JFF - Rank These in Your Order of Importance in a Potential Home!

Schools
location
square footage
yard size

For me, the rest don't matter. The inside and out can be updated. Proximity to work isn't a concern because I stay home and my husband works from home.

Big fenced yard for us - we have two big dogs (70-lb pit mixes) and one medium-sized dog (20-lb border collie mix).

Yard Size
Location/Neighborhood
Square footage
Proximity to work
Upgrades/updates
Quality of school district
Curb Appeal

Deal Breaker if it was a teeny tiny yard with no fence. I want my kids to be able to RUN and get their ya-ya's out with the dog and I don't want to worry that there is not enough room to do it or that they could get off our property

The biggest draw for us in our home is not actually part of our house at all; it's our neighbors! We have the best neighbors/friends. After my daughter's accident, when we stayed many sleepless nights in the hospital with her, our neighbors came out in force taking care of our kids, buying groceries, and helping us through a difficult time. They have "had our backs" so to speak, and I hope we have reciprocated in kind. Over time our house has gotten cramped, school budgets have been cut, new appliances lose their shine, but I wouldn't trade any of it in. It's not just the house... it's the community - especially your neighbors.

Because we work and school from home, neither would be on my list. But I know a few things that would...

first, would be quality of neighbors. I don't know if you want to include that in "neighborhood" but some homes have literally been ruined for me because of the quality of neighbor. Total quality of life issue! So that would be first.

Yard size next, because we like to play outside.

The inside would have to be nice and absolutely spotless, "upgrades" wouldn't be so important, as long as there weren't radiators everywhere :) also, square footage not very important, unless we're adding up the square footage of the storage space! I can get along okay with smaller rooms, but only if there is a ton of space to put stuff away so it doesn't look cluttered.

Curb appeal not important, as long as it isn't dangerous.

Location/Neighborhood
Square Footage
Yard Size
Proximity to work
Quality of school district
Updates/upgrades inside
Curb appeal

Deal breakers: no central AC, no basement

Location, schools, yard size, square footage, proximity to work, curb appeal, upgrades inside.

I think this is how I would prioritize:

-Quality of school districts
-Square footage
-Yard size
-Updates/upgrades inside
-Location/Neighborhood
-Proximity to work
-Curb appeal

I am trying to sell my house right now so we can move to a new city and buy a new house so I am thinking about all of these things a lot right now! About the neighborhood thing, I live in a neioghborhood right now that is very old (though my house is only 5 years old) and very diverse ethnically and religiously. Most of the other homes are older (though there are several newish ones like mine) and many of the residents are elderly. At first glace some may think it is a "bad" neighborhood but it is SO GREAT! The neighbors here acctually care about each other and get to know one another! We have many neighbiorhood parites and events throughout the year. So somethimes first impressions can be misleading.

From highest to lowest priority

1. Quality of School Districts, 2. Square footage, 3. Yard size, 4. Neighborhood, 5. updates/upgrades inside, 6. proximity to work, 7. curb appeal

I am currently house hunting and am only looking in specific school districts. So a bad school district would be a deal breaker. I also require 5 bdrms upstairs (so everyone can have their own room), and that usually coincides with square footage.

Ok here's mine...
-Sq. Foot.
-Location/Neighborhood
-Yard Size
-Quality of School Districts
-Curb Appeal
-Proximity to work
-Updates/Upgrades
I wanted a suitable size house (not huge) and I wasn't willing to budge on that. Before we lived in an excellent area, but lived in 620 sq ft....so I needed space! Quality of School Districts is ify to me because it was decided what private school/public school she was going attend (across teh street from grandma and grandpa) when she was born, but we all know things can happen so I put it on the middle of the list.
Most people in this are commute, so rather in proximity to work, we looked for easy access to freeway. Curb appeal and upgrades I can do myself. Yardsize (and garage size..had to be two car detached) was pretty high on the list too (it has to be because my SO does side work and is a mechanic).
We've been in our house 1 year and love it, but it took us a year and a half to find and get in one! =)

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The definate deal breaker would be a bad neighborhood and bad schools.

