yes!!
More recently we’ve had to combat not only squirrels but raccoons (this week) destroying our home - literally ate through side of the home and moved on in.
And while the home has amazing views and stream in the back it’s exhausting dealing with ALL the wildlife.

We absolutely didn’t even think about that 😬

We need a new deck anddddd want to do the basement over.

Also, all 10 neighbors are 70+ and while super nice - we kinda’ feel like they may be aging us.
We don’t wanna’ bird watch nor constantly hear “ we have kids older than you” or “ you have a lot of cars”

It’s been super interesting!

Kind of sounds like you didn’t do due diligence with your research on both the neighborhood and what comes with living near woods and water.

I’m sure it’s a gorgeous neighborhood so hopefully you’ll eventually love it.

Agree with you there... Researched just about everything but the wildlife piece ..argh.
It is a nice home though.

Oh don't let the sour PP get to you! There's no way to predict every outcome. When we were house hunting, we used to joke that we should spend a night or two in the house before making an offer. Need to see how late the neighbors stay up, how nighttime sound carries, any creaks or squeaks etc. And it was a JOKE. The proportion of time to money spent on houses versus literally anything else is insane. We spent a couple of hours in a house before buying it. We spent multiple weeks researching appliances / driving cars before buying one. Homeownership will always entail a leap of faith.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Kinda’ in the same situation. We’ve been in our home for almost three years and I’m not overly feeling it.

Mainly bc of the wild life - Yes!!
More recently we’ve had to combat not only squirrels but raccoons (this week) destroying our home - literally ate through side of the home and moved on in.
And while the home has amazing views and stream in the back it’s exhausting dealing with ALL the wildlife.

We absolutely didn’t even think about that 😬

We need a new deck anddddd want to do the basement over.

Also, all 10 neighbors are 70+ and while super nice - we kinda’ feel like they may be aging us.
We don’t wanna’ bird watch nor constantly hear “ we have kids older than you” or “ you have a lot of cars”

It’s been super interesting!

Kind of sounds like you didn’t do due diligence with your research on both the neighborhood and what comes with living near woods and water.

I’m sure it’s a gorgeous neighborhood so hopefully you’ll eventually love it.

Agree with you there... Researched just about everything but the wildlife piece ..argh.
It is a nice home though.

For the noise in your bedroom, get a white noise machine. It will help drown out the traffic noises.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is a house "loud"

I find all cheap modern houses to be loud. (Cheap as in construction quality, not price. Plenty of cheap $3M houses in this area.) The huge rooms and pointlessly high ceilings echo. The flimsy walls and doors all flex with motion from elsewhere. The vinyl flooring on flimsy joists flexes and passes vibrations through the plywood structure. And as many have said, good windows are a must.

OP, we replaced all the windows in our house first thing. They were 100 years old and it was an immediate, massive improvement. Worth every penny and then some. Not only does it shut out noise from outside, it strengthens the structure and mitigates the usual settling and transferred sounds.

DP, but PP what types of windows did you replace with?

Gosh it's been years. We were young and it was our first major house upgrade. I believe we went with the most insulated vinyl, triple pane, with the color matched frames because I don't like that PVC white look. Probably paid 30-40% over the base option for the extra insulation, extra pane, and nicer-looking frames. Oh and they had to be custom bc it's an old house and nothing is quite square.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is a house "loud"

I find all cheap modern houses to be loud. (Cheap as in construction quality, not price. Plenty of cheap $3M houses in this area.) The huge rooms and pointlessly high ceilings echo. The flimsy walls and doors all flex with motion from elsewhere. The vinyl flooring on flimsy joists flexes and passes vibrations through the plywood structure. And as many have said, good windows are a must.

OP, we replaced all the windows in our house first thing. They were 100 years old and it was an immediate, massive improvement. Worth every penny and then some. Not only does it shut out noise from outside, it strengthens the structure and mitigates the usual settling and transferred sounds.

I had a different experience. When we replaced our 80 year old windows with decent modern ones the sound got much worse. They were even less energy efficient due to the lack of storm windows.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is a house "loud"

I find all cheap modern houses to be loud. (Cheap as in construction quality, not price. Plenty of cheap $3M houses in this area.) The huge rooms and pointlessly high ceilings echo. The flimsy walls and doors all flex with motion from elsewhere. The vinyl flooring on flimsy joists flexes and passes vibrations through the plywood structure. And as many have said, good windows are a must.

