Howard Weinstein came home from work one day and announced that he was dead tired. He was tired, specifically, of mowing the lawn, raking the leaves, pulling the weeds and transforming himself into a handyman every time something went wrong with his single-family house in Potomac.
So he and his wife, Iris, decided to move to a smaller residence that didn't require so much maintenance. But even though the couple wanted to downsize -- and accomplished this by working with contractors to build a condominium in a new complex in Rockville -- they didn't want to skimp on quality.
New condos frequently come with such luxuries as granite countertopos, hardwood floors and tall cabinets.__Credit: Photo courtesy Bozzuto Group.
(Courtesy Bozzuto Group)
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This explains why the Weinsteins ordered granite countertops for their kitchen, why they drew in plans for a luxurious sunken tub in their large master bathroom and why Iris wished for, and received, a gleaming stainless steel range. Now that they have lived in their new home for nearly two years, the Weinsteins can barely imagine life without these little luxuries.
"I am thrilled that we were able to design our condominium to fit our lifestyle," Iris Weinstein said. "This has been a terrific experience for us. We were able to work back and forth with the builders to develop a home where everything was suited to me. And the extra touches have certainly added to the whole experience."
The Weinsteins are far from unusual. There is a whole crowd of new-home buyers today who are requesting little extras from their builders. Because of this, builders are being routinely asked to provide loads of features that buyers once considered luxury items available only to the wealthy few. For example, a decade or two ago, buyers thought of real hardwood flooring in their living rooms and extra-large bedroom suites as luxury items. They considered granite countertops in kitchens and two-sink vanities in master bathrooms to be beyond middle-class wallets.
Today's buyers, though, are different. They have found that many builders include that hardwood flooring and those large bedroom suites as standard in new homes. This taste of luxury has only fueled a desire for more, and buyers today have transformed other, more extravagant extras -- double-sink vanities, for example, or granite countertops -- into rather routine upgrades. Builders may not include all these other amenities in their base models, but they are certainly not surprised when their clients request them as basic upgrades.
And in the high-priced Washington area, pity those builders that don't offer affluent buyers some touch of luxury as part of their standard package; they might suffer a noticeable dip in business. So just try to find a new high-end condo these days where granite countertops don't come standard.
"You have to compete for that educated consumer. These people are not first-time buyers. They are starting to want things that were once equated with million-dollar homes," said Steve Gerber, project manager with Bogdan Builders in Bethesda. "It's all about the demands of this market. If you are going to sell a 1,200-square-foot condo for $450,000, you need to include the attributes that would dictate that price range."
Some of these attributes include 42-inch kitchen cabinets, hardwood floors and high ceilings, all items that more of Bogdan's clients expect.
As a busy real estate agent, and owner of Annapolis's Bernie Schultz Realty, Bernie Schultz has seen this trend firsthand. Her clients, especially those looking to spend somewhere in the range of $600,000 to $800,000 to build a house, expect to see hardwood floors throughout the entire main floor of their residences, not just in the foyer. They want higher ceilings, demanding nine-foot clearance even in their basements. Those who are Internet junkies expect high-tech wiring to come standard.
Even those clients looking to build less expensive homes are insisting that their builders include amenities such as granite countertops and large master bathrooms and bedrooms as standard features, Schultz said.
Like area builders, Schultz points to higher home prices as a reason for these increased expectations. But prices, she said, are not the only factor. Today's consumers know more about the home-building process than did those in the past, and expect more from their builders because of it, she said.
"You have all these home expos, elaborate interior living shows and home shows on cable television," Schultz said. "Consumers can go out and see what all these designer upgrades look like. This raises the expectations they have of their builders. They have come to consider these designer upgrades as standard fare. Middle-of-the-line home buyers now know more of what they want and expect in their homes."
Because upgrades have gradually become more standard, there are now fewer differences than ever nationally between a million-dollar-plus luxury home and a more mid-priced new home, say officials with the National Association of Home Builders. Researchers with the Washington-based trade group wrote in their data-filled report, "Housing Facts, Figures & Trends 2004," that the main difference today between a luxury home and a standard one isn't these residences' amenities, but instead their size and the quality of these amenities.
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