When you’re dreaming of a new home in Tamaqua you may also be dreaming of features that are missing from your current residence. Your thoughts and conversations with others in your household might include “Wouldn’t it be nice to have (fill in the blank)?”
Before you center your home search on one or more of those features, consider them carefully. Many before you have spent extra dollars on features that they never use, or worse – wish they didn’t have.
What am I talking about? The list includes:
- A wine cellar
- A media room
- A craft room
- An exercise room
- A pool room/ recreation room
- A huge yard
- A pool
- A fireplace or wood stove
- An open floor plan
Stop and consider whether you would actually use these features, and if so, how often.
Extra square footage quite naturally adds to the purchase price of a home, and also adds to the maintenance costs.
A yard, no matter what the size, must be maintained, so will either add to your work load or your monthly expenses. The larger the yard, the more work it will take to maintain it.
The same can be said for a pool, although a pool also adds to your liability. Check with your insurance carrier to see if will increase the premiums on your homeowner’s insurance.
The idea of sitting before a flickering fire on a cold winter’s night sounds enticing – and even romantic. But have you thought about the expense and work involved?
To make use of a wood burning fireplace or wood stove, you must have a supply of wood, so you need a place to store it where it’s easily accessible. Do you have the experience and the tools to cut, split, and haul that wood, or will you need to purchase it? And are you prepared for the extra cleaning chores? Hauling wood from storage into the house does result in sawdust and slivers on the floor.
An open floor plan is another feature that homeowners have come to regret. Some even have dividing walls installed to reduce that openness.
Why? Some say that the huge open space is not warm and inviting – there’s no “cozy.” Some mention lack of private spaces, while others say it’s a decorating nightmare. Homemakers who longed for an open floor plan to do away with being shut away from family activities while preparing meals now wish to be able to shut a door on the “cooking mess” when entertaining.
Before you spend extra dollars on features that are missing from your current home, give it careful thought.
- Will you really use it?
- Is it worth the added expense?
- Is it worth the added maintenance?
- Are there any drawbacks?
If you have friends whose homes do have one or more these features, talk to them – ask them if it was a good investment.
If you decide that "Yes, this feature is a must-have in my new home," then tell your agent. You’ll save time and energy by viewing only those homes that offer what you must have.
Are you ready to search? I’d love to help, and I’m ready to do the research to find the Tamaqua home you want.
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