OP, we replaced all the windows in our house first thing. They were 100 years old and it was an immediate, massive improvement. Worth every penny and then some. Not only does it shut out noise from outside, it strengthens the structure and mitigates the usual settling and transferred sounds.

DP, but PP what types of windows did you replace with?

Anonymous wrote:
Kinda’ in the same situation. We’ve been in our home for almost three years and I’m not overly feeling it.

Mainly bc of the wild life - Yes!!
More recently we’ve had to combat not only squirrels but raccoons (this week) destroying our home - literally ate through side of the home and moved on in.
And while the home has amazing views and stream in the back it’s exhausting dealing with ALL the wildlife.

We absolutely didn’t even think about that 😬

We need a new deck anddddd want to do the basement over.

Also, all 10 neighbors are 70+ and while super nice - we kinda’ feel like they may be aging us.
We don’t wanna’ bird watch nor constantly hear “ we have kids older than you” or “ you have a lot of cars”

It’s been super interesting!

Kind of sounds like you didn’t do due diligence with your research on both the neighborhood and what comes with living near woods and water.

I’m sure it’s a gorgeous neighborhood so hopefully you’ll eventually love it.

Windows are only one possible issue/solution, since sound can also penetrate solid walls. Being located near a noisy roadway is the issue, more than the construction characteristics of the house, including the sound permeability of the walls and windows. Still you can investigate window upgrades, adding storm windows, and adding insulating window coverings like drapes and/or cellular shades.

Every issue has a potential solution, given enough imagination and a suitable budget. Just tackle each "problem" one at a time, obtaining professional advice and assistance where that might be helpful.

Selling it next spring might be a good idea. I wouldn't invest too much. You can get an agent now who knows the neighborhood and get in on any listings before they go live.

Anonymous wrote:How is a house "loud"

I find all cheap modern houses to be loud. (Cheap as in construction quality, not price. Plenty of cheap $3M houses in this area.) The huge rooms and pointlessly high ceilings echo. The flimsy walls and doors all flex with motion from elsewhere. The vinyl flooring on flimsy joists flexes and passes vibrations through the plywood structure. And as many have said, good windows are a must.

OP, we replaced all the windows in our house first thing. They were 100 years old and it was an immediate, massive improvement. Worth every penny and then some. Not only does it shut out noise from outside, it strengthens the structure and mitigates the usual settling and transferred sounds.

The windows sound like they would be a good investment, plus maybe also better curtains?

I would also go to Ikea and just get a bunch of storage things (like maybe a row of the billy units with doors or something) that you can put into some of the open space. Or, if you have more money, hire a contractor to just build in a wall of storage cabinets. There's no such thing as too much storage/closet space.

And, if you haven't already, paint. I sort of hated our house when I moved it, but realized a lot of it was that the realtor had made them paint the whole damn house in neutrals tans and browns and it was super depressing. I painted everything over in cream and sky blue, which for me is very calming and uplifting, and immediately liked the house twice as much. Same for adding art that you like -- even if it's cheap art -- just adding colors or things that you love will make you feel better about the house.

And remind yourself nothign is ever perfect. Our house is sort of stupidly designed but I love the kitchen table area (that looks out onto backyard), love the street we are on, and there are certain other little things that I love, so I just shake my head at some of the dumb things and live with them.

Kinda’ in the same situation. We’ve been in our home for almost three years and I’m not overly feeling it.

Mainly bc of the wild life - Yes!!
More recently we’ve had to combat not only squirrels but raccoons (this week) destroying our home - literally ate through side of the home and moved on in.
And while the home has amazing views and stream in the back it’s exhausting dealing with ALL the wildlife.

We absolutely didn’t even think about that 😬

We need a new deck anddddd want to do the basement over.

Also, all 10 neighbors are 70+ and while super nice - we kinda’ feel like they may be aging us.
We don’t wanna’ bird watch nor constantly hear “ we have kids older than you” or “ you have a lot of cars”

It’s been super interesting!