How to Determine Wants Vs. Needs in Your New Construction Home

As a new homebuyer, you are no doubt considering the most important features and amenities to choose for your new home. Oftentimes, the best way to decide between what you want (but can live without) and what you truly need can be done by listing your top concerns, defining them as either a want or a need and then making your decision from there.

If you’re like most folks preparing to buy a house, some of your top concerns are location, layout, number of bedrooms, kitchen size, essential amenities, master suite options and a home office. Here are a few strategies for putting these features and amenities into perspective so that you can prioritize what you want concerning what you need.

How Important is the Location of Your New Home?

For many people, buying a house in an ideal location is an essential need — as it is very important to live near work, within top school districts and close to relatives. If these or other similar reasons have you shopping for new construction homes in Montgomery County PA, Hallmark Homes Group specializes in high-quality neighborhoods full of gorgeous, newly-built residential properties that you might be interested in.

Open Floor Plan – Want or Need?

Certain aspects of your home’s layout can be defined as necessities, such as the number of bedrooms for each family member and having enough overall space for the size of your family. If a large great room for gatherings and daily activities is important to you, an open-concept floor plan, which combines all of the shared areas into one dynamic space could be considered a need as well. Additional features such as vaulted ceilings and a basement rec room could be classified as “wants” if you know you’ll be fine without them.

Larger Kitchen – Want or Need?

If preparing numerous daily meals and having family dinner every night is important to you, a large kitchen with plenty of counter space and room to move around is certainly a need. This feature is common in open-concept designs, especially those offered by Hallmark. Many of our new construction home designs feature spacious kitchens which overlap into the great room and dining areas — offering plenty of room for cooking, gathering and quality group time.

Owners Suite – Want or Need?

Many buyers look forward to purchasing a home that will reward all of their hard work with a quiet, private place for some true relaxation. If this is you, a lavish owner’s suite is a need rather than a want. If you suppose you might enjoy a spa-like master bath, private sitting room and plenty of square footage for relaxation — but you are pretty sure you can do without all of that — this amenity is more of a want than a need.

Home Office – Want or Need?

If you are an independent business owner, an entrepreneur or working in any number of careers that allow you to work from home, a home office should be considered a need. If you work outside the home but you think a study might be nice for nights and weekends, this feature could be considered more of a want.

Think it Over

Essential amenities and extra features can require some practical decision-making. For example, a two-car garage, laundry room, dishwasher and walk-in pantry could be considered needs. Meanwhile, a lavish owner’s suite, patio hot tub, vaulted ceilings and walk-in closets may fall more under the “I want it but I can live without it” category. These decisions may require a family discussion, but in some cases, you may be able to get all the features you desire.

Hallmark Can Help you Have Everything You Want and Need in Your New Home

Deciding what features and amenities your future home will include is an important part of the buying process. Contact us to learn more about properties that can include every feature you need, as well as the amenities you want.