R ecently I read an article in Yahoo Finance about the 10 “Must-Have” features for today’s new homes. They are as follows…
- Large kitchens, with an island…I don’t know about you, but this isn’t a new thing to me. My grandma always had an island in her kitchen…it was called a table. We used it for rolling out Christmas cookies, gluing valentines, carving pumpkins, coloring and eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
- Energy-Efficient Appliances, High-Efficiency Insulation and High Window Efficiency…Yep, we had this last one too. When it was hot, you opened the window. When it got cold, you closed it….duh!
- Home office/Study…refer to #1
- Main floor master suite…in my childhood home, the master suite was wherever the bathroom was. I guess it was assumed that children had better bladders so we were always in the bedrooms at the opposite end of the house (usually upstairs)
- Outdoor Living Room….isn’t this a patio?
- Ceiling Fans…new?
- Master Suite Soaker Tubs…OK…these are new. I don’t know how much they really get used but I guess they’d be a nice once in a while.
- Stone and Brick Exteriors….definitely not new, except on the west coast. The east coast and the plains states have been using brick and stone for years!
- Community Landscaping, With Walking Paths and Playgrounds…does this mean lawns that flow together again and back onto woods, fields and rivers? Tree Houses? Forts? What ever will they think of next??
- Two-Car Garages…Seem pretty essential…and timeless to me. I know that where winters are cold, they’re actually used to store cars; but on the west coast, we wouldn’t have any place for our stuff if they took away our garages.
So click on our search button and see if there is a new home out there that has the features you want, and if so, take advantage of the First Time or Move Up Homebuyers Tax Credits available through the end of April!
