My fiancé and I just got approved for a mortgage and are starting our search for a home tomorrow. I've been running my business from a two bedroom apartment for about 7 years so I am beyond thrilled to be upgrading, however I'm a bit overwhelmed. I currently live right by a large hospital and a home depot call center that employs thousands, so I always have a wait list. We can't afford to buy a home in this area though so I will be starting from scratch wherever we end up. The further we move from Atlanta the more we'll get from our money, but I'm concerned if we get to rural that it may be a challenge to get clients.

My fiancé doesn't seem to have much of an opinion. Everything I show him online gets the same response-"I like it", "that one's nice", or my personal favorite "it's a house". I showed him a photo of a tiny 1 bedroom home that needs to be gutted and rebuilt and he said "sure if you like it, it's nice".

I know I'd like to find a home where the daycare could be in a separate area, like a finished basement or bonus room. I'm also looking for something with a flat backyard. Does anyone have any tips for how to narrow my search beyond that? If you were starting over in a new home what would you look for? Would you go for a smaller/older home to be closer to the city? Could I be successful in a rural area? I appreciate any thoughts you all may have.

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I say take that one. Look at the positive side. You can rebuild exactly the way you like.

Apparently he doesn't care what house or where. Must mean all he cares about is being with you. Maybe you need to talk to him about the plans and ask if he can help with the decision.

As for where, what about searching to find out what the needs are in different areas. In general, more population is better, but smaller areas may not have any local daycare.

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For some they don't see the quirks in a house or know what they really want or don't want until they start walking through houses. Keep a list of things that you begin to find are important and then prioritize them.

#bedrooms, #bathrooms, garage, fenced yard, 2 story or bungalow, size of driveway, near good schools, near shopping, workable daycare space, how much sunlight, etc.

Solid bones on a house are more important than how pretty it looks.

If a realtor is helping you look they can help narrow things down by your list.

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Keep in mind how much square footage you need per child, indoors and outdoors.

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I'd recommend buying a house that you could both afford independently of one another (one income at lowest income level), then go down the wish list item by item of importance to you.

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Thanks mike, I like your perspective on it I'll try to remember that when I start to get frustrated with his lack of feedback.

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THIS!

Affordability
Area- school districts, what is your preference? City/easy access to amenities or rural/more space?
Bones of the house- I literally DID NOT CARE what my house 'looked' like. I can paint, change flooring, etc


compromise- I wanted an older farm house. Dh said you can't have an older farm house with good bones in our price point.

We do not have a farm house.

It's been super fun to remodel around the great bones of our house, though.

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A lot of people move to the suburbs because it is too expensive to be in the City and most of those people are young families so there is a plus side to it. Some people like to have daycare close to home and some like to have it close to work. I have no doubt you can still attract clients. You might have more competition though.

I bought two homes with daycare in mind and it is really just about having lots of patience to find something that just works right away. I am not a fan of having to do a tremendous amount of work to make a home perfect because realistically who has the time or money for it.

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The only thing I have to offer is make house-hunting a fun experience. As you look at homes, you will gain more insight as to what you would like or not. Then if you find some in a certain area, check out local childcare needs. And as was mentioned, a realtor will be a big help when you bring your list of needs to them in what you're looking for.

My dd and her bf bought a house in NC during the holidays and I told her she needs to open a daycare because it's the perfect set-up. She didn't agree. Large sun room opens up to a large flat backyard, based right off the kitchen. My dc dream come true.

If I had a do-over I'd look for a place with a finished basement that would be suitable for the dc. Otherwise, it can take over your whole personal space. And as your own family grows, it only feels more invasive.

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dont stress first of all
growing towns are great, young families rush in to the blossoming neighborhoods with new cheap homes going up left and right which is where you find clients
also yes next to big cities
really everywhere so don't stress
what i WOULDNT recommend is picking a home in the middle of 25,000 other daycares and 25,000 other HOME daycares as well

here around me we have ALOT of daycare centers, maybe 30-40 in my zip, but only 3 home daycare and those that want that come find us. also even if your planted next to a bunch of other daycares you can still be THE BEST happy face

id pick a home with a separate room for sure, with a separate bathroom, or one that is just as much away from my main living areas as possible so if my husband is off sick and wants to rest, the noise isn't echoing through the house and bothering him, as well as my childrens room
id want the parents entrance to be far from my family as well so as not to disturb them if they were sleeping early in the morning or whatever, maybe have my kids bedrooms and family room and kitchen and master bed all at the back of the house and then have like a huge office or flex room at the front of the house and a hall bathroom nearby they can use would be ideal.

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Home shopping is hard!! I've looked at 28 houses and made offers on 2. Both offers were turned down in favor of an investor paying cash BUT the bank just approved us to go up by 10k so maybe it will open some options. I've decided the biggest thing is a basement or bonus room separate from the rest of the house, like a split level. I was super worried about location because I'm in a fantastic spot right now, between corporate offices a huge hospital and the mall. But I offer 24/7 care, so hopefully that's enough to bring the families to me!

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Is this going to be your forever home?

Do you have children now or will in the future? If future kiddo's, will the house be big enough?

You want to check school ratings, crime statistics, zoning laws to see if you can even have a childcare, if there is a lot of rentals because then you will have a turn over of neighbors probably.

