If you’re interested in building a new home in 2019, you’re no doubt feeling equal parts stressed and excited. After all, it’s great fun designing or choosing the house plans for your new property and picturing how it will look and feel once it has been built.
However, building property is also costly, time-consuming and can get stressful if things don’t go to plan. You also want to be able to sell the property easily and for maximum price in the future, if and when the time comes.
One way to ensure you minimize your post-construction worries and regrets is to think about as many of the elements you’ll want and need in the house over the years before the work actually starts. Read on for some of the top factors to consider to help ensure your money is well spent and that you get to enjoy many long years of happy home life.
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Plenty of Storage Space
First up, something that most homeowners get frustrated by in their properties is a lack of storage space. These days we accumulate a huge amount of stuff, after all, so the more storage space you can incorporate into your home, the better.
Since you can never have too much storage, look at putting in walk-in closets in all the bedrooms; one or more large-sized linen closets; a walk-in pantry (and potentially a butler’s pantry); and lots of usable cupboards and drawers and shelves in your kitchen. It’s also helpful to make use of dead space, like that underneath stairs, to add more storage. In addition, put in storage options in your garage to help keep tools, exercise equipment, and other bits and pieces organized and well out of the way.
Flexibility in the Way Rooms Can Be Used
Next, while you’ll be designing your home the way you want it right now, keep in mind that your needs can and likely will change over the years. As a result, it’s important to build a new house that provides flexibility in the way rooms can be used.
This is not only handy for you and your family, but it will also help you to sell the property if the time comes because the layout and style will work for multiple needs and suit a broader range of people and how they like to live.
To give you an idea of what to think about, look at incorporating rooms that can serve as either guest bedrooms, playrooms for kids, craft rooms for adults, gyms or a home office. By adding a window and some storage in these spaces, and keeping rooms a decent size, this will allow more flexibility.
Enough Electrical Outlets and Smart-Home Features
Now that we live in such a technological world and are constantly using tech devices and smart-home products in so many rooms of the house, it’s necessary to make buildings tech-friendly. Ensure your home has enough electrical outlets — usually at least two in each room, so there is the ability to plug in and recharge numerous devices at once, like cell phones, tablets, laptops, and music systems.
You also need to incorporate electrical outlets for flat-screen TVs. Whether you set up equipment yourself or hire someone to come in and do it for you, such as this Washington TV mounting service, you’ll want power points to be situated on walls for easy access, so you don’t require the use of unsightly extension cords.
When building a new home, you’ll also want to think about incorporating smart-home systems. Today many homeowners like to have all-in-one electronics systems set into walls to control things like lights, curtains, door locks, temperature, alarm systems, cameras, smoke detectors etc. It’s generally easier and less expensive to have these fitted at the time the home is built than down the track.
Sustainable Features
Sustainable features are another must. Whether you want to have an energy-efficient design to save money or the planet or both, this is something to think about at the design and build stages. There are lots of ways to reduce energy consumption in the home: double pane windows, ample insulation, LED lighting, appliances with good energy ratings and solar power.
Sustainability can also come into play with regards to the types of materials you use in your home. Reduce your environmental footprint by utilizing reclaimed materials, for instance, like wooden flooring, doors, beams, windows, and other fittings and fixtures. There are also new materials made with the environment in mind, such as bamboo options or products manufactured in a carbon-neutral way.
