Features You'll Find In New Homes Today

You may be hard-pressed to actually find a home with the amenities that make up your dream home in your head.  If you've been dreaming up a brand new home with an outdoor kitchen and expansive master bathroom with a whirlpool tub, you may want to keep reading.In pre-recession days, home developers pried away these luxurious amenities from new homes, and today developers have consciously decided to skip the frilly features and are opting for efficient, organized and pragmatic ones instead.  Keep reading to find out the features you'll find in new homes today and why older ones were replaced.  Click this link to read the full article.

"Ten years ago we were talking about outdoor kitchens with a fancy wine rack," says Stephen Melman, director of economic services at the National Association of Home Builders. "Now we're talking about a closet. It's not sexy, but that's what people want."The NAHB surveyed nearly 400 builders earlier this year about the features they were most and least likely to include in homes and communities in 2015. In addition to outdoor kitchens, outdoor fireplaces, sunrooms, main-level carpeting, and media rooms are on the decline. On the rise: walk-in closets, laundry rooms, energy-efficient windows and appliances, and programmable thermostats—yes, there is a green theme. It's all about efficiency, both of time and resources."If a working couple is trying to get out of the house in the morning, they need a walk-in closet in the master bedroom, they need a laundry room that's well-lit and well-organized," Melman says. "That's how they improve the efficiency of the household, find clothes, get organized, and hide the clutter. Do they need a whirlpool or do they need a walk-in closet with a skylight?"Melman says that even as the economy (at least in some sectors) continues to improve, buyers are fixated on comfort and affordability. It's part of a postrecession cultural shift toward pragmatism. We're not settling; we've merely changed our expectations for new homes, and homebuilders have adjusted their creations accordingly, appealing to a segment that's willing to forgo a two-story foyer or family room to get a better price.