Yes, there is so, so much into buying a house! Is your fiance really wanting to buy a home since he doesn't seem to have much input for you. I'm always looking for homes and hubby is totally on board but it just isn't the right time-yet. We have lived here 22 years so it's home but we are still looking

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I would look at the school districts as well. One of the reasons i think my daycare does so well is i"m right behind the elementary and middle schools. You can look up the school districts that are the most popular and that would help. Maybe also consider new construction. We had ours built and actually saved money than buying a "used" house. The builder paid our closing costs, threw in upgrades etc..
Do not rush on a house as well. Give it a lot of thought . Home buying is fun but also stressful!

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We do plan for this to be a permanent, or at least super long term home. I'm looking for something where zoning would allow me to build an addition later on if need be. I know dh wants to buy as it was his idea. He saved up the down payment without even telling me. However, he gets easily overwhelmed, so I've tried to do the majority of the work. He works in the film industry building sets and every movie/show he works on is a new job, like getting let go from a job and hired somewhere new. At least that's how the bank see's it, so getting the mortgage approval was tricky. I had to gather paperwork for 27 jobs, many of which are production companies that no longer exist! Add to that me being self employed... If we had a choice he would probably back out just due to the frustration of it all.

My apartment complex is near a brand new baseball stadium so when it opened last year real estate values shot up. When my lease ends they want to gut my apartment and upgrade everything, forcing me to move to an already upgraded unit. The rent would go up by about 50% which is more than I can pay. I've called around and no one seems to want to rent to someone who's running an in home childcare. I probably could eventually find a rental, somewhere, but the thought of going back through the mortgage process later down the road isn't very appealing.

I found a new listing last night that I love from the pics, but I wouldn't be able to see it til Saturday, and it would likely be gone by then. I'm sending my realtor by herself today. If she thinks I'll like it we are making an offer without seeing it ourselves! I appreciate everyone's input, I thought about hoa's possibly not allowing childcare, but I didn't think about zoning preventing it. I will definitely have my realtor check before we make an offer.

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Yes, please check!

I live in the county and they want $3500 to have a special "permit" to have a childcare. With this permit comes lots of rules. One being childcare children can only be outside during certain hours

I have had my childcare 21 years and literally just heard about this last summer. The county hasn't said anything to me but......I have no complaints from neighbors, parents, the state, etc so I think that help in my favor.

Another provider I know did have complaints from neighbors to the county and she ended up having to get one. This was years and years ago so I'm not sure how I didn't know about it.

My licensor said not to worry as they haven't been notified of this and if anything comes up let them know immediately and we can go from there.

So yes please check just in case through county and the city.

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I just googled Child Cares in metro Atlanta and although centers appear in several of the listings, I can see scrolling through them that there are several houses/family child cares for sale too... There were quite a few links to click on when I googled and I only looked at the first one so there might be some hidden gem in other links if you keep looking....

Maybe start networking with a realtor specializing in child cares and spread the word...
Here is one http://www.wesellchildcare.com/georg...care-for-sale/
It's definitely a unique market so I am sure your forever home is just out there waiting for you to find it!

Here is the first link I found http://www.loopnet.com/georgia_day-c...ters-for-sale/

Here is the Google search results https://www.google.com/search?ei=Gqq....0.MGAfIoc5o3g

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We made an offer and it was actually accepted!! Our first 3 houses we got turned down in lieu of cash offers, this time we beat 2 cash offers. where is everyone getting all this cash?? Here's the thing... I haven't seen the house, just pictures. My agent looked at it for me and we made an offer same day so as not to lose it before I could go this weekend.

The basement is finished and has one giant room for a playroom and a bedroom size room that would be great for sleeping babies, however there is no bathroom on that level. I've got a laundry room with a sink we could use for hand washing, but I'm wondering how expensive it will be to put in a half bath. Anyone ever done it? I know its plumbed but needs a pump of some sort since were putting it downstairs. Or, does anyone have their playroom on a floor with no bathroom? Most of my kids are in diapers. I'm starting over because I'm moving to far from my current home for parents to commute, so I could limit intake to diaper age only til I install a bathroom. Does anyone else have an age limit that young?

How far in advance would you tell your families about the move? My contract allows both parties out with no notice, but I've got mostly good long term clients who I want to be be fair to. The issue is that if my income drops to much before closing I could lose the mortgage. After closing I'll have 3 1/2 weeks before I have to vacate the apartment so I'd like to wait til closing to mention it then stay open 3 more weeks. Does that seem like a fair amount of time for them to find other childcare? The options for weekend and overnight care are so limited, its not like searching for typical childcare.

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Congrats on the accepted offer! I think that 3 1/2 weeks time for them to find new care is plenty and I would definitely wait until closing to say anything to anyone. You don’t want to jeopardize your loan in any way. As soon as you tell them they are going to start searching for care so be prepared to possibly not have them all the last 3 weeks.

As far as adding a bathroom the major cost is getting it plumbed so that is great that the basement already has running water and it shouldn’t cost too much to turn it into a bathroom. If you are licensed check with them about running a daycare out of a basement. I know many states it is permitted as long as their are two exits, an egress window may be recommended to be installed if there isn’t two exits already. Also there are many daycares that only take younger children so only taking ones in diapers shouldn’t be that hard.

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Also check with your licensor about the move.

Here, we have to submit paper work for our new address, have everything set up again, have our licensor do a walk through at the new address and then have to reissue new paperwork for the new location.

So you might give yours a heads up and see if there is anything special you need to do or how long it might take to reopen.

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