Build For Your Lifestyle
2/15/13
Let your lifestyle be your guide
Consider what you enjoy when choosing your new home.
It might be that you want to live close enough to walk to town, or you dream about a kitchen and dining room ideal for dinner parties. Perhaps it’s the thought of someone else cutting the grass that sounds ideal.
Everyone’s lifestyle is a bit different. That is why new and custom homes are a great choice when you are ready to make a move.
Builders design homes and neighborhoods with their potential buyers in mind and try to consider all of the comforts and conveniences older homes may not offer. Many builders are also prepared to work with buyers to make further adjustments for a perfect fit.
What to consider?
How you live your life or would like to live your life should be a major consideration. For those planning for a family, school districts and backyard sizes are important. For others it’s considering retirement, including what hobbies and activities you’ve always wanted to pursue. Whether you want to travel and need a home that is easy to lock and leave or want to stay active and are looking for a community with a fitness center and pool.
Easy living
For those looking for a lifestyle that makes everyday living easier there are new options throughout the market. Wilcox Development, an Epcon Communities builder, offers several area communities all marketed toward people over 50. “Many of our buyers are reaching a point in their lives where they are looking to downsize; a multistory home is no longer a necessity or attractive option,” according to Ember Ferrantino, marketing coordinator for Wilcox Development Group, LLC.
The Hamptons of Hinsdale, owned by Inland Opportunity Fund LLC, which has partnered with Wheaton-based builder Next Generation Development, has a variety of new home choices to fit several different lifestyles. “There’s a vast difference in what appeals to each person,” explains Sam Tarara, broker at Koenig & Strey and sales manager for The Hamptons of Hinsdale. Condominiums in the development are drawing empty nesters starting a new chapter of their lives. “We help (buyers) through the idea of downsizing and how they are going to live that way,” Tarara says.
Four Seasons-Dream Homes in Belvidere are well-designed ranch homes in a picturesque setting.
In contrast, the Villa townhomes offer three floors of living space. The townhomes are luring former Hinsdale residents, interested in raising their own families, back to town.
Four Seasons-Dream Homes in Belvidere offers a manufactured home community. With a value price, these homes appeal to older adult buyers. The ranch-style homes are factory built in a controlled environment ensuring their energy efficiency. The price point allows residents to have a second home in a warmer climate, travel more, or live within a smaller budget.
For all of these communities, a maintenance-free lifestyle is a draw, not just for retirees, but busy families and professionals as well. “Maintenance-free living is great because it allows our buyers time to do what they love to do rather than the things they would have to do if they were living anywhere else,” Ferrantino says. “Rather than shoveling snow or cutting grass, homeowners can entertain friends, visit with family, or just spend time relaxing.“
All in the family
For some, building new means incorporating more than one generation under one roof. Whether it’s a young family including a grandparent or baby boomers with a college graduate returning to the nest. Many builders offer design options to accommodate these lifestyles with the idea of privacy in mind. Wilcox Development’s area homes are typically ranch-style and have the owner’s suites separate from guest suites for privacy, Ferrantino explains. They also offer the option of adding a second level separating living quarters further. In some cases bedrooms are situated in opposite ends of the home with common use spaces like kitchens and family rooms in the center.
Spacious kitchens such as this in a Wilcox Development home encourage entertaining and gathering with family and friends.
Make it your own
Everybody’s lifestyle, hobbies and pastimes are different so it doesn’t hurt to ask a builder if there is room for customization. Often builders will offer upgrades and options like hardwood or ceramic flooring, granite or quartz countertops, staggered-height cabinetry, and second-floors. Features that make it easier to age in place, such as grab bars and raised height toilet seats and vanities, are also available in many new construction homes.
Even manufactured homes can be made to the buyer’s specifications. At Four Seasons-Dream Homes buyers have the option of choosing the exterior color and finishes within the home. Often the details don’t cost any more, it just takes a little more time for the home to be completed as desired, Yoder says. The Hamptons of Hinsdale has a variety of available options to suit each buyer adding additional bedrooms or a den. The three-level townhomes even come with the option of adding an elevator.
Since building new is often the realization of a dream home, what would have been additional bedrooms or dens are still being turned into specialty rooms such as sewing rooms, home libraries and wine rooms. But, according to Builder magazine, the 2013 International Builders Show highlighted design trends heading toward more functional use of spaces. Examples include functional and stylish foyers with sitting areas and benches for families to use when they come in and take off coats and school bags. Flexible spaces are popular. A dining room that may have sat unused for months is now being blended with a great room offering lots of possibilities. For families, mud rooms built off the garage remain popular, but with design features such as bins for sports equipment and “lockers” for sports gear and backpacks.
Don’t forget about the exterior as well. As highlighted at the builders show, creating sun rooms and outdoor living spaces continues to be a popular trend.
