The answer depends mostly on how you live and who you are sharing your home with. However, there are a few tips that can help jump start the process of figuring out what you REALLY want.

As Realtors, we've seen and heard it all. What you love about your home and what you hate. Over the last 15 years, I not only help people protect their wealth by making a sound real estate investment, I help them find a place that lives the way they live.

Do you know which type of floor plan gets the most complaints about noise travel? What is the most important room in your home is besides the Kitchen and Master Suite? Where is the worst place to locate a half bathroom on the main floor? What upgrades are worth doing now and which can be done later for less?

Let's start your process by answering the questions above.

Many people love the idea of an open floor plan but is there such thing as too open? Absolutely. In the mid 2000's, builders could not build enough 5 Level Split homes. They were in high demand not only for its size and lower price per square foot cost to build, but the two-story Great Room and open Kitchen were attributes sought after and still are today. However, if you plan on living with more than one person you may want to shy away from the open stairwell also known as the "catwalk". The open handrails or in some cases, "half wall" allow noise to travel from the Great Room & Kitchen to the bedrooms; and if you have little ones sleeping, it can be very hard to function in the heart of the house when they are sleeping.

In my opinion, the most important room in the house other than the Kitchen and Master Suite is the place you have been missing…….the place where you can come in and drop your things. This used to called the mud room but is now often called the "locker room" as it is popular nowadays to have built-in open lockers for each member of the family to place their belongings when they walk in the door.

Now, I usually tell my kids to keep the potty talk for the potty, but I will make an exception in this case. Let's talk bathrooms. A bathroom on the main floor which is the bathroom likely to be used by a guest visiting your home is best located near the front door and accessed from the hallway. No one wants to use a bathroom accessed from the Kitchen or main living area…think about it. If you are someone that enjoys entertaining, keep in mind where bathroom #2 might be located. You don't want people to have to go through a bedroom to get to bathroom. In a two-story home, bathroom #2 is best located at the top of the stairs. It can still have another door for direct access to a bedroom if that is important to you.

If you are building a home and not sure you have enough money to get everything you want, scrap the plans to have the builder finish the basement, but DO have them add full bathroom rough-ins. It is much cheaper to have the builder add the plumbing for the bathroom in the building process than it is for you to do it later. If you are looking for an existing home with a finished basement, you may be missing out on some great homes. With all the crafty ways to finish a basement these days, this may be one area you can save a little money on. One of my favorite ways to finish a basement is to install can lights in the unfinished ceiling (floor joists) and then paint it in black matte (using a spray machine). You will have access to all your mechanicals and it will give you a trendy warehouse feel. Drywall the walls, and lay down some waterproof LVT (laminated vinyl tile) that looks like real wood and you've got a sharp playroom/rec room/media room without breaking the bank.

For more tips and help figuring out what floor plan and amenities are best for the way you live, contact me for a no obligation conversation. I'd love to help you any way I can.