Yes, those things are all great. And are all things that *you* can change or create with any house. Hardwood floors are probably the biggest PITA of all of them, but even that's not very hard. Color of the walls? Really? You aren't going to buy a house because you won't spend $200 on paint and a day of your time?
The kids footsteps for decades things is just silly, since unless you buy a haunted mansion where the kids are instantly devoured, their footsteps will echo in your memory in any house.
For the record: I'm against buying a haunted mansion.
-W
Lol well, I'm not really a person who needs to fall in love with a house... I figure that happens automagically if you bought a decent house. Color of the walls can matter depending on accents, moulding, finishes (or lack thereof for wood panels and such), materials used... no, if you're just painting sheetrock with flat moulding, it would not be wise to even think about the color when buying. Also, sure, you could change bigger things like hardwood yourself, but realistically, a lot won't, so for them it would be extremely expensive to do so. And some people are really intense about the setting of all those nice memories. I mean, you asked. :p
The trick to not overpaying, if you're one of those people, is to be prepared to offer whatever you were prepared to offer for your ideal house (determined before seeing any houses). You should have a good, excellent, and perfect house price in mind. You can actually even use that to negotiate. And if you set the rule up before hand, you're more likely to stick to it, than to go wide-eyed and imagine how to (over)pay for a "perfect" house.
But while you or I would find it silly to spend heavily on the backdrop of your life before arranging your money around your
actual life, the wrong house can be a big disappointment for a lot of people. If you come home, and the home itself contributes to your happiness, hey, enjoy that happiness. It's probably the most expensive "thing" you'll ever have to pay for, so hating it and living in it surely isn't a winning recipe, but being less tied up in it might be healthier.