Location !
No suburbs, ever
Either an older home with a lot of character, or something very modern. Nothing in between.
A great outdoor space – it doesn’t have to be big – such as a front porch or a deck, with enough room for a bit of gardening: cutting flowers, veggie patch.
A lot of natural light.
If the house didn’t have them, I’d put in: high-quality windows. A great bathtub. Wood floors.
Our previous house had a galley kitchen. Ugh. So when we bought our current house in 2001, I thought my one non-negotiable was a nice, large kitchen. Turned out my one non-negotiable was a good school district, and I got stuck with another galley kitchen. But it was worth it. 
Good one
Many things depend on the area. In the Midwest, I want a basement- tornadoes! Plus, basements are great for grandchildren and even dogs on below zero days as they can rough house down there and no one cares. I also want a driveway that isn’t on a hill. We had that at our first house and I always thought my car was going to slid down into the neighbors’ yard. I am spoiled by having a laundry room off of the kitchen and a huge soaker tub in our master bath. I agree with location. I like being more rural but I want to be close enough to get to a grocery store easily and we do. We may have to add on to this place (put a bedroom downstairs) but I think we may end up here.
What make windows high quality?
@Sweetbeet Never been to Hawaii. I spoke too soon. Don’t get cold when you get wet?
Would not consider: house on a steep hill, especially one with a lot of stairs leading up to the entrances (thinking about access for elderly or disabled). Also the kitchen has to be a good size – and have drawers! (I lived in places in NYC without drawers for years. One of them had a space for a dishwasher, though none was installed. The kitchen was so small that if it had been installed, you would have had to stand outside the kitchen and (I guess?) reach over the dishwasher to the sink on the other side to load dishes in it.) Would also not buy a house with well water after seeing what a hassle it is in power outages.
Lots of very picky people on this thread!
We’ve lived all over the place, and one place’s non-negotiable is another place’s silly.
We’ve always had a two car garage, no matter where we’ve lived, but requiring it to be attached is silly - in some locations. We lived in a town in southern California where ALL garages were built behind the houses, so that they opened onto an alley. Every block was bisected by an alley, where the garages were located, and all the garbage cans went. It rained about 10 days a year, so an attached garage just didn’t matter. On the other hand, we have also lived in some bitterly cold places, where lack of an an attached garage is an absolute deal breaker.
In Hawaii, we were thrilled to have the washer/drier inside an enclosed garage! At that time many older homes had the washer/driers outside, under an open carport.
In the old part of my town (near the village center and most walkable area) none of the houses have attached garages. Garages are all in the back and most are only one car because people didn’t own two cars in late 1800’s-early 1900’s. These houses are on very tiny lots, too. 1/4 acre or less. However, houses in that area are very, very popular and sell extremely quickly at asking price. This is a place where winters are cold and snowy.
If l live in cold part of the country or rainy part, I’d like an attached garage. And I’d prefer not to see a garage from the front of the house. It should be tucked into the side or in the back. I think I have almost everything in my present house. The house I will be moving will be the last one and inpreparation for my old age.
What’s wrong with a galley kitchen? I have a big galley kitchen that works quite well actually. If you have cabinets in the back and an island in front, that’s effectively a galley, isn’t it?
Honestly…I won’t REALLY know what is negotiable and what isn’t…until we start looking for a new house.
You do all know this is just first-world problems, right?
Haha. Most of CC is #firstworldproblems. We can rename this website firstworldproblems.com. 
Considering that a house is typically the largest investment/outlay of money a person will make in his lifetime, being picky is totally understandable imo.
And yes, first world problems. FOR SURE.
@VeryHappy I did not want to say this, but this is exactly what’s going through my mind right now. Until I was 19, we had 3 generations sharing 2 tiny rooms (living rooms by day, bedrooms by night), a tiny eat-in kitchen and a tiny bathroom (~500 sq ft altogether). And we still did much better than many others.
Actually, I would call it an American problem rather than first-world problem. Many of my first-world friends (Asia, Europe, Israel) would be shocked to read this.
Igloo,
Here in SE Florida, hurricane windows, sliding glass doors, garage and front door – all hurricane proof. Expensive, but keeps a/c bill down and eliminates outside noises.
@Igloo said:
Energy efficiency, durability, ability to reduce fading of furniture, comfort, etc.
@Iglooo My galley kitchen is not large, nor does it have an island. It’s basically a short hallway with countertop and appliances. It’s cut off from the dining/living area, so exactly the opposite of open-concept. It cannot comfortably accommodate more than two people at a time, and counter space is in extremely short supply.
My mom was raised with 6 siblings in a 2 bedroom house, which had a cold water spigot in the kitchen and an outhouse. She didn’t have indoor plumbing until going to college in 1962, She was oldest and they lived in that house until I was 7. I think about that almost every day, especially in the winter.
We built this house, a 3,300 sf modular, in 1998. Too big now to heat and cool, but if I’m ever brave enough to move again…
Don’t want:
Things I actually did right and want again:
7) Outside entry to basement from garage. Wonderful for repairmen–furnace, softener, appliances
8) Laundry shoot from bathroom and upstairs into basement laundry. I’m ok with basement laundry.
9) Not having hallways. Hallways seem claustrophobic and like a waste of space to me.
My nonnegotiable; no basement (I hate basements!), yes -laundry chute, upstairs bedrooms and screened in porch, lots of trees and greens, walkin shower, downstairs bedroom and handicapped accessible bathroom for visitors, detached garage, energy efficient, solar power., open living-dining-kitchen, two upstairs bathrooms, modest-sized 1900 sq feet. Hey! That’s what I have now! There are a few changes I would make if I was to build again, but basically I like all that we did. :-). For those of you who don’t want stairs, have you considered one of those chair-lift devices for when stairs become difficult to negotiate? I really like the separation of private and public spaces by having bedrooms upstairs - not to mention you can open windows upstairs without worrying about break-ins…
Wow… just discovered that Mr. B thinks half an acre or more is a “non-negotiable.” So much for my secret plans to get into a smaller lot/house.