2/15/13
Let your lifestyle be your guide
Consider what you enjoy when choosing your new home.
It might be that you want to live close enough to walk to town, or you dream about a kitchen and dining room ideal for dinner parties. Perhaps it’s the thought of someone else cutting the grass that sounds ideal.
Everyone’s lifestyle is a bit different. That is why new and custom homes are a great choice when you are ready to make a move.
Builders design homes and neighborhoods with their potential buyers in mind and try to consider all of the comforts and conveniences older homes may not offer. Many builders are also prepared to work with buyers to make further adjustments for a perfect fit.
What to consider?
How you live your life or would like to live your life should be a major consideration. For those planning for a family, school districts and backyard sizes are important. For others it’s considering retirement, including what hobbies and activities you’ve always wanted to pursue. Whether you want to travel and need a home that is easy to lock and leave or want to stay active and are looking for a community with a fitness center and pool.
Easy living
For those looking for a lifestyle that makes everyday living easier there are new options throughout the market. Wilcox Development, an Epcon Communities builder, offers several area communities all marketed toward people over 50. “Many of our buyers are reaching a point in their lives where they are looking to downsize; a multistory home is no longer a necessity or attractive option,” according to Ember Ferrantino, marketing coordinator for Wilcox Development Group, LLC.
The Hamptons of Hinsdale, owned by Inland Opportunity Fund LLC, which has partnered with Wheaton-based builder Next Generation Development, has a variety of new home choices to fit several different lifestyles. “There’s a vast difference in what appeals to each person,” explains Sam Tarara, broker at Koenig & Strey and sales manager for The Hamptons of Hinsdale. Condominiums in the development are drawing empty nesters starting a new chapter of their lives. “We help (buyers) through the idea of downsizing and how they are going to live that way,” Tarara says.
Four Seasons-Dream Homes in Belvidere are well-designed ranch homes in a picturesque setting.
In contrast, the Villa townhomes offer three floors of living space. The townhomes are luring former Hinsdale residents, interested in raising their own families, back to town.
Four Seasons-Dream Homes in Belvidere offers a manufactured home community. With a value price, these homes appeal to older adult buyers. The ranch-style homes are factory built in a controlled environment ensuring their energy efficiency. The price point allows residents to have a second home in a warmer climate, travel more, or live within a smaller budget.
For all of these communities, a maintenance-free lifestyle is a draw, not just for retirees, but busy families and professionals as well. “Maintenance-free living is great because it allows our buyers time to do what they love to do rather than the things they would have to do if they were living anywhere else,” Ferrantino says. “Rather than shoveling snow or cutting grass, homeowners can entertain friends, visit with family, or just spend time relaxing.“
All in the family
For some, building new means incorporating more than one generation under one roof. Whether it’s a young family including a grandparent or baby boomers with a college graduate returning to the nest. Many builders offer design options to accommodate these lifestyles with the idea of privacy in mind. Wilcox Development’s area homes are typically ranch-style and have the owner’s suites separate from guest suites for privacy, Ferrantino explains. They also offer the option of adding a second level separating living quarters further. In some cases bedrooms are situated in opposite ends of the home with common use spaces like kitchens and family rooms in the center.
Spacious kitchens such as this in a Wilcox Development home encourage entertaining and gathering with family and friends.
Make it your own
Everybody’s lifestyle, hobbies and pastimes are different so it doesn’t hurt to ask a builder if there is room for customization. Often builders will offer upgrades and options like hardwood or ceramic flooring, granite or quartz countertops, staggered-height cabinetry, and second-floors. Features that make it easier to age in place, such as grab bars and raised height toilet seats and vanities, are also available in many new construction homes.
Even manufactured homes can be made to the buyer’s specifications. At Four Seasons-Dream Homes buyers have the option of choosing the exterior color and finishes within the home. Often the details don’t cost any more, it just takes a little more time for the home to be completed as desired, Yoder says. The Hamptons of Hinsdale has a variety of available options to suit each buyer adding additional bedrooms or a den. The three-level townhomes even come with the option of adding an elevator.
Since building new is often the realization of a dream home, what would have been additional bedrooms or dens are still being turned into specialty rooms such as sewing rooms, home libraries and wine rooms. But, according to Builder magazine, the 2013 International Builders Show highlighted design trends heading toward more functional use of spaces. Examples include functional and stylish foyers with sitting areas and benches for families to use when they come in and take off coats and school bags. Flexible spaces are popular. A dining room that may have sat unused for months is now being blended with a great room offering lots of possibilities. For families, mud rooms built off the garage remain popular, but with design features such as bins for sports equipment and “lockers” for sports gear and backpacks.
Don’t forget about the exterior as well. As highlighted at the builders show, creating sun rooms and outdoor living spaces continues to be a popular trend.
