Buy Enough Space for Future

Bob Todd rattles around his Spanish-style home, with its 4,400 square feet of living space. After all, how could a man living alone possibly use five bedrooms and five bathrooms?

“Frankly, I’m over-housed,” he said. Yet Todd is glad he made the move. He bought his house in 1995, when his neighborhood’s real estate market was hitting bottom, and his home has soared in value. At a time when more people want large homes, a two- or three-bedroom home in the same neighborhood would have gained less.

There is an increasing disconnect between the number of people living together and the amount of living space they choose when buying a house, said Todd, who manages 12 Re/Max Realty offices that he founded.

It’s not only families who want plenty of elbow room these days. Couples and singles also yearn to stretch out and create dedicated spaces for a variety of uses. People seek more space to compensate for their increasingly pressurized lifestyles, dominated by ringing phones, faxes and e-mail.

“Due to the speed of our lives and time compression, we want larger domains,” Todd said. “People don’t want their walls and ceilings pressing in on them.”

Many households seek not only more square feet of floor space but also more airspace, said Peter G. Miller, author of several real estate books. “Soaring ceilings are an architectural detail cherished by many Americans.”

Here are five suggestions for home buyers:

* Recognize the greater resale potential of a roomier home.

You may not have a yen for a spacious home, but you should recognize the increasing marketability of houses with extra square footage, especially to those who have children or other relatives living with them.

“When you own a big house and want to sell, you open up the family market,” Todd said.

When he began selling real estate 40 years ago, Todd said, a two-bedroom home with a single bathroom was considered sufficiently large for an average household. That’s no longer the case.

“Nowadays I highly recommend that no one buy less than a three- or four-bedroom home with at least two baths,” he said.

Of course, there are exceptions to this rule of thumb. It can still be a viable investment to purchase a two-bedroom condo-apartment or townhouse in a coveted city neighborhood. Yet even in those areas, many buyers hanker for larger rooms, including big kitchens, Todd said.

* Realize the multiplicity of uses for extra bedrooms.

Todd has found uses for each of the four bedrooms where he doesn’t sleep. One is as a computer room. One accommodates a pool table. The two others are guest rooms.

A major reason behind demand for larger houses is that home offices are becoming more desirable, even to those who still spend most of the week at a traditional office.

One couple (a doctor and a health-care administrator) bought a four-bedroom house in 1996. Although most days both commute to offices, the couple has two home offices in what was designed to be the master bedroom. They use the other three bedrooms as sleeping quarters for themselves, their 3-year-old daughter and kindergarten-age son.

* Understand that children now expect to have their own rooms.

Many children must still share bedrooms out of necessity. “But in our society, the preference is for children to have their own space,” Miller said.

Children like to express their individuality in furnishing their rooms, and more parents are encouraging them to do so. For example, Todd tells about two of his granddaughters. One has her room decorated in a funky cowhide theme, with all the furnishings in black and white. The other favors pastels and frilly fabrics.

* Consider future family size when buying a home.

Many married couples are spurred to leave a smaller house by the birth--or expected birth--of their first child. Yet they fail to envision the needs of future children. Buying a larger home each time a child is added to your family can prove very expensive in terms of transaction costs.

But you can plan ahead by asking your buyer’s agent to estimate how much it would cost to sell a home you’re anticipating buying. This figure could convince you of the wisdom of buying enough space for an expanding family, Todd said.

* Remember that home-size preferences are not always rational.

Miller remembers years ago visiting friends who owned a majestic home with more than 10,000 square feet of living space. The couple had decided to occupy just a few rooms on the first floor of their mansion. The rest of the space went unused.

Nevertheless, they thoroughly enjoyed the palatial residence and were proud to have overseen its renovation. “They were happy as punch living there,” Miller says.