An article I read recently on
How Stuff Works listed ten things first-time homebuyers want, but don't need. They advise going over your wish-list of home features with your agent to make sure it makes sense for the money spent and for practicality.
And while what they listed weren't bad considerations, I found myself disagreeing with them in many cases - I think largely because of what must have been their mental image and mine of the same features. It's one thing to get a reality check if you think that, say, putting money into homes with pools is going to pay off down the road, given cost of maintenance and insurance/liability issues, but it's quite another to decide that you need to give up what you want just because it won't yield big bucks. Even the most average house with no perks suffered in the housing crash - whatever you spend on a house, you risk not recouping. So giving up everything for a bland home you won't truly enjoy simply for resale is just as big a mistake, in my opinion.
With that, their list:
A Big Yard
The argument against that they give is maintenance, with an eye toward the highly-maintained green carpet-like lawns and extravagant landscape. Both of which, they say, are not kid friendly. Okay, I'd agree with that. But it's a huge jump to go "magazine-manicured-and-landscaped-lawns-are-not-kid-friendly" to "don't get a big yard". Postage-stamp yards aren't all that kid friendly either. Just be realistic about what you'll be able to do with the yard. Just because you won't have an authentic English garden doesn't mean you can't have a flower bed with perennial bulbs and a mowed lawn. A tip you'll see over and over in gardening magazines - know what works in your area, and work with that - that'll give the most bang for the buck AND for the time. But that said, if you love it, why the heck not?? As long as you are doing it because you love it, and not because you think you'll get $$$$ out of it for resale.
A Home Theater
The big argument here is against the cost of putting one in, and the likelihood of having buyers later who will shell out the $$ to recoup. And as above, what they seem to be picturing is the big built-in with the specialized seating and projection system, etc. But a homeowner could get something close with darkening curtains (maybe even staying pulled back behind lighter ones during the day) and a surround sound system, with whatever TV you can afford. And? You get to take the TV and surround sound system WITH YOU, and when you're not watching a movie, the room is in use as your family room.
IF you go for a dedicated home theater with the dedicated stuffs, the article STILL assumes that you're doing it all-out with a huge room that will never be usable for anything else ever again. A nearly-normal-sized room can, when it comes time to sell, be fitted with a couple of chairs or daybed, or an inexpensive desk, and be marketed as a guest room or home office. Heck, if it's your basement - easy room to keep dark - then strip the stuff out. A finished basement with potential is not a bad thing.
As above, again, just don't expect to put one in and have it as a big draw for buyers later. Do it because you yourself love it.
A Fireplace
Arguments against here are the maintenance, dead space during the summer, and the fact that a traditional fireplace won't really warm a room much (since much of the heat goes out the chimney). Bah. As long as you are willing to have it cleaned, then go for it. Newer options, especially, DO actually allow for heating - granted, these are typically gas fireplaces, but they retain much of the appeal of a traditional one. Ditto a modern wood-burning stove.
(and seriously, arguing about the dead space inside a fireplace? Get a freaking screen. Or candles. Etc.)
Walk-In Humidor (or wine cellar, or...)
Because, you know, those are common on the first-time homebuyer's list. SERIOUSLY?
Stainless Steel Appliances
Okay, sorry. We're not talking avocado green or harvest gold here. And I do agree with them in their comment about wood-paneled appliances (the type that match/blend in with your cabinets), in that if your choice of cabinetry goes out of style, it will stick out more - but aren't most of those removable? If not, at any rate, I still stand by my comments about knowing what you're spending and not expecting it to necessarily get you money in the end. But I guess I see stainless steel as neutral enough that it's not going to stand out in the same way as a trendy color. And I see a difference between a kitchen with the standard appliances in stainless and a kitchen with the big hoods and an extra convection oven and other specialty appliances that add to the amount of stainless in the kitchen (the picture they chose for the article, of course, had one of those big oven hoods in stainless...). Most first-time-home kitchens are not going to SCREAM appliance color in that way.
Outdoor Kitchen
This one, they admit, can work if you keep it modest AND you're in a climate that allows for use most of the year. Otherwise, I'd imagine you could just as easily do with a nicer-model outdoor grill, patio or deck, and deck furnishings (vs. a built-in fireplace and such outside), which will be less costly and which you'll be able to take with you.
Formal Dining Room
They argue against, with money goiong toward other areas of the home, such as larger closets, etc., since most folks won't use it often. I'd just say to really know whether or not you'll use it. REALLY think about it. In our home, we have a separate dining room - but it's an older home, and we don't have another informal dining area attached to the kitchen, so the dining room is IT. So look at what the home offers, be realistic about whether or not you'll use it, and if you still really love it, go for it.
A Library or Sunroom
They argue that these have limited appeal. I disagree, depending on how they're set up. I think their vision of a library is wall-to-wall-to-wall built in bookcases, and their vision of a sunroom, something closer to what I'd call a conservatory - nearly an indoor greenhouse. I guess I don't see either of those rooms in that way. A library can easily become a home office or a kids' room - if the built-ins are not on every wall and are deep enough to handle some storage baskets or bins. A sunroom, if it isn't something more akin to a greenhouse, can do that outdoor-feeling-inside, especially with french doors or the like to be able to open into the yard or onto a deck or patio.
(So in this case, I think their vision of what a library or sunroom must be and mine must be rather different.)
Have to agree with them on one thing. They don't like those bump-out-greenhouse-windows either. :D Hee!
A Shed
Their argument against is that they can be an eyesore (depends on the shed, in my opinion), can be moldy/mildewy inside (again, depends on the shed), and it can advertise a lack of storage space inside. But really, if we're talking storing lawn/garden equipment, a maintained decent-looking shed can be perfect (I think, given their comment about sheds taking up lawn space, we're also thinking of different-sized yards - but then, they argued against the large yard, too. A small yard isn't going to need a hefty lawnmower, you know? And a larger yard isn't going to be overpowered by a shed).
Pools, Ponds, water features
Their arguments here are the amount of time and money that go into maintenance, as well as the insurance/liability issues from the possibility of drowning (since children can drown even in a small, shallow pond). I would simply say to know what you're getting into with the maintenance, have a talk with an insurance agent about insurability, and consider your own family makeup and your likely guests. Water features are not something to do as investment, I agree.
In all of these cases, their arguments have to do with a first time home and resale. My argument is this: Know your budget, know what you will REALLY use and not use, and then act accordingly. Again, we've seen how the market can bottom out and make even the most wisely-designed-for-resale home unsellable - so as long as you're not depending on getting all of that money back out of the home soon, then get what you will use and love. Better to be stuck in something you LIKE than in a home in which you gave up everything you wanted for some future resale date.
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