Designing Houses that Suit the Lot

Lately, many homes that were not done to really do good from its environment have come to my attention. The resale value is damaged by this. Usually these are homes in tract subdivisions. One very conspicuous example is a residence standing neighboring the greenbelt space on a dead-end lot. As you drive into the street to the left of the property, straight the cul-de-sac you can see a natural ranchland with a wet weather creek, beautiful mature oak trees and native vegetation. This is dedicated space that will never be developed. One of those kind of sceneries one can observe in photos, the panorama of wholesome Texas Hill Country that you imagine admiring them while sitting on a rocking chair at the back of the porch or on a swing. It is way better than staring at a neighbor's property. But whoever built the property really did blow it.

Much to my amazement, the floorplan of this home offers no acknowledgment or orientation toward this natural surroundings--none at all. If I had constructed on this lot, I would have chosen a floorplan where in I could appreciate the native Texas landscape, having the windows of the kitchen or the living room point towards the panorama and supplemented a largely covered patio. The home was poorly constructed with a small patio of 5x8 foot concrete slab and didn't even have any covered patio at the back. The master bedroom is located at the opposite side of the home from the open space upstairs and offers no view at all.

If there is none to choose from, the whole floorplan could have been reversed and flipped to the other side, the kitchen and the breakfast area would have had the view of the native Texas panorama, and the master bedroom would be overlooking it, while windows could have been supplemented or shifted to more proper places.

So why in the world would someone construct a home on this lot that doesn't make full advantage of this beautiful and serene view? In my opinion, individuals would choose first a floorplan and then pick a lot to place it on when buying for a new home, although they don't make time to decide whether the home is a fine match for the chosen lot. I've also witnessed builder spec houses constructed with the same deficiency of thinking as to which floorplan may best make advantage of natural surroundings and/or orientation of the lot.

On the other side, there can as well be negative characteristics of a lot that better thinking can mitigate. For example, would you construct a home at the 'T' end of a street with the master bedroom windows in the frontage of the home? Of course not, for the shine of the headlights from cars will be seen through your windows. You will definitely notice this from you first night after moving in if you don't consider of such things ahead of time.

Pay attention to how well both the home and the lot flatter each other if you're ready to purchase or construct a new home. Stay away from houses that grossly ignore this association. Pay attention to how the streets are associated and whether there may be potential light interruption into your home from night time road traffic. Pay attention to the compass orientation of the home, the natural sunlight may either flatter or distress your living area.

When previewing houses for buyer prospects, I eliminate a lot of candidate properties off of the list because of these sorts of issues. To make a fine home it takes more than a fine floorplan, this is why these houses that look ideal in Internet photos and on paper doesn't endure on the first visit. The lot has to have the proper floorplan.

This article was drafted by R. Chandler Smith, a young and bright real estate expert in the Austin area. He maintains Austin Home Appraisal as well as Real Estate Appraisals in Austin

Title:
Designing Houses that Suit the Lot
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