plandesign

Features, Size and Site

Look beyond the obvious to see how your new home will fit your family's
lifestyle.

1. What does this home offer that you don't have now?
Easy answers might include better storage, more bedrooms and bathrooms,
or space for entertaining friends. But look beyond the obvious to see how
the home will fit -- and improve -- your lifestyle. Maybe the great-room will
offer family-activities space that is lacking in your current home, and the
home office will mean fewer late evenings at work, giving more time for
family fun. The main-level master suite and laundry room will decrease
stair climbing. A larger garage might accommodate that boat you've always
wanted.

2. Will this home be big enough, or too big, in five or 10 years?
Regardless of your current stage of life, a home that is just the right
size now won't necessarily be just right in the future. A flexible house plan
allows you to convert spaces as needs change. A playroom can become a
bedroom when another child is born. A child's bedroom can become a den
or sewing room later. If a home office has an adjoining bath, it can be used
as a suite for overnight guests, provide housing for an aging parent, or
become your main-level master suite in later years.

3. Does the home's design coordinate with your proposed building site?
Home designers always recommend that you have a site before you select a
plan. This allows you to compare the home with features of the lot and to
envision how the home will sit. If the lot is narrow and deep, a wide,
shallow home probably isn't the best choice. In some areas, zoning and
regulations may limit the height of a house, or govern the minimum and
maximum home size in terms of a percentage of the total lot size.

Views, Neighborhood and Design

When selecting a plan, pay close attention to how it will work on your
building site -- you don't want to miss views like this one!

4. Are there windows where you want the best views, and which rooms will
get morning and evening sun?
Having your lot before selecting a home plan also lets you examine where
sunlight strikes the site. Compare this information to the placement of
windows in the plan to ensure the design will take advantage of the best
views, block views that are undesirable, put morning and evening light
where it's most needed, and prevent excessive heat gain. Windows can
usually be moved or resized if necessary, but care has to be taken to retain
the appearance and structural integrity of the building.

5. Will this home fit in with surrounding homes?
Nobody wants to live in a home exactly like the one next door, but you
should make sure the design of the plan you choose fits the neighborhood.
This applies whether you're building in a new neighborhood or in an older
area with established homes. Subdivisions may have covenants that
establish acceptable home styles for the area, so check regulations before
you purchase a plan. Also think about the size of the home relative to others
in the neighborhood. A home that is out-of-scale with its neighbors --
whether too small or too large -- will look as out of place as a glass-walled
contemporary house in an older neighborhood.

6. Will extensive changes be required to make the house you want, or might
a custom design be better?
Every home plan goes through some changes to meet local building codes,
to match the style of a particular neighborhood, or to suit individual needs
and tastes. Changes such as modifying the facade or adding a garage stall
are usually relatively easy, and most home plan companies can quote prices
for making these changes. In theory, you can change dimensions of
individual rooms or the whole house. Just be prepared to pay considerably
more for a custom plan.

Rooms, Amenities, Decor and Hobbies

Consider how much space you will want for specific uses and how much
room you'll need for furniture.

7. Are the rooms you'll use the most sized appropriately?
When reviewing a plan, don't just look at the room sizes. Think about
rooms in terms of their total percentage of the home's square footage. Just
multiply the length of a room by its width, and then divide by the home's
total square footage. For example, a large master suite can take up 20
percent of the space in a home, which is fine if you use the space for more
than sleeping, such as to house workout equipment or a reading area. But if
you rarely spend time there, consider modifying the plan to convert some of
that area into a more functional space, or look for a plan with a smaller
master suite.

8. Are amenities more important than the size of the home?
Generally speaking, your home-building dollars buy either space or
amenities. You have to decide which is more important. The temptation is
to take your overall home-building budget and divide it by an average per-
square-foot cost to yield the total square footage you can afford. But
remember that an average cost will get you average amenities and finishes.
If you want a higher level of either, you'll have to enlarge your budget or
decrease the size of the house.

