Over the last few years, I have seen my clients and myself, seek homes that offered more. Multigenerational homes living and homeownership has grown in popularity and is becoming a “must have” on many home buyer lists.
CLIENT 1
My client was relocating to Atlanta for a new job opportunity, but since their family lived out of the country, they wanted space for them to stay for extended periods of time. We looked at several homes, but they finally selected a home with a bedroom on the main floor, as well as a finished basement including a kitchen, laundry room, great room and 2 bedrooms – the perfect solution for when family came to visit.
CLIENT 2
My client’s elderly parent lived with them. They were moving back to Atlanta to be closed to family and medical care. They wanted a home with two “owner’s suites”, but both would need to be on the main floor. We thought new construction would be our best option, but even though some builders had previously made structural modifications, this was no longer the case. So we continued to search. We finally found a resale that had been modified for the seller to combine two bedrooms on the main floor as a second “suite” – and it fit my client’s needs perfectly.
CLIENT 3
This was me! I needed a ranch home much like Client 2 with 2 suites on the main floor, but also needed an office and a guest room. After months of searching, I finally found it.
So as you can see, the demand of multigenerational living is growing, but the market has not kept up with the demand. It’s not just multigenerational living that is impacting the demand, it is the changing lifestyle that has also added to this. Working and learning from home has also had an impact on home design and builders need to sharpen their pencils to keep up with this trend. Only a few builders are currently offering floorplans that are specific to this trend, while others have floorplans that can be adapted.
Some families have been creative in finding solutions for their specific situations. Here are some examples.
MULTIGENERATIONAL HOMES FLOORPLANS
DR Horton and Lennar are currently offering multigenerational homes floorplans, although these designs are not available in our market at the moment. Both of these floorplans offer space for a bedroom suite, sitting area and kitchen, making it perfect for elderly parents or grown children moving back home for a bit. Several other builders are offering a bedroom on the main floor, but in most cases, the bedroom also shares a bathroom with any guests since it is usually the only bathroom on the floor – not the best solution. And if the owner’s suite is on the main floor, is there a secondary owner’s suite on the second floor? This floorplan style was offered in Bentwater a few years ago by an independent builder, and definitely would help for the family looking for a multigenerational floorplan.
Start your home search here – or contact us to help you.