What Home Buyers Want and How You Can Make It Happen: #3 Home Office or Study

I don’t know about you, but I practically live in my home office. Now this isn’t such a great thing, and I’m working on getting out more, but it does go to show that home offices are as essential to today’s life styles as a large, family kitchen.  While all buyers may not be running a home-based business, they need a home office or study to run their family business.  The days of paying bills at the kitchen table are long gone.  Which explains why a Home Office or Study is number three on the list of what home buyers want.

A quick re-cap of the items which are highlighted on this list of What Buyers Want:

1. Large kitchens with an island.
2. Energy-efficient appliances and high-efficiency insulation and windows. (These were the most sought-after “green” features from buyers.)
3. Home office or study
4. Main-floor master suite
5. Outdoor living room
6. Ceiling fans
7. Master suite soaker tubs and oversize showers with seating areas
8. Stone and brick exteriors
9. Community landscaping with walking paths and playgrounds.

Notice what’s NOT on the list:

1. Fitness/ Workout Areas
2. Craft Rooms
3. Play Rooms
4. Formal Living or Formal Dining Areas
5. Sun Rooms

What does this mean? If you’ve got one of the above items which is NOT on the list, and you don’t have a home office, you need to figure out a way to transform this space which is perceived as being less valuable into a home office when you are preparing to sell.

A home office doesn’t necessarily have to have four walls and a door. It can be a desk and shelving system set up in another room in the house. Or a computer armoire and chair placed in the corner of the living room.  Maybe you have a great desk built into your laundry room or hallway between bedrooms that has become a collection point for toys and stuff.  Clear it off and make the most out of the space.

Whether your home’s style is casual, traditional, eclectic or more formal, there is a way to incorporate a

home office. Of course, when you do stage your home office, remember to hide those wires and keep everything well dusted and papers filed away. You want to convey that this home is well-run, efficient and organized!

If you’ve not had a chance to read our blog in a while, and want to catch up on this series, click here to learn more about What Home Buyers Want.

Whether you’re designing to sell or decorating to dwell check out these great resources for designing and furnishing a home office:

IKEA’s Office Planner
Ballard Design
Maxwell’s Closet Classics (in Austin & San Antonio)
In-Home Design Therapy and Room Planning with Interiority Complex

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