Why We Love Our Kitchens
When I first started in real Estate,
I would show property and the Kitchen was always the first and seemingly the
most important room that people gravitated to. It confused me, because in my
opinion, few people cook anymore, at least the way they used to. You would
think that the family room or den would be the most important room, but the
kitchen remains the big winner.
Some so called experts would dispute
my claim that the kitchen is the most important room in the house. I was
reading an article that said when selling a home, a roof or other maintenance
is more important than the kitchen remodel, But I have to say, yes people are
interested in the roof, they obviously don’t want to have to replace a roof
after buying a home, but a roof will rarely be the selling point of a home. In my business of Property Management in Orange County Ca. I deal with renters
on a daily basis, and they never think about a roof unless it leaks on their
head, but a kitchen can be the reason a home will sell or rent.
I would never recommend doing any
kind of remodel just to sell or rent a home. I think you should only put this
type of expenditure in your home for
your own enjoyment, but in my opinion as a Real Estate Broker and a General
Contractor and with my years of building and selling homes, to me there is no
question that a Kitchen can make or break the sale or rental of a home.
If you think about it, you can see
why, even if people don’t cook like they used to, the kitchen is a place that
families and visitors like to hang out. Everyone is always milling around the
kitchen, getting a snack, or making coffee. When you get up in the morning,
after the bathroom the kitchen is the next stop. More conversations probably
take place in the kitchen then in any other room.
The kitchen is the hub of the home. Whenever
you go to a party in someone’s home the kitchen is always standing room only,
it just seems natural to gravitate to the kitchen; it may be in our DNA as
humans. Even our pets love the kitchen. The Kitchen also takes on many other
forms, it is often used as a family office or because the kitchen usually has
the most lighting in the house it can become a reading room, some people have a
TV in the kitchen. Let’s face it, WE LOVE OUR KITCHENS. Kitchens are the
happiest room in the home. When you are in the den or family room most of the
time people are watching television so if you want to talk you get shut down,
but no one tells you to “SHUT UP” in the kitchen.
Being in Property Management
in Orange County California I go into quite a few homes and in just about every
kitchen there is a drawer that has everything from Aspirin to Screwdrivers to
rubber bands and all kinds of tape and just about everything else you can think
of. The kitchen is the everything room and the best part is, that’s where the
food is!
Maybe the experts are correct, that
you should not invest in the kitchen and expect to recoup the money you spend
on the sale of the home, but I would say that if you want to have a great
kitchen for you and your family to enjoy, go for it! Maybe the real reason we
love the kitchen, is we remember when we were younger and cooking was more common than it is today,
we remember the great smell of breakfast or dinner coming from this room in the
house. It brought us so much comfort and we just felt good in the kitchen. Whatever the reason the one thing is clear, WE LOVE OUR KITCHENS!