9. Will the home's level of openness work with your tastes in decorating?
Eclectic decorating styles can work in almost any floor plan, but not all
styles are so forgiving. If your themes are consistent from room to room, an
open floor plan will be fine. Varied furniture styles or a preference for
using many colors may make a more traditional floor plan with separate
rooms a better choice. At the very least, you should consider how your
furniture and decorating preferences can blend into the plan you are
evaluating.

10. Are there spaces for special-interest rooms, such as hobby areas or
exercise rooms?
As you're figuring out the types and sizes of spaces within your home,
remember the fun stuff. If you like to read, include a book nook. Add a
third garage bay to house a workshop or potting bench. A trend in home
design is to include a family activity center where everyone can pursue
hobbies. If budgets are tight, consider having specialty spaces built but left
unfinished for now. It's more economical than remodeling later.

You may never find a single plan that incorporates all of your needs. With
thousands of plans to choose from, though, an organized search will help
you get close. Then you can have changes made to create a home that is
just right for you.

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Generation X Powers New Home Design Trends
by Dena Amoruso
Courtesy of Realty Times

Riding the not-so-distant coattails of the Baby Boom generation are the
members of Generation X, a home-buying force with which to be reckoned,
according to demographic research.

Spawned somewhere between 1965 and the late 1970s, the Gen X'er group
is much less concerned with formality and impressing others than previous
generations. Instead, group members prefer living wherever, whenever and
however they want, making homebuilders realize that new home designs
must be more flexible than in the past.

What's new and different? A study of almost 8,800 Gen X'ers done for
Builder Magazine shows that:

Half of the Gen X group already owns their own homes, and although most
don't live alone, they are not necessarily married to the person with whom
they share living space.

This group can be a study in contradictions; admitting that they would
sacrifice for home ownership by brown-bagging and eating out less
frequently, but preferring plenty of restaurants nearby.

Although they value family, they would much rather use a third or fourth
bedroom for a home office than for more sleeping space.

Formal living and dining rooms don't make sense to Gen X’ers.

Highest on their list of priorities are abundant counter space in their
kitchens, lots of storage and closet space, good energy efficiency (with
passive solar designs), high-speed Web access, and a large yard.

House hunters of the Gen X generation could well be regarded as motivated
consumers, experiencing homeowner ship at younger ages than even their
Boomer parents did, according to the annual "State of the Nation's
Housing" report published by Harvard University's Joint Center for
Housing Studies.

Gen X'ers likely buy homes earlier because they have a higher proportion of
two-income households. In fact, many of these home buyers become
homeowners shortly upon finishing their educations. Further research
reveals that Gen X often get a jump-start from their better-heeled parents,
experiencing "wealth transfers" long before estates and inheritance taxes
are a part of the discussion.

Bruce Tulgan, author of Winning the Talent Wars and president of
Connecticut-based RainmakerThinking, a research firm that studies the
work habits of Gen X'ers, says this is a generation that doesn't want to be
'sold.'

"You've got to be straight with them. They are the most media-savvy
generation in history," he says.

Tulgan describes his group as a boundary-less bunch, who want to treat
their home as their headquarters. They are fiercely independent and very
serious about work, which is why home must also be career friendly.

"Gen X'ers are building on trends that were occurring just as they came
into adulthood, " Tulgan explains, "at a time of some of the most profound
changes in society, the economy, and culture since the Industrial
Revolution. Baby Boomers may boast about 'living through it' but Gen
X'ers actually like it this way."

The first generation to regard use of computers as casually as the telephone
or refrigerator, Gen X members use the Web for the flexibility it offers; the
freedom from having to make appointments, as a way to avoid sitting
through endless meetings in stuffy conference rooms, and for the ability to
make better use of their limited free time.

As to housing preferences, they want that freedom as well. No room will go
unused, but they will not permit homebuilders to pre-determine their needs.

"They are menu-driven," said Tulgan. "That means that they prefer to be
given choices from the general to the specific in everything, just like on a
Web page's drop-down menu. And if they truly think they need it, they will
pay for it."

Tulgan points out that Gen Xers, referred to as "maximizers”, want the
most for their time, money and experience, as well as the space in their
homes. "If that means the trade-off between a dining room that may be
used three times a year and that same space being used for a TV, VCR and
treadmill, then so be it, " says Tulgan.

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