Incline Village Nevada, Real Estate Culture Update by Tim Lampe:

Have you ever thought about the wasted space in your formal living room that no one ever occupies?  Well, new home builders are answering the question for you with dramatically different home designs.  With these newly designed homes, gone are the formal living room and formal dining room, the two story entryway, bonus rooms, and the second staircases.  No more McMansions built during the housing boom.  Today’s homebuyer does not want to spend money on space they don’t use or need, however they want the spaces they use every day to be larger and more functional.

The spaces that are being featured are; larger family rooms that are integrated into larger kitchen spaces;  “drop zone” spaces for shoes, coats and sports equipment;  schoolwork and computer spaces;  and even an elevator replacing the second staircase when your parents move in.  All of this is fitting into the median square foot home of 2,169.  Below are the key features builders are focusing on.

Family Room / Kitchen / Dining Area: After extensive customer surveys, builders have discovered that what they want in this category is an integrated open area for the family room, dining area, and kitchen. Steve Ruffner,  president of KB Homes states, “Buyers are OK with having a great room with three functions.  They now want to separate spaces with furniture instead of walls.”

“Drop Zone”: This is front door entry area of a home.  It is where guests typically enter your home and in the past it typically is meant to be impressive – soaring ceilings and entirely inefficient.  In fact, I can’t remember when I have entered my home through the front door.  I enter through the laundry room after I have parked the car in the garage.  The “Drop Zones” are now places to collect the clutter that typically is spread around the house.  They include;  hooks for coats and backpacks;  cubbies for shoes;  and even a basket for the mail.  Scott Thomas from Pulte Homes says, “Families tell us there are two times of day that are their hot buttons: getting ready for school and the evening with all their kids’ homework and cooking dinner.”

“Lifestyle center”: This use to be the space for Dad’s office.  However, with laptops and tablets connected to the internet with wireless devices, computer work can be done anywhere in the house.  Pulte Homes is creating  a room off the kitchen for a variety of uses;  home office,  kids homework, paying bills, printing documents, wrapping presents and more. It’s location next to the kitchen also allows the parent to be cooking and making sure the kids are actually doing homework instead of surfing the net.

Steam Showers: I love steam showers as opposed to soaking in a BIG tub.  The soaker tubs are on their way out as an option home buyers want.  The steam shower is now in!  It is typically larger than a normal one.  It is much more convenient for even shaving for both men and women, plus it is better for your skin than a soaking tub.

An Elevator: This year more than any other year I have been asked by home buyers what it would cost to put in an elevator.  As home buyers are aging and as younger buyers are having their older parent(s) moving in with them, this is a natural alternative to a second staircase, or even having it installed on the exterior of the home if it is a remodel.  (You are will also discover the one-story homes are getting a premium compared to two-story homes.

We are always standing ready to assist with any of your real estate needs.  Contact us today for a FREE comparable sales pricing report for your home.  Or, if you are thinking of buying a home in the next few months, Now is a great time to buy in Incline Village because of 40 year low mortgage interest rates and the value of the homes currently on the market.  Until next time… Tim Lampe