A.D. Cantelmo Property Management
Our Business is Property Management in Orange County California
Making wasted space in a home useful
I was reading an article about how developers have found
that if they raise the ceilings in a condo from the normal 8 feet to a higher
10, 12 or more feet, that people will pay a premium for the condo. It is not
surprising since a higher ceiling gives the impression of a large room, even
though the square footage has not changed. I have written before about the
misunderstanding of square feet in a home, "Is square footage as important as people think" and this is a great example of it.
Wasted Space
Most homes have a tremendous amount of wasted space that if
used properly can make a big difference in the look and feel of the home. There
are many tract homes out there that may look the same from the blueprint, but
if you look around, you will see some differences depending on who framed it.
For example, I have found homes that under the stairs have a closet space, but
you can go next door to the same model and find there is no closet. The framers
for one home, made the space useful and the other framers hid it behind the
wall. There are so many ways this type of small design change can make a difference
in the use of wasted space and raising the ceiling is just another option
developers have.
Wasting space is cost effective
Of course the reason that this space is wasted is cost. It
is much easier and cost effective to wall in extra space then finish it. Let’s
use the closet as an example. If you make the space a closet, you need to
finish the inside with drywall and also make a door frame and a door. If you
wall in the space with no closet, you save the material cost and also the labor
cost. Do this on 200 homes in the tract and you can see how much money can be
saved.
Making space profitable
Take the ceiling example and as the developers have found out,
you can charge a premium for the units with higher ceilings, so it makes the
use of that space profitable for the developers, so it is advantageous to use that space. I don’t think the closet
space will be able to bring in any extra money, so that perk is just the luck
of the draw for the home buyer.
The use of extra space will probably be left to the
homeowner to find after the purchase and they better get a professional opinion
before they start tearing up the walls and removing any studs. You don’t want
to have the house fall in on you by removing anything that is a vital part of
the structure. But to be sure, there is a lot of extra space in every home that
can be put to good use.
A.D. Cantelmo Property
Management Specializes in Property Management in Orange County
Ca.