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 Bloomington, IN

Latitude: 39.162147 -- Longitude: -86.529045

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Bloomington (IPA: ['blum.i?.t?n]) is a city in south central Indiana. Located about 50 miles southwest of Indianapolis, it is the county seat of Monroe County. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the city had a total population of 69,291. Bloomington is the 7th largest city in Indiana. Bloomington is the home of Indiana University's flagship campus (established in 1820) attended by about 40,000 students and the largest and original campus of the Indiana University system. It is also the home of the Kinsey Institute. Bloomington's Indiana University campus is regarded as one of the most beautiful university campuses in the U.S. In 1991, Thomas Gaines, a landscape artist, published a book, The Campus As a Work of Art, and in it he named the Bloomington campus one of the five most beautiful campuses in America. Most of the campus buildings are built of Indiana limestone. Due to the presence of the university, Bloomington is more diverse demographically than is typical for the state. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Indiana 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Bloomington	Indiana	United States
Population	69,291	6,080,485	281,421,906
Median age	23.3	35.2	35.3
Median age for Male	23.5	33.9	34
Median age for Female	23	36.5	36.5
Households	26,468	2,336,306	105,480,101
Household population	55,286	5,902,331	273,643,273
Average household size	2.09	2.53	2.59
Families	10,454	1,602,501	71,787,347
Average family size	2.76	3.05	3.14
Housing units	28,400	2,532,319	115,904,641
Occupied units	26,468	2,336,306	105,480,101
Vacant units	1,932	196,013	10,424,540

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