A home is a complex product, with many different features that can make it more or less desirable to particular customers.
One goal of NAHB’s recent consumer survey, “What Home Buyers Really Want,” was to help builders identify which features to include—or not—in a home. One cross-section of this study involved upscale homes—the features more affluent buyers seek for homes priced at a million dollars or more.
From a list of 120 items, including windows, doors, specialty rooms, decorative details and energy savings, we found five that resonated most.
Of course, you’ll have to read on to find out the winners, but we’ll tease you a little with #5: Two-Story Entry Foyer.
This feature creates an impressive entrance that, not surprisingly, is particularly attractive to buyers at the top of the market. A soaring open space filled with light imparts a luxurious feeling immediately upon entering the home.
Thirty-nine percent of buyers expecting to pay $500,000 more for a home rate a two-story foyer essential or desirable, compared to 20 percent of buyers expecting to pay under $150,000. A two-story foyer is truly a luxury, however, in that it consumes space that needs to be conditioned or could serve a more utilitarian function.
It also introduces some complications in framing, covering and insulating the walls. This may help explain why 47 percent of buyers expecting to pay under $150,000 explicitly reject a two-story foyer, compared to 26 percent of buyers expecting to pay $500,000 or more.
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