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Post by Patter on Jan 3, 2015 12:02:29 GMT
In the house buying requirements thread, I see many people have listed fencing as a requirement. We have 3 dogs, and while we wanted a fence, most places where we now live do not have them. If they do, they are electric fences, and we did not want that. So, we found the house of our dreams but it did not have any fencing. It was not a deal breaker for us because we knew we could just put in our own wrought iron fence. I like picking it out myself anyway. It took about a month to get it in after we moved into the house so the dogs all had to go out on leashes for a month but that didn't bother me. So, is a fence a deal breaker for you? Just wondering as I found this interesting.  |
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Deleted
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Jun 2, 2024 9:09:07 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2015 13:37:05 GMT
For me, a fence wouldn't be a deal breaker, but a bonus. Not a lot of homes around here have them, so it wasn't expected. We knew when we moved in we wanted a fence, but we had so many things to fix around here, it wasn't a priority. We also knew the longer we lived here, and got to know the neighbors, some might not like when the time came to put one in, and we were right. We had so many comments and questions from surrounding neighbors about why we were putting one in, what kind of fence we were putting in, how high was it going to be, what color was it going to be, etc. Seriously...back off. People that had lived here a long time liked the openness down the backyards. Yeah, well...we didn't. We finally put in the fence when we had our pool put in, so it then became a necessity.  |
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Kerri W
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Posts: 3,772 
Location: Kentucky
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Post by Kerri W on Jan 3, 2015 14:28:00 GMT
I work for a real estate agency though I am not a realtor. It really surprises me that a fence would be a deal breaker. A bonus, definitely. To me that's like saying "if this house doesn't have a green living room we won't even consider it!" Deal breakers are things that can't be easily changed or modified or are going to cost a significant amount to do so. *Need* three bathrooms and it only has 2? That's a significant cost to add and maybe the floorplan wouldn't allow the space for it. Fences are easily added.
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Post by mrsscrapdiva on Jan 3, 2015 14:34:52 GMT
Our current house does not and I wish it did, but most people on this end of the street do no have a fence. It gets complicated in our city when houses are close together and you need to have your yard surveyed to find the exact land that you own, then you have to get a permit etc etc. It isn't as easy as we are just going to fence in our yard. City Hall didn't even have exact plot measurements for the older houses. I guess if the fence is already there, it is probably so much easier. I really wish we had considered this before buying.
Like Devildog said - it gets complicated with neighbors too when a fence goes up. Someone is always offended in some way it seems. I would not doubt that one of the neighbors would contact the zoning board to find out if proper permits were pulled etc. It just sucks in that way.
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grinningcat
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Jun 26, 2014 13:06:35 GMT
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Post by grinningcat on Jan 3, 2015 14:35:57 GMT
Honestly? I would have second thoughts about buying a house that didn't have a fence. Of course, I can put one in myself, but it's something that would have to happen immediately which would cause a lot of additional stress and frustration, it's much easier to just have one already in place. I'm a firm believer of "good fences make good neighbours" so I would also wonder how much overstep people have when there are no fences, so it would be an additional concern.
I don't know, I wouldn't go as far as saying it's a deal breaker, but it would definitely be a concern. Even without animals, I want a fenced yard. I don't like the whole open concept, there are no boundaries concept of backyards. I really like my privacy, I guess.
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Post by momstime on Jan 3, 2015 14:57:07 GMT
I just moved into a new home this past summer. It had a fence. We had to pay to take it down because it was not put up on the lot line correctly and gave some of our land to our neighbors. We wanted our land back. We had 6 months to remove it, or our land would be legally gone. Fences can be a big pita.
