What are buyers looking for? From mundane to gadgets.

November 20, 2008

Just today I came across an ad for a garage lift (Garage Lift) showing how you can park two cars in a single car garage with the help of a nifty lift that tucks one car away in the basement. Supposedly saves you money from building an additional garage…Knowing my luck, I’d crush the car on top trying to get mine out from the basement! I can see where it might be a valuable addition to homes with a tight footprint in high cost areas, but for most of us with the luxury of ample lot space, a double car garage is the much more easy alternative!

Kitchens and baths are still extremely important. Kitchens that can double as a living space are incredibly popular. It’s difficult to cram party goers into an 8x8 foot space while you finish up cooking the appetizers. Updated appliances make cooking easy and fast. I built a new home a few years ago and I wouldn’t trade my Advantium microwave/halogen oven for anything – same goes for my induction cook top. Having set fire to my previous kitchen I appreciate the fact that nothing will burn on the cook top! However, guests who bring over a ceramic saucepan with their potluck are a little bemused as to why my stove doesn’t work for them but it works for me – “Magic!” I say.

Buyers are looking for bright, inviting kitchens, with plenty of space for all the gadgets they’ve accumulated over the years. Many cooks drool over walk in pantries and space for a matching fridge and freezer. Solid surface counters are still one of the most desirable features, but now there are other options such as composite granite, cork, stainless steel to choose from. Islands are starting to look like furniture and freezer, refrigerator and warming drawers still remain popular, and are even migrating out of the kitchen into other areas of the house. I wish I’d gone with a warming drawer instead of a heated towel rack in my bathroom – the rack only warms the section of the towel it touches. Hardly worth turning on in the morning. And talking of bathrooms - over 50% of Japenese now have some kind of water washing toilets. Charmin beware. You can find these nifty toilet seats on Amazon for less than $500 - it's worth watching the promotional videos! (Toto Washlet)

Many buyers appreciate good lighting – from well designed artificial light to energy efficient windows that let in sun and open the home to views. Other improvements are integrated sound, ipod docks and of course, home theaters. With motorized screens, projector lifts and darkening shades, it is possible to combine a living space with a home theater with a flip of a button. During the day, a formal living room – by night a ground shaking cinema showing the latest Indiana Jones movie!

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Local Information for Virginia Beach, VA

Latitude: 36.834498 -- Longitude: -76.087179

Other Area Cities: Chesapeake Portsmouth Virginia Beach Norfolk

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Virginia Beach is an independent city located in the South Hampton Roads area in the Commonwealth of Virginia, on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the 39th largest city in the US, with a total population of 447,000.[1] It is the third largest suburban city in the United States after Long Beach, California, and the fourth largest in North America. Like a few other cities in the US, Virginia Beach consists of an area more traditionally defined as a county, as the southern half consists largely of rural areas, farmland and marshes. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Virginia 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Virginia Beach	Virginia	United States
Population	425,257	7,078,515	281,421,906
Median age	32.7	35.7	35.3
Median age for Male	31.3	34.5	34
Median age for Female	34.1	36.8	36.5
Households	154,455	2,699,173	105,480,101
Household population	417,574	6,847,117	273,643,273
Average household size	2.7	2.54	2.59
Families	110,953	1,847,796	71,787,347
Average family size	3.14	3.04	3.14
Housing units	162,277	2,904,192	115,904,641
Occupied units	154,455	2,699,173	105,480,101
Vacant units	7,822	205,019	10,424,540

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