Floorplan suggestions (new home, buying, construction)

[jacob]

I am looking at a house with 2 BR and 2 Baths downstairs, and 2 BR with Jack and Jill bath upstairs, along with media and gameroom. In addition, there is a powder room downstairs, that I plan to convert to a prayer room. Will this be a negative during resale ?

I also have a large double height family room, plus another formal living downstairs, plus a formal dining. Is it better (from resale standpoint) to convert the formal living room to a study (put a glass door) or leave it open, and use an upstairs bedroom as a study.

Formal living has double height, Should I cover it by putting a half wall on the top to allow someone to close it if he wants during resale.

[MurphyPl1]

Assuming one of the downstairs baths is in the master suite, but is the 2nd bath part of a guest suite or is it easily accessible from the living areas? That will make the biggest difference IMO. If you have to walk thru a bedroom, I'd leave the powder bath. If not, I don't see it as a huge drawback.

As far as the living room/study goes, I think the study is more practical on the first floor than a formal living room. Most of the homes of our friends have studies rather than living rooms. It makes a lot more sense in today's society.

[nsumner]

Originally Posted by jacob

I am looking at a house with 2 BR and 2 Baths downstairs, and 2 BR with Jack and Jill bath upstairs, along with media and gameroom. In addition, there is a powder room downstairs, that I plan to convert to a prayer room. Will this be a negative during resale ? Yes this will be a drawback unless you do it where it can be reconverted easily prior to selling.
I also have a large double height family room, plus another formal living downstairs, plus a formal dining. Is it better (from resale standpoint) to convert the formal living room to a study (put a glass door) or leave it open, and use an upstairs bedroom as a study. Many people are staying away from the formal living room. If it's not stacked, yes you can get away with putting french doors. It can double as a study/5th bedroom if you put a closet.

Formal living has double height, Should I cover it by putting a half wall on the top to allow someone to close it if he wants during resale. Not sure I understand this one, sorry

The other downside I see is if you or guests use the media room or gameroom upstairs, they have to use the private J/J. It is worth the expense to add another bath upstairs.

Naima

[jacob]

Thanks nsumner -

My question was the formal living room - is double height (I think thats called stacked height) - and its an open floor plan - so foyer and formal living have no separation - height is about 18 feet - Now if I add a wall so that the top 10 feet of the living room is separated from the foyer area, then someone can later on close the living room by putting a door over there, and convert it to study.

I am buying a new home. So it will probably be cheaper to do it now than later if there is no wall. Isnt' it ?

[loves2read]

Jacob--that stacked living room is a death knell for heating/cooling and design positivies---lower the ceiling and avoid having that much raised height--
those homes are going to be death on the market in a year or too and in most areas of the country--builders are avoiding doing that because of the difficulty in heating/cooling---

if you take out a half-bath and add a prayer room YES that is definitely a negative--plus part of the house price and the tax evaluation is based on an item like baths--baths are expensive part of construction ...
I think that is a VERY bad idea---

regarding converting formal living room to study--that flies if room is isolated and can be done with style--some I have seen were tacky and cheap and definitely lowered the home's appeal and price...
NEVER have a bedroom that opens into the foyer of a house--so that idea would not fly...
WHY would you want to convert an upstairs bedroom to a study IF you are converting the formal LA to a study down--makes not sense and as soon as a buyer walks through and see both rooms, they will know the formal study is too small to be useful so it is a wasted room...very much a negative factor

[GHJohn]

Originally Posted by jacob

I am looking at a house with 2 BR and 2 Baths downstairs, and 2 BR with Jack and Jill bath upstairs, along with media and gameroom. In addition, there is a powder room downstairs, that I plan to convert to a prayer room. Will this be a negative during resale ?

I also have a large double height family room, plus another formal living downstairs, plus a formal dining. Is it better (from resale standpoint) to convert the formal living room to a study (put a glass door) or leave it open, and use an upstairs bedroom as a study.

Formal living has double height, Should I cover it by putting a half wall on the top to allow someone to close it if he wants during resale.

1. Does the second full bath downstairs have access to it without going into the second bedroom? I know second master or a guest suite is becoming very popular these days. So make sure there is an access. If there is not then you want to leave the 1/2 bath alone. Also the Jack and Jill bath upstairs, does it have an access from the game room, if not you want to leave that 1/2 bath alone because you don't want guests having to go thru a bedroom to access your bathrooms.

2. Formal livings are a thing of the past. You get more bang for your buck on converting that into a Study. Enclosing the study depends on the size. If it is too small you don't want to enclose it. If it is reasonably large enclose it and put french doors on it. Also a big selling point is a built in bookshelf. You don't want to put a fireplace in there though because you want to leave the possibility open that the next person who buys it wants to use it as a spare bedroom.

[jacob]

I plan to use the bedroom upstairs as a study - without making any changes. I will just buy a bookshelf from Ikea and attach it to the wall. I believe it should be possible to remove it during resale.