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Deleted
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Jun 2, 2024 9:09:07 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2015 14:57:25 GMT
Honestly? I would have second thoughts about buying a house that didn't have a fence. Of course, I can put one in myself, but it's something that would have to happen immediately which would cause a lot of additional stress and frustration, it's much easier to just have one already in place. I'm a firm believer of "good fences make good neighbours" so I would also wonder how much overstep people have when there are no fences, so it would be an additional concern. I don't know, I wouldn't go as far as saying it's a deal breaker, but it would definitely be a concern. Even without animals, I want a fenced yard. I don't like the whole open concept, there are no boundaries concept of backyards. I really like my privacy, I guess. That was us, also. I don't like having people over, and neighbors on either side having people over, and we can all stare at each other. We did know as soon as we decided on this house a fence was going up, we just didn't know when. I will add it was not cheap to put in our fence; I was actually surprised at just how expensive it was. The people we bought from had an ongoing issue with the people we back up to and put in a 6' privacy fence just along the back property line. We only had to fence the sides of the yard, and then the turn towards the house on both sides. That cost us just around $8,500. So if we had to do the back also, it would have been well over $10k. So that is something to think about for those that really, really want a fence; they're not cheap. |
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YooHoot
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,418
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Post by YooHoot on Jan 3, 2015 15:02:56 GMT
Fences can be pretty expensive. I prefer one. If I didn't like it, I could always change it. But if two homes were equally similar, and one had a fence...I'd choose the fenced one.
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sharlag
Drama Llama
I like my artsy with a little bit of fartsy.
Posts: 6,574
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Jun 26, 2014 12:57:48 GMT
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Post by sharlag on Jan 3, 2015 15:16:18 GMT
THe fence with the 'small-dog' friendly proportions sealed the deal for me at my current home.
I was moving out after a divorce, and I didn't want to embark on any complex decisions like surveying my property lines, hiring a crew, etc.
If I'd had another house on my shopping list that was somehow better (upstairs laundry, for example), it might have been a more difficult decision.
But this house was the only house that had most everything on my list, and the fence really did decide it for me.
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Post by kckckc on Jan 3, 2015 15:22:50 GMT
Not a deal breaker for me. We have bought three homes. One came with a fence - we put up a privacy fence at the other two. We did the work ourselves, so it wasn't a huge expense.
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Post by whipea on Jan 3, 2015 15:24:57 GMT
Fencing is preferred but not a deal breaker depending on the price of the house. We have and will always have large dogs. We like living on at least on an acre plus and in this area with permits and all it would be around 15,000. per acre.
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Post by leannec on Jan 3, 2015 15:27:26 GMT
When we moved into our house 16 years ago we had three large dogs ... a fence really was a must ... We wouldn't have had the extra money at that time to install a fence before moving in ... that wouldn't be a problem now so if I was in the market for a new house now it wouldn't be a deal breaker ... plus, we only have one dog now |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2015 15:28:43 GMT
I live not too far from you and honestly our lot is unfenceable due to a creek and the hill. It would be crazy to even try. We do have a doggie and decided on the invisible fence for him and we love it. There are very few houses in our specific neighborhood that have any kind of fence, but we all have at least an acre and the houses generally aren't all that close.
It would have been very hard to meet our other wants (land size) and still get a fence, so it wasn't even on our list. If it had been, I would have wanted the fence to already be there, because like another poster said, it can be very expensive to put one in! |
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Post by anniefb on Jan 3, 2015 15:41:28 GMT
Fences are pretty common where I live, but lack of one wouldn't be a deal breaker for me.
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Post by myshelly on Jan 3, 2015 15:44:56 GMT
It wouldn't be a deal breaker for us if we had to build one ourselves or fix or replace the existing one. My husband has built a new one since we've lined at this house and it wasn't that expensive since he did all the work.
It WOULD be a deal breaker of we couldn't put one up bc they aren't allowed.
I do not like the whole open concept. I want a locking fence around my property, both for privacy and because it makes me feel safe.
I've never lived anywhere that didn't have fences, though, so I don't think it will be a problem.
I wouldn't live in a house without one.
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Post by BeckyTech on Jan 3, 2015 15:49:56 GMT
Knowing what I know now about Invisible Fences, a sturdy fence might not have been quite as high on my list. I looked at a couple of places that had "fencing" that was just a couple of feet high, or not very sturdy. But there were other more pressing reasons I did not buy those houses. An Invisible Fence is NOT an electric fence, and even with the chain-link fence at the house I bought, I still had to have one installed because of the neighbors' layout and subsequent fence positioning choices (big gap - they wanted space on my side for maintenance.)
