# House Shopping



## goneferal (Sep 8, 2010)

Well it looks like my dream may come true. The Mr. and I should be entering the home market soon and although it wouldn't apply until next year, we both agree that it has to be haunt-able. Our future real estate agent is going to love our list of "musts". Aside from avoiding neighborhood associations, HOA's and such, or street light conditions, what are some things you think would be worth looking into while home shopping? Mind you, we aren't loaded, so we won't have carte blanche, but what do you think we might consider that I might not be thinking of?


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## Copchick (Apr 10, 2012)

The crime statistics in that neighborhood


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## goneferal (Sep 8, 2010)

@Copchick- no problem there, since I work with the cops all the time and doing what I do, I have a really good grasp on all the dirty underbelly stuff that goes on in this town.


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## Hauntiholik (May 17, 2006)

* Yard size
* storage outside and inside
* proximity to schools (where there are schools, there are TOTs)
* garage size (if you are doing a haunt in the garage)
* do you need a back yard

* Make sure that the house has enough amps (main service)


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## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

ELECTRIC! YES! Make sure there is room in the breaker box to add more lines if needed. I also like my large, covered porch, as it means Halloween is never a wash out if it's pouring rain. I also have a front yard with a small hill- good for sight lines. If there is a garage, can you build extra storage in the rafters? Is the basement dry in the spring? **Do not buy a house with a shared driveway!!**

How exciting! Good luck!


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## Lunatic (Oct 3, 2006)

First of all good luck in finding a house! It's still a good time to buy. It'll be that way for a while.

My first thought is... location, location, location. We live in the suburbs where lots of familys live and we have good front yard exposure.

I agree with Debbie and Haunti. I wish i had more storage room but i don't. We live in a slab without a basement. I make it work though. 

When we bought a house a few years ago we upgraded the electrical. I also ran cabling and a 4 plug 80 amp service to the end of my house towards my graveyard. That's a bit of an overkill but what the heck. Now I don't have to run tons of long extension cords from one end of the house to the other.


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## MurrayTX (Nov 4, 2011)

Be very wary of homes from the early 80s. They used aluminum wiring. Think fire. Buddy of mine didn't catch fire, but spent $$$$ replacing the wiring.


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## scarrycher (May 30, 2012)

Well I guess I can feel better about myself doing the same thing, my haunt is set up for my situation now, so do I want to move befor halloween or move in the winter to colorado?? looked at houses with extra storage, a work shop or craft room, can I fence front yard for grave yard, to many trees, ect.. this is the only place I could admit this! I feel like I'm at a haunt a holics meeting


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## scareme (Aug 29, 2006)

I guess I thought you were asking about what to look for in reguards to haunting. In that respect, I'd look for an older home with a porch and mature trees in the yard. But I love older homes, even though they are a lot of work.


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## goneferal (Sep 8, 2010)

*I love it!*



scarrycher said:


> Well I guess I can feel better about myself doing the same thing, my haunt is set up for my situation now, so do I want to move befor halloween or move in the winter to colorado?? looked at houses with extra storage, a work shop or craft room, can I fence front yard for grave yard, to many trees, ect.. this is the only place I could admit this! I feel like I'm at a haunt a holics meeting


That's why this forum is so amazing. I'll feel fine having an agent look for what we need. I bet they'll find it a fun challenge- might even get us a bit of extra attention from the agency.

I can't wait to see the face of our potential agent when they find out I'm a death investigator and I want to haunt my own house!

Sad thing is that most would recommend us moving out of our current hood. Real estate is pretty hit or miss here, but I like it. No snobs, no HOA's and such. In the 3+ years we've been here, no one has messed with our props. The punk ass kids are pretty cool when it comes to us and seem to show some interest. There seem to be a lot of at-risk youth in my neighborhood and a lot of them seem to enjoy the show. Not that they'd miss me or anything, but I might miss them.


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## Acid PopTart (Oct 29, 2007)

Cannot wait to see the new place you end up with! Plus the look of your agent when she finds out all you do! What does the mister do for a living?

