by Meg Dehn

If you’ve spent any time in the last 3-4 years looking at new homes, you have surely noticed that the sizes of new homes have slowly decreased.  It makes one ponder the question, are the Mc Mansions slowly becoming a home of the past?  Don’t misinterpret me; I think large homes will always have a market share in most regions, but that market share has declined.  Quoted from Builder Magazine, November 2009, “Even for those who can afford them, trophy homes constitute an image problem at a time when modesty has become fashionable.  One recent CNNMoney.com poll asked more than 33,000 online readers if they thought American homes had gotten too big; 69 percent said yes.”

At Mega Homes, we’ve always concentrated on designing homes that use every inch of the space; trying to avoid rarely used rooms by creating “flex space” and doing away with long hallways and oversized rooms that are simply wasted square footage.  This design philosophy has been popular with our customer niche, but in the past not all buyer’s recognize the value of well planned space. However, with the changes in the economy, it seems that most individuals do much soul searching as to what is truly important in life.  Housing costs and therefore home sizes seem to be one of the biggest areas of reflection.  Now more buyer’s are looking for homes that are designed around their family’s lifestyles.

If you are in the market for a new or used home, keep these things in mind:

• What spaces does your family use most of the time?
• What rooms could your family do without?
• Are there two rooms in your current home that could be combined as one; such as a guest room and computer room? 
• When designing and building a new home, be sure you consider a “Bonus Room” above the garage.  This space is so valuable!  You can add 300-400 square feet for well under $20,000 when designed correctly.  And this space can be used in many different ways as your family’s needs change through the years.
• In your current home, are there rooms with misplaced windows and doors that cause chaos when trying to furnish that room?  Watch for this when designing or buying your new home.
• How much time does your family spend outdoors?  The warm weather months in Minnesota are deeply cherished.  Consider setting aside a portion of your budget to create comfortable and well designed outdoor space; whether it be a screened porch, a partially covered courtyard, an outdoor kitchen or bar…  the ideas are endless!

No matter what the size of the home you are pursuing, using ALL the space well is integral.  Why throw money away on something you’ll never use?