What do homeowners want in a home?

Kitchen island created for a recent client

In our kitchen and bath remodels, we have found that when clients come to us for remodeling, they are often looking for just the amenities listed below – either to add them, or to update what they have. Sometimes adding onto the house is required to make room for the desired options, or even moving walls! But, oftentimes, a kitchen or bathroom can be re-arranged to fit in the changes; every house is unique.

Kitchen remodel, bathroom remodel, home additions or buying new – what features do purchasers want in a home? The following data is from www.housingzone.com/PB (Professional Builder, August 2012, What Buyers want in a New Home.)

• Kitchen spaces – A kitchen island and walk-in pantry are on the top desired amenities of a list of 13 kitchen spaces.
• Key bathroom spaces – Dual vanities/lavatories in the master bath and a tub/shower combo in the secondary bathroom filled the top two desired amenities out of field of 12 possible options for bath remodels.
• Key living spaces – Whoa! This category listed 25 possible options, and the to 3 were found to be a walk in closet in the master bedroom, a great room (kitchen/living/dining), and high ceilings (9 feet or higher on the first floor).
• Key outdoor spaces – Here again, survey takers were given a generous list of 20 options, with the to contenders found to be an oversized garage with room for storage, a two car garage, and a three car garage. Hmmm . . . not sure how that works out.

So, summarizing, dual vanities/lavatories in the master bathroom were ranked by builders as the most important bathroom amenity to their buyers. A kitchen island was ranked by respondents as the most highly desired kitchen amenity among buyers, followed closely by a walk in pantry, and breakfast nook. By far, respondents ranked walk-in closets as the top living area amenity among their buyers, followed by a great room, high ceilings and energy-efficient features.