The tastes and priorities of home buyers keep evolving. Recently, a group of agents in the RE/MAX Northern Illinois network were asked to identify the six home features that are currently the highest priority for buyers in their market area. Here is their consensus on the Top Six.
Bath count: Buyers are placing an increased emphasis on homes with at least two and a half baths, and the more the merrier.
“The homes in our [rural] area have relatively moderate prices compared to other parts of the Chicago area, but our buyers still want at least two and a half baths, including a master bath,” said Mike Buder. “In years past, one and a half baths were considered acceptable, but that has changed. It’s becoming more difficult to sell a one and a half bath house.”
Bathroom size also matters, according to Samuel Chapa. He says that buyers are less than comfortable with baths that don’t have dimensions of at least seven by nine feet.
“In the master bath, buyers are looking for a shower and separate tub, and double vanities are also a must,” Chapa says, making an observation that was seconded by many of the agents interviewed.
Bedroom count: Buyers are showing a strong preference for homes with at least four bedrooms.
“Everybody wants a fourth bedroom or room enough to add it if the home doesn’t have one,” said David Kantowski. “What’s more, they don’t want that fourth bedroom in the basement.”
The same is true of many buyers in more outlying locations, according to Kim Noonan of New Lenox, IL.
“In our market, a two-story home should have at least four bedrooms. On the other hand, buyers looking for a ranch-style home often will accept a three-bedroom layout,” she says.
As with bathrooms, buyers have become more conscious of bedroom size.
“They now expect the master bedroom to be a minimum of 14 by 18 feet and secondary bedrooms to be at least 12 by 14 feet,” contended Debbie Jacobson. “In the master bedroom, buyers prefer one large open area rather than a sleeping area and separate sitting room.”
Storage space:
Whether the space comes in the form of closets, an oversized garage or a basement, today’s buyers are very conscious of the need for ample storage.
“You can see the importance of closets when buyers must make a choice, as is often the case with new construction,” said Jacobson. “If they can have either a larger bathroom or a bigger closet, they’ll pick the added closet space almost every time. At the same time, many buyers are considering only homes with a basement because of the storage space it provides.”
Spacious kitchens: Small kitchens are noticeably less popular today than in years past. “Buyers want ample space in the kitchen, and if it isn’t big enough, they may look for ways to expand it, perhaps by knocking down a wall and changing a 10-by-12-foot kitchen into a 10-by-20 foot space,” said Rosemary Johnson. “They like to cook, but have little time for it. When they do find the time, they want a gourmet kitchen complete with granite counter tops and a double oven.”
Johnson and other agents also noted the emergence of a strong preference for hardwood floors in the kitchen, rather than the more traditional vinyl or ceramic surfaces. Many buyers also want kitchens that are open to adjoining areas, such as the family room.
“Buyers don’t need a custom kitchen, but they want kitchens that are easy to use and prefer them to be part of a great room concept,” said Anita Zabielski. “An open kitchen lets the family be together while doing different things - mom is cooking dinner, while the kids do homework or watch TV.”
Kim Noonan made the point that tastes in kitchen lighting have changed, too.
“We have come a long way from the big, old, fluorescent box in the middle of the ceiling. Now buyers expect task lighting, things such as undercounter lights, dropped fixtures above an island or pinpoint spots, to make the kitchen more functional and more aesthetically pleasing,” she said.
Home office: From being more or less an afterthought in decades past, home offices have become an essential for many buyers.
“These days, buyers always want a place for a home office, even if they don’t work from home,” said Noonan. “Practically everybody has a computer, and they don’t want it sitting in the middle of the dining room. When buyers look at a home, they check to see where they can set up the computer, which in most cases wasn’t even a consideration five years ago.”
Where that home office is located also makes a difference. A majority of the agents interviewed mentioned that many buyers no longer find a home office in finished basement space to be acceptable. They want the office on the ground floor or above.
Energy efficiency: Last winter’s high energy bills apparently had a considerable impact on Chicago-area home buyers.
“In the last six months, energy efficiency has become a real priority with buyers,” said Samuel Chapa. “Most buyers want to look at last year’s heating bills, and they ask about a high-efficiency furnace.”
Buyers also are paying closer attention to the level of insulation and the quality of windows in a home, reported Ann Zabielski. As for other features that are high on buyers’ priority lists these days, the RE/MAX agents cited the following: central air conditioning; an open floor plan with plenty of windows; a large family room; volume ceiling; and a laundry room on the first or second floor rather than in the basement.
As for those features that have declined in popularity over the last 10 years, two were mentioned frequently.
Living rooms: Where a spacious living room was once of prime importance to buyers, now the focus is elsewhere.
“Buyers we work with are much less concerned about living room dimensions than about those of the family room or master bedroom” said David Kantowski.
Large yards: While some agents said buyers in their area were looking for big lots, a majority noted that smaller yards had become more acceptable, in part because many buyers don’t want to add a lot of yard work to their already busy schedules.
“At one time, many buyers wanted big lots or corner lots,” said Mike Buder. “Now some people are shying away from those big lots, and houses on those lots aren’t selling for the same kind of price premium they did a few years ago.”
The results of these preferences are larger homes, with more bedrooms, more baths, more storage, a home office and a larger kitchen on a smaller lot.
Another broad trend among buyers, as reflected in the agents’ comments, was toward a “no compromise” philosophy on selecting a home. Once buyers decide on their “must have” home features, they won’t accept a home that doesn’t have everything on the list.
“I was working with a family not long ago, and after a great deal of looking, I finally found a house that offered nearly everything they wanted,” recalled Debbie Jacobson. “ All it lacked was a fireplace, but without that feature the house didn’t interest them at all.”
RE/MAX offices in Northern Illinois have led the Chicago metropolitan area residential real estate market since 1989. In 2000, RE/MAX closed sales volume totaled $10.9 billion. Since 1995, one out of four homes sold in Chicagoland has been listed by RE/MAX.
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