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Old 02-18-2007, 07:07 PM
 
Location: Tucson, AZ
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When we bought our house, we weren't too worried about not having a formal dining room. Now we see that most homes here do seem to have one. My question is: How important is it to have a formal dining area when it comes to resale? Do any of you realtors out there have a approx. percentage of how many perspective home buyers have a dining room on their "must have" list. Any info. is appreciated!
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Old 02-18-2007, 07:12 PM
 
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I like having a formal dining room primarily because I now have a dining room set I love. If I didn't have my dining room set, it wouldn't be nearly as important to me. The living room however I could care less about.
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Old 02-18-2007, 07:15 PM
 
Location: Cary, NC
43,031 posts, read 76,548,777 times
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Don't stress about it.
If it is a smaller home, many formal DR's are about useless and a waste of SF.
Now if you are in the 2800+ SF range, it might be different.

If your home appealed to you, it will appeal to someone else when it comes time to sell it. Until then, enjoy it!

Location, Location, Location, and Condition, Condition, Condition...
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Old 02-18-2007, 07:30 PM
 
Location: Tucson, AZ
4,975 posts, read 11,659,836 times
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Wow! Thanks for the quick replies! It's nice to know that I can rely on people in this forum for help.
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Old 02-19-2007, 09:00 AM
 
50 posts, read 272,389 times
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Formal dining and formal living rooms were on my don't want list so it all depends on the buyer. They always just seem like wasted space that rarely gets used.
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Old 02-19-2007, 09:19 AM
 
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This was sorta discussed briefly on the "what will you compromise on a home" thread, recently.

There seems to be two very different approaches with formal living rooms and formal dining rooms.
Some say they prefer a modern big open floor plan, where kitchen, dining and den are all one giant open space.
Others prefer the traditional separate formals. Kitchen, dining room and living room all in separate rooms.
It really depends on your entertaining style probably. I've also been told one's family unit can play into it as well...with families preferring the open floor plan and singles/childless couples/empty-nesters preferring the separate formals. (But that's probably just a guess.)

I'm in the latter camp myself. As I mentioned in that other thread, I don't want my dinner guests eating within sight-view of the mess I just made in the kitchen cooking the dinner! I just don't find it appetizing.

Some of the biggest and best parties I've ever been to was at this friend's historic Victorian house in the Oakwood neighborhood downtown. Not only did it have a separate formal dining and formal living room...it even has an old-fashioned parlor! What we liked about this set up is that if you have a large number of guests, people break up in smaller "conversation clusters" in each room...and shuffle themselves every hour or so...which can be pretty fun.
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Old 02-19-2007, 06:35 PM
 
3,155 posts, read 10,727,090 times
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We're one of those families that eat dinner in the dining room almost every night. It's not fancy dinner but the dinning room just feels like a good place to gather. Plus who can relax at the kitchen table while dirty pots stare at you. We tried the kitchen table for a while but dinner never seemed to be as relaxed as it is in the dining room.

We eat breakfast at the kitchen table. My the kids work on projects or homework there. But we do use our dining room daily.

I do have friends who have turned the dining room into:
1) a library (they are childless)
2) a game room (they have 3 kids)
3) a craft room for mom (they have 2 kids)
4) a ROCK CLIMBING WALL (They are childless. But they invite all the neighborhood kids over to climb with them.)

It's just a space .... do whatever feels right for you and your home. Unless, you plan on resale... then don't wallpaper. I'll accept a rock climbing dining room over a wall papered one. LOL! But thats just me.
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Old 05-17-2009, 09:01 AM
 
Location: Las Flores, Orange County, CA
26,338 posts, read 93,440,962 times
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Ninety five percent of people use their formal dining room about four times a year.


Seriously, who the heck would sit in here?
http://www.efofurniture.com/img/diningroom_formal.jpg (broken link)
If a home has a family room, 95% of people use their formal living room about, yep, four times a year.


Looks like a museum and uncomfortable too.
http://www.margaretdonaldsoninteriors.com/images/CREEKSIDE%20LIVING%20ROOM.jpg (broken link)

Waste of space.

My guess is that when builders perform market research, people's responses are affected by their images of what a home should be like (television).


Same with the realtor calling a backyard "an entertainer's dream" to take advantage of a prospective buyer's vision of a big entertainer.

"I can picture me...."
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Old 05-17-2009, 11:30 AM
 
Location: southwestern PA
22,261 posts, read 47,190,693 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles View Post
Ninety five percent of people use their formal dining room about four times a year.

Can you cite a credible source for that?


Here in western PA, separate dining rooms - whether they are formal or informal - are still very much the norm.

We use ours a lot, and we would not consider a house that did not have a separate dining room.
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Old 05-17-2009, 02:34 PM
 
878 posts, read 2,726,797 times
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I am somewhat torn on this...while I may only use mine 4 times a year...I would never buy a home without one...so take that for what it's worth.
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