I work construction as my day job, I do a lot of the safety stuff, my dad owns a framing company. So my best advice, although not directly related to haunting, is just making sure you get a good home inspection. A lot of homes today are being built with inferior products that really show their worth or lack thereof in 5-7 years. That of course isn't everyone. 

I'm like ScareMe, I adore older homes. Even my weirdo 60's house. Part of that is the neighbourhood as well, it's a bit older, may have some questionable youth whom have taken an interest in Halloween here, no HOAs and no street lights. We also back up to a school and park.

I wish you great luck, cannot wait to see what you end up with.


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## Haunted Spider (Sep 6, 2010)

I don't know what your current ToT count is, but you may want to politely ask a neighbor in the area what the average is. My neighborhood only gets 40 or so, but a friend of mine in a small area gets buses of kids being brought in to share in their trick or treat and he tops out over 1500. That may be an important fact to note one way or the other for what you prefer.


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## Lunatic (Oct 3, 2006)

^^^^ OMG! 
1500 tots! I couldn't handle it!


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## BioHazardCustoms (Aug 5, 2009)

Like someone else said, if possible try to politely inquire with one or more neighbors about the ToT count, Halloween decoration restrictions, etc. Also, I, like so many others here prefer older homes. If you buy an older house, make sure you get a good building inspection. If the guy shows up, takes one look, and says "Yep, looks like a house to me" it's not a good building inspection. Try to look at a house the day after it rains as well. You'll be able to see low spots in the ground, and if the roof/walls have any leaks, you'll know where they are. This would help in the long run, because roofs are expensive to replace.


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## goneferal (Sep 8, 2010)

Luckily we have good friends that raved about their inspector, he was really thorough. Our other pair of friends should have hired him. They got some big surprises after closing.


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## scareme (Aug 29, 2006)

We are planning on moving in a couple of years, when my hubby retires. We get over 700 tots, and I'm afraid that might be kind of a turn off to most people. So I don't want to tell them before we sell, but I also don't want them to get stuck with 700 plus tots and two bags of candy. I think I will ask one of the neighbors to break it to them after we are long gone.


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## jaege (Aug 23, 2009)

HOAs are not really that bad. I have a pretty strict one in my neighborhood and they love my decor during the holidays. All the board members know me as the Halloween Guy. Their kids all love my house. So long as the HOA board lives in the neighborhood and has kids they will not be a problem.


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## Zurgh (Dec 21, 2009)

Get one with walls, the're all the rage nowadays...


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## Lord Homicide (May 11, 2012)

Before anyone moves into a new house, hire a good, honest and decent inspector to make sure you're not getting a lemon. I'm guessing that's already been mentioned?


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## epoweredrc (Aug 6, 2012)

Big yard for decoratikns. We live in a older [email protected] mobile home im wanting to buy it cause cheap front yard plenty to deco out for Halloween and christmas i say a home withplenty strorage always inportant, flad land not in a hole or not up on a hill are nice


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## Haunted Spider (Sep 6, 2010)

So you have a home inspector, you have checked the basics, You know what you are sort of looking for. I say pick your favorite two and let the forum vote 

You could post pictures of the yard and outside of the house and we can tell you if we would want to haunt the space or not haha, but I like the voting idea


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## Pumpkin5 (Aug 8, 2010)

:jol: I am SO excited for you! Yay! And having time to look means you won't get 'stuck' due to time constraints. I agree with Debbie, Haunti, and Scareme (as well as others) about what to look for. Storage, storage, and storage is key. I love our older home's attack and garage, but unfortunately they are all filled now and our home has small closets which is not great. (Ha, ha...my husband just said to suggest a house with a 12 car garage in case your husband actually wants to be able to fit a car in it...ha, ha...he is slamming on me due to my Halloween 'stuff' which has filled every available inch of spare space in our house and garage) Since you have time, if you find some "possibles" then around Halloween drive by to see how the neighbors are, and if they are Halloween decorators are not. I am the lone wolf as far as decorating goes in my town...but then you can always be the 'stand out' in your town too. I agree with Scareme in that porches and big yards are ideal for webbing and graveyards and such. I am really excited for you! Please post pictures of any possibile homes and let us help!!


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## goneferal (Sep 8, 2010)

I love the idea of having Haunt Forum help us decide!


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