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Post by Patter on Jan 3, 2015 15:51:56 GMT
Y'all bring up some great points. When we moved here and went to put up our fence, we were SHOCKED that none of the neighbors had land surveys done. Don't you want to know exactly what you own? Turns out the neighbors invisible fences were on our land. Ugh! Then we just purchased the half acre next to us. We did another survey and now have combined our current land with the new land by doing a recombination survey. The neighbors that back up to our new land just moved in, and they were very upset to learn they didn't own a lot of the backyard they were "told" they owned. I would not buy a house based on what someone says. I want to know exactly what I own thus a survey. It's not required in our state to have one. Crazy. We will probably be adding a pool on our new land thus more fencing so the new neighbors are not too happy. I too like to know my boundaries and love the wrought iron fencing because it still look pretty but know what belongs to us. |
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Post by amandad74 on Jan 3, 2015 16:00:57 GMT
Not a deal breaker for us. We can add one if needed, but it is a bonus.
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Peal
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Jun 25, 2014 22:45:40 GMT
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Post by Peal on Jan 3, 2015 16:23:28 GMT
I work for a real estate agency though I am not a realtor. It really surprises me that a fence would be a deal breaker. A bonus, definitely. To me that's like saying "if this house doesn't have a green living room we won't even consider it!" Deal breakers are things that can't be easily changed or modified or are going to cost a significant amount to do so. *Need* three bathrooms and it only has 2? That's a significant cost to add and maybe the floorplan wouldn't allow the space for it. Fences are easily added. Depending on your budget, a fence can be a huge expense. Especially if you want a privacy fence. And they can be a lot of work to install. Your either paying someone else to do it or committing a lot of your own time to it. If you are scraping together the funds to get into a starter home, you might not have the extra for adding on a fence right away. The last time I lived in a house with no fence was when I lived with my parents. I would have to have a LOT of land before I considered not having a fence. |
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Post by ~summer~ on Jan 3, 2015 16:26:36 GMT
No, because I can just put it in myself. Nothing that can easily be changed is a deal breaker for me: popcorn ceilings, fixtures, landscaping, painting etc.
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Post by eebud on Jan 3, 2015 16:34:59 GMT
It wouldn't be a deal breaker for us if we had to build one ourselves or fix or replace the existing one. My husband has built a new one since we've lined at this house and it wasn't that expensive since he did all the work. It WOULD be a deal breaker of we couldn't put one up bc they aren't allowed. I do not like the whole open concept. I want a locking fence around my property, both for privacy and because it makes me feel safe. I've never lived anywhere that didn't have fences, though, so I don't think it will be a problem. I wouldn't live in a house without one.  I would not buy a house that I could not put a fence up. In my case, I have always bought brand new and the builder has always put up a fence. It is built into the price of the house. Where I live now, fences are required and I like it that way. I have a pool and I want my fence locked at all times. That said, there have been signs twice in the last 6 weeks or so that someone has been in our backyard. I think it is the kid next door. I suspect he is coming over the 6 ft fence when he knocks something into our yard and we are not here to get it for him. I am debating on if I should talk to my neighbor to say that I don't know who has been in the yard but to please make sure his son knows to not go over the fence at any time. |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Jan 3, 2015 16:43:23 GMT
We do have a doggie and decided on the invisible fence for him and we love it. There are very few houses in our specific neighborhood that have any kind of fence, but we all have at least an acre and the houses generally aren't all that close.
It would have been very hard to meet our other wants (land size) and still get a fence, so it wasn't even on our list. If it had been, I would have wanted the fence to already be there, because like another poster said, it can be very expensive to put one in! This is very much like our situation too. A regular fence would have been very expensive for our yard, plus no one around here has them. We went with invisible fencing and our dogs quickly adapted to it and learned their boundaries. Now they don't even need their collars on, they will stay in the yard without them. In retrospect, I will say that I wish I would have pushed DH harder to have at least part of our yard off limits to the dogs. There isn't a single dog poop free place in the grassy part of yard where DD can run and play without having to watch out for land mines, and I really hate that. |
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mallie
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Post by mallie on Jan 3, 2015 16:52:46 GMT
I work for a real estate agency though I am not a realtor. It really surprises me that a fence would be a deal breaker. A bonus, definitely. To me that's like saying "if this house doesn't have a green living room we won't even consider it!" Deal breakers are things that can't be easily changed or modified or are going to cost a significant amount to do so. *Need* three bathrooms and it only has 2? That's a significant cost to add and maybe the floorplan wouldn't allow the space for it. Fences are easily added. Depending on your budget, a fence can be a huge expense. Especially if you want a privacy fence. And they can be a lot of work to install. Your either paying someone else to do it or committing a lot of your own time to it. If you are scraping together the funds to get into a starter home, you might not have the extra for adding on a fence right away. The last time I lived in a house with no fence was when I lived with my parents. I would have to have a LOT of land before I considered not having a fence. I would think a fenced home would generally be priced higher then, just like a house with any other expensive upgrade. |
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GiantsFan
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Jun 27, 2014 14:44:56 GMT
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Post by GiantsFan on Jan 3, 2015 17:00:28 GMT
Not a deal breaker for us. We wanted a fenced yard because we had dogs. We put up a wire fence (t-posts and hog wire) before we moved in.