1.yard size
2.location
3.updates
4.square footage
5.curb appeal (i had a house with great curb appeal, no character inside)
6.school districts ( i feel i can make the best of any district with help at home)
7.proximity to work (because my jobs have always changed, could never base a house on this factor)

my deal breakers arent on your list, i have to have brick....no siding!, and two stories are out of the question

School quality, work distance, neighborhood, yard size, square footage (enough to be comfortable).

1. location, location, location. You want a nice area- not a dive.
2. yard size/proximity to work both equal.

Quality of schools usually runs with location. The better schools will be in a better area.

You can always get rid of furniture to downsize to something smaller(heating is going to skyrocket anyway so the smaller the home the more affordable to heat it) , or upgrade the home, or upgrade curb appeal.
However, if the house is built really badly, like, in the shape of an oxagon or really weird/modern , I would pass it up even if everything else was fine.

Location/quality of school district
proximity to work
yard size
curb appeal

These are the top four because you really cannot change them, once you buy it's what you are stuck with

Footage, upgrades, not important at all beucase you can always tweek it to what you like. Worry about what you can't change first and then worry about the rest.

To give you an idea are biggest important features were, (not on a busy street) half acre or more yard, school district, less then 10 miles from hubbies work, three beds upstairs, price. The rest can all be changed.

As the wife of a retired military man, I've had loads of practice with this one. My priorities - a walkable neighborhood (preferably with a coffee shop and a playground within easy walking distance), no more than 5 miles from work, good fenced or fenceable back yard with playing and gardening space and at least a couple of mature trees, and a good kitchen suitable for real cooking and canning (not fancy or huge, but with adequate work space and storage), and lots of good natural light throughout the house. My deal-breakers - the yard and the kitchen.

School District
Neighborhood
Close to work
Yard
Square foot
Updates/upgrades
Curb appeal

Thats my rankings. I also would NEVER buy a house that didn't have central air.

The only 3 deal breakers I'd have are school districts, neighborhood and how close it is to work. Everything else, you can change. Luckily for me, the house that I bought has everything in that list, except for upgrades/updates and it was cheap!!

My deal breaker is good use of the square footage. Is there good storage? Walls that cannot be utilized because it is funky? Etc.

We will always live in the country, so the other stuff is not really relevant to us. But, in the midst of planning to build, the way the square footage is utilized is my deal breaker on the plans.

Location
Curb appeal
updates/upgrades
square footage
quality of school
yard size
prozimity to work.

quality of school districts was our #1 priority. If the school sucks, then you won't be happy with your child's education....& you'll end up moving, regardless of the size of the home or quality of the location.

proximity to work & location/neighborhood ......were equal for us. Both were important. But buyer-beware, you can't judge your new neighbors by their appearance!

square footage & yard size......also were equal for us. Neither of these issues are easily (sometimes never) changed.

updates/upgrades inside........are nice to have. If you're handy, it's not always a top priority. If you're without diy skills, then the importance of upgrades is increased.

curb appeal.....is just cosmetics & can be easily addressed, usually without spending a ton of money.

Have fun house shopping!

quality of school districts (trust me,. this one is a big one)
location
proximity to work
yard size
square footage
curb appeal
upgrades
deal breaker: school district.

-Location/Neighborhood
-Proximity to work
-Updates/upgrades inside
-Square footage
-Yard size
-Curb appeal
-Quality of school districts

The deal breaker for us is not necessarily square footage but about the actual rooms that are inside. We are currently looking for a new home. It has to have a dining room and has to have at least 2 bathrooms. these are deal breakers for us. I don't care how big the kitchen is or how magnificent the other rooms are without those 2 things we walk away. Quality of school district is at the bottom for us as our youngest is in highschool now so school district is almost a non issue.