It’s important to plan for how we want to live. We want to be happy, and having the right house is important. Personally, I need lots of open space. Maybe not actual space, but the perception of space. Space used wisely! I know that’s a direct reflection of having grown up in a single bedroom home with 6 other people. Ugh. I spent a lot of time in the top of the cherry tree. Give me room! Plus I quilt, and that requires room. Room for my machines, room for a layout table, room for a display wall. I need room! Plus I work from home so I need an office. It doesn’t need to be big, but it can’t be claustrophobic. I take all this into account in planning my house. But that’s not all you have to look at.
It is equally important to build what others will buy. In planning our house, I’m planning what I want, but I’m also looking to what will sell well in our area. Terry and aren’t going to live forever. We probably won’t want to live where we are forever. Once we reach the stage where we’re less mobile, this place is going to be too much work and we’ll need to downsize. When that happens, it’s going to be vital that what we’ve built will sell easily and for a reasonable amount. When we get to that point we will need as much money out of our home as we can get. Toward that goal, I have to mesh what I need with what will sell. Where I may not need a full kitchen (and I don’t), the person looking at my home will undervalue it if there isn’t a full kitchen. Same with a full bath. Kitchens and baths are the areas where money must be spent to make money. To sell easily in my market it has to be a well constructed three bedroom 2 bath. That’s what sells well here.
The really irritating part of the real estate market is . . . the amount the selling price is reduced is in no proportion to the cost of replacing or upgrading appliances. A full sized fridge may be $900, but the price is going to be reduced by thousands, possibly 10’s of thousands if I don’t have one. Always makes me shake my head. It’s all perception. And a 3 bedroom house with a small kitchen and half sized fridge is going to take a big hit.
Handicapped access is a plus. You never know when you’re going to take a hit and spend time in a wheelchair. Or have handicapped visitors. Or have an elderly parent move in. I’ve always thought it was important to plan accordingly. If I end up on crutches (been there) or in a wheelchair (Terry’s done that), I don’t want to have to rent a place to live while one of us is healing. JMPO.