| Looking at Homes with a Fresh Eye | June 16th, 2007 |
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The right home can make you feel inspired, enriched, and touched by a sense of order. While snazzy flooring, custom paint and professional staging can wow a home buyer, sometimes it’s worth digging a little deeper into a home’s design to understand how it can shape your feelings and experiences. If you are going to open houses this weekend, here are a four fresh ways for you to look at the homes you visit: 1. Picture yourself coming home— If you’re viewing a condo, visualize your journey up the elevator and down the hall. If it’s a single family, then pay attention to how it feels coming through the back door, since that’s the one you’ll probably be using the most. Architects and designers frequently miss this point. I grew up in a custom-built home that took your breath away when walked through the front door. But the back door, which we used the most, forced us through a dead-ugly utility room before we could get to the rest of the house. 2. Review traffic flow Walk from the front door to the back door, through the various rooms and think about furniture placement. Your trajectory should lead you along the edges of the main rooms and easily move you to the private rooms. If your path forces you through the middle of the living areas, you will feel a sense of discomfort. Is your price range putting you into a home that’s tight on square footage? Consider bringing multiple uses to hallways and connecting spaces with shelving, or window seats. I also like spotlighting hallway walls for art. 3. How does it look and feel to really live there Consider your vantage points. What will you see when you sit on the sofa? How does it look when you stand at the sink and turn your head in either direction? What you see through a home’s windows is also important. While San Francisco homes generally don’t offer the perfect view from every room, a bit of greenery or a pleasant outlook through at least some of the home’s openings can help considerably. When shopping for condos, I encourage buyers to pay attention to how the unit relates to others in the building. Depth of perspective through the windows and/or outlook that includes some landscaping will be an advantage upon resale. 4. Realistically consider your lifestyleMy last house had dreary outlooks onto the street from the living and dining rooms– but I didn’t care, because when company came over it was usually in the evening when no one could see the streetscape anyway. When I was home during the day, most of my time was spent in my bedroom reading or working in my office—these rooms had the best views of the back yard and Buena Vista Park. Room proportion is also a consideration. Some of my clients are focused on private spaces and want big bedrooms. Others are big on entertaining and are willing to sacrifice bedroom size for a large living/dining/kitchen area. *********************************************** This Sunday (June 17) I will be holding open 988 Fulton, #244, a two-bedroom, two-bath Alamo Square condo that feels great to come home to. Its courtyard setting has a large fountain surrounded by greenery. Detached on three sides, the floor plan offers generously proportioned bedrooms, and nice Eastern views. The price is right too, at $698,000. This listing started at a higher price a few weeks ago. Since it got dropped below the $700K threshold it’s awash in activity. Offers are due Wednesday. If you’d like to talk some more about how to look at a home (or get your home ready to show its best), please call or email me. I’m always happy to share ideas and information. |
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Hello My Favorite People!A New Way To Look At Homes For Sale. . .