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This is northern lake property in a northern lake area. It is however a small no wake lake - which limits potential buyers right there. However lake property is always going to maintain value during any downturn better than non (at least I'm hoping). It is a bit further away from town too. So familes as potential buyers are already probably looking elsewhere but I don't want to cut them out entirely.
This is an area where rentals are becoming popular although the township may be getting ready to limit some of that (saw it on the meeting agenda).
I built a 3 bed, 2 bath home with 2 car garage and a great basement good for finishing on 9 acres in Nebraska back in 2004. Went to sell in 2007 and almost couldn't do it. Had one interested party, lost money but that was almost to be expected given the turn around time. Plus with one buyer you do have to cave on price.
They had..2 teenagers? More? Not sure. The husband was also disabled from a recent accident and I'm not sure what his recovery prognosis was. I get the impression they might have finished out the garage for him? Special circumstances I guess.
But it does seem that families want more room, more room more room. I worry a little about narrowing the potential buyer base. My budget is ridiculously, stupidly tight and at some point it is what it is. However there are always choices and I want to make sure I'm making the smartest ones I can.
Good advice 3 bed, 2 bath although do I even need 2 bathrooms? No. Have to do it for resale though yes. Is 1 bathroom and a 3/4 good enough? Hardly anyone takes baths! You need one for bathing little kids then its done. I want one of those low step showers for me and don't want to take up real estate for 2 bathtubs and a separate shower.
Boats and campers are pretty common in this area so a 3 car garage couldn't go wrong, even just for the missing basement storage. I think it would be cheaper than a bigger house footprint. 200 a sq foot I think is the going rate for house. I personally hate converted garage space. But it does provide someone with the ability for more space.
How big would a flex room have to be? I get the impression that families like a room just for the kids, a play or family room (depending on age) and a living room.
I think you are way overthinking this based on a past experience that really doesn't sound applicable to this specific property. Again, contact a local agent and get some advice on this from someone who is in your market. I like the idea of the gift card as a "thank you" for their time, would be a nice gesture.
This is northern lake property in a northern lake area. It is however a small no wake lake - which limits potential buyers right there. However lake property is always going to maintain value during any downturn better than non (at least I'm hoping). It is a bit further away from town too. So familes as potential buyers are already probably looking elsewhere but I don't want to cut them out entirely.
This is an area where rentals are becoming popular although the township may be getting ready to limit some of that (saw it on the meeting agenda).
I built a 3 bed, 2 bath home with 2 car garage and a great basement good for finishing on 9 acres in Nebraska back in 2004. Went to sell in 2007 and almost couldn't do it. Had one interested party, lost money but that was almost to be expected given the turn around time. Plus with one buyer you do have to cave on price.
They had..2 teenagers? More? Not sure. The husband was also disabled from a recent accident and I'm not sure what his recovery prognosis was. I get the impression they might have finished out the garage for him? Special circumstances I guess.
But it does seem that families want more room, more room more room. I worry a little about narrowing the potential buyer base. My budget is ridiculously, stupidly tight and at some point it is what it is. However there are always choices and I want to make sure I'm making the smartest ones I can.
Good advice 3 bed, 2 bath although do I even need 2 bathrooms? No. Have to do it for resale though yes. Is 1 bathroom and a 3/4 good enough? Hardly anyone takes baths! You need one for bathing little kids then its done. I want one of those low step showers for me and don't want to take up real estate for 2 bathtubs and a separate shower.
Boats and campers are pretty common in this area so a 3 car garage couldn't go wrong, even just for the missing basement storage. I think it would be cheaper than a bigger house footprint. 200 a sq foot I think is the going rate for house. I personally hate converted garage space. But it does provide someone with the ability for more space.
How big would a flex room have to be? I get the impression that families like a room just for the kids, a play or family room (depending on age) and a living room.
OK, I see where you're coming from now. This is more than just a retirement property for you. In that case, I'd agree with the people who said 3 large bedrooms is better than 4 tiny ones. And the 3rd garage stall that could be converted probably wouldn't be a big attraction for future buyers.
Ramen Addict - This wasn't a LR and Family Room plus questions. It was a Living Room plus question.
Frog - interesting. Did that have access from inside the house? Because that sort of defeats the purpose.
Or was there a stairway in the garage.
Okay- it wasn’t clear since you had the comma there that seemed to make it appear like there were 3 extra rooms. If you have another space that is separate from an all-in-one space, I think that would be appealing to buyers. However, if that is going to mean that the living/dining space is tiny or the bedrooms are tiny, I don’t think it is worth it to sacrifice. How much space do you have available? I lived in a home that was under 2Ksqft growing up and the bedrooms were spacious and it still had separate living and family spaces with 2.5 baths. I don’t think you need a whole lot of space to make effective use of space planning. ‘
For example, many will have huge eat-in islands which are fine if you have lots of younger people who can sit on a stool, but won’t work for older folks or people with tiny ones who need to sit at something with a traditional height. They are great in larger houses, but probably not in a home that is in the sub 2Ksqft range where you really just want to have one eating space instead of needing to have one for the eat-in island and one for a regular table.
in general a 4th bedroom is always better. Will suit a larger family, can be used as a home office, can be used as a guest room too.
No true, not always. Again, depends on market.
My inlaws are the perfect example of this. Built a house about 8 years ago and all bedrooms are tiny because they wanted to cram 4 in instead of 3 and I had told them 3 larger rooms in the size/price point they would be in would be better in their market once they decided to sell.
Now they are trying to sell it, and every buyer that comes in has dismissed it because of the bedroom sizes and my MIL said the other day she wishes they had heeded my advice and opted for less but larger bedrooms.
Again, an agent versed in OP's market is the one that needs to advise on this.
I'll be building as a single senior. I already know I won't be there till I die.
Wondering what would be least cost to build....
Build for YOU. Don't worry about anyone else and their possible desires/needs/uses.
Thirty years from now, when it's sold by your grandkids, there will be another crop of retiree's.
Unless your thinking/needs are completely whack... there will be a buyer among them.
How many bathrooms or bedrooms do you want to have to clean?
Do you need a basement? Does your car need to be in a garage?
Build for YOU. Don't worry about anyone else and their possible desires/needs/uses.
Thirty years from now, when it's sold by your grandkids, there will be another crop of retiree's.
Unless your thinking/needs are completely whack... there will be a buyer among them.
How many bathrooms or bedrooms do you want to have to clean?
Do you need a basement? Does your car need to be in a garage?
OP said it's not a forever home, plans to sell it at some point.
I'd go with 3 good size bedrooms, 2 baths, plus a large common area. A playroom sounds good, but has to be separated for sound.
My parents house playroom was kind of useless because it was too close to the other living areas.
OP said it's not a forever home, plans to sell it at some point.
OP said (and says) a lot of things.
At some point everything will be sold.
If that time frame is so short that the sale is a real consideration...
1) absolutely don't build 2) don't buy at all
I think it would be useful to know what the overall square footage will be before we all go carving it up in our minds.
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