Especially when it comes to the master bathroom, buyers want them to be luxurious, reported Mitchell Hochberg, president of Spectrum Skanska in Valhalla, the home-building and development division of Skanska, a Swedish company.
That means two bathroom sinks, a large amount of counter space (with marble), a whirlpool tub and a separate shower that is equipped with several shower heads. Hochberg said the large, spalike bathrooms were particularly appealing to empty-nester buyers who were "scaling down in total square meters but not in the size or quality of the major rooms."
"Often the empty-nesters are moving out of the older house where they raised their children, and now they want everything new and modern and beautiful," said Hochberg, who is building 54 luxury attached homes at Terra Nova in Westport, Conneticut, and 110 attached and detached houses at Mansion Ridge in Monroe, NewYork "Especially in the master bedroom suite and the kitchen, they want all the bells and whistles."
Master bedroom closets have also taken on new importance and new personalities with today's home buyers, the builders said, noting that most buyers expect at least two large walk-in closets in the master bedroom.
In Pleasantville, Joe Schneider, the owner of Closets Plus, who builds and designs closets and other home storage areas for builders and homeowners, said one customer recently spent US$20,000 for a master bedroom closet. She said she preferred spending the money for the closet over spending it on bedroom furniture.
Schneider said many buyers prefer to have just a bed and an entertainment center in the bedroom and to build drawers in the closet. Some homeowners even want a refrigerator in the closet so they can dress and eat breakfast at the same time, Schneider said. They also want closets with safes, lockable jewelry boxes with tarnish resistant liners, chandeliers and tie racks for up to 500 ties. "The closets," he explained, "have become rooms in themselves."
Garages, too, have become bigger and grander in new homes, said Doynow in Scarsdale. Three-car garages are becoming standard, he said, and it is not unusual for buyers to want garages large enough for five or more cars. In general, he said, the size of the garage is proportional to the cost of the new home.
RSS