Did you have your house built so you could have it just the way

[ileus]

5. Bought two, built (had built) two.

The current house we're living in was only 8 years old when we bought it. After looking at over 30 homes we decided it was perfect. Everything fit....and once the two kids are gone it won't be too large. While a ranch may seem like a old folks home, it still has vaulted ceilings, great room and a second living room. Other than being on one level my main requirement was a attached garage.


There are only a few things I plan on changing with this house before we retire in the next 20-25 years. One is making the master bath old person friendly, and at some point make the back deck smaller than the current 1000sq ft it is.

If you're going to invest in something for the rest of your life it should be exactly what you want.

Our last house we thought was what we wanted but quickly decided it wasn't, a cape cod with 28ft ceilings and loft just wasn't all it was cut out to be. Especially since one side of it was basically 3 stories, it makes maintenance hard. Really hard. Having that thing built took 10 years off my life. Having a view to kill for did allow us to sale it for what we wanted....I priced it to one person they stopped by to see the interior and it was sold. We took 60k in equity and sunk it into the home we now have.