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Post by momof3pits on Jan 3, 2015 17:02:49 GMT
We were shocked to find out just how costly fences are when we moved into our first house. For that reason, we chose a house we liked a little less that already had a privacy fence. When we moved again, we wanted new construction so existing fence wasn't an option. Luckily, in our new sub the HOA only allowed for black chain link, and while it wasn't our first choice against a more sturdy privacy fence, it was about half the cost so we got away easy lol. However, our dogs destroyed the chain link in about 20 minutes and got out so we had to spend another 600 for the company to fix the chewed section and reinforce the bottom. Stupid spoiled stubborn dogs.  |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2015 17:04:17 GMT
The absence of a fence wouldn't be a deal breaker necessarily but the restrictions or inability to add one would be. Not only do I want a fence to keep a dog in (which an invisible fence does) But I also may want to corral a small child or keep other dogs/animals OUT which an invisible fence cannot do.
Around here though a house without a fence is like a house without a bathroom... you just don't find a fenceless house. Front yards are typically open but back yards are nearly always fenced.
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Post by momof3pits on Jan 3, 2015 17:05:06 GMT
Depending on your budget, a fence can be a huge expense. Especially if you want a privacy fence. And they can be a lot of work to install. Your either paying someone else to do it or committing a lot of your own time to it. If you are scraping together the funds to get into a starter home, you might not have the extra for adding on a fence right away. The last time I lived in a house with no fence was when I lived with my parents. I would have to have a LOT of land before I considered not having a fence. I would think a fenced home would generally be priced higher then, just like a house with any other expensive upgrade. Surprisingly, we did not find this to be the case when we were house hunting. I think it's like anything that is an exterior addition that doesn't really give you an increase return on the property. I believe even a lot of interior upgrades don't yield as much of a positive return as we would think. |
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IAmUnoriginal
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Post by IAmUnoriginal on Jan 3, 2015 17:08:19 GMT
Not a deal breaker, but a definite selling point if I were deciding between several properties. It would be a deal breaker if I found out that village ordinance or HOA rules prohibited the installation of a fence. I'd have a moat, if it were socially acceptable. |
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Post by momof3pits on Jan 3, 2015 17:08:37 GMT
I think a big downfall to invisible fences is that some dogs really will just go right through them if they really want to. Lucky for us, that would be both our dogs! I talked to the company near us, and the rep was very honest to say they are only effective for 87% of dogs. It wasn't a chance we were willing to take, knowing that our Boomer the bulldozer would most likely be willing to take the zaps to barrel through. It was stressful for him and costly and stressful for us.
And plus also, that scenario doesn't keep things OUT of the yard.
I think if you have acres of land, doing an invisible fence set up might be something to consider, but I wouldn't use it as a smart option otherwise.
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akathy
What's For Dinner?
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Jun 25, 2014 22:56:55 GMT
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Post by akathy on Jan 3, 2015 17:09:08 GMT
When I built 3 years ago a big yard with fencing for my dog was very important to me. It was one of the main reasons I moved from my condo. The lack of a fence wouldn't have been a deal breaker if I would've bought a pre-existing home but I would've had it fenced asap after I closed.
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I would not buy a house that I could not put a fence up. In my case, I have always bought brand new and the builder has always put up a fence. It is built into the price of the house. Where I live now, fences are required and I like it that way. I have a pool and I want my fence locked at all times. 
