THE FIRST FLOOR MASTER BEDROOM FLOOR PLAN IS IN DEMAND BY MANY BUYERS. This is a recent phenomenon. However, it is not always possible and definitely adds to the overall cost of development. As an agent, we sometime have to explain these market facts to home buyers.
THE POPULARITY OF THE FIRST FLOOR MASTER BEDROOM IS ROUTINE TODAY. However, 10-20 years ago, it would have spelled disaster for a subdivision if the builder's only MODEL HOMEwas a first floor master floor plan. Families with small children are not as likely to demand a first floor master floor plan. It's the baby boomers than made the first floor master floor plan so popular. With an older population, most real estate agents and builders have experienced prospective home buyers requesting the first floor master. So, the market responded to consumer demand and that first floor master floor plan is now routine in a builder's portfolio.
HOME DESIGNS ARE CHANGING TO SUIT THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF HOME BUYER. Times they are a changin'. The demand for first floor masters is real. However, the first floor master bedroom floor plan adds cost to the price of the home for sale and many home buyers have a problem understanding the added cost per square foot when compared with a 2 story floor plan with all bedrooms on the upper level.
WHAT ARE THE SET-BACKS? Beginning with the larger footprint required, a first floor master can be a problem in small lot developments. As land costs skyrocketed in many urban areas, downsizing of lots was a natural result. No longer was the "average lot size 1/4 acre" normal. We now have average lot sizes of 5 to an acre, and yes even 8 to an acre. An 1/8 acre lot is 5,445 square feet, surely sufficient to build a nice 2,500 square foot home.
WAIT A MINUTE! What about the set-backs required for a building permit?? If the set-back is perhaps 30 feet in the front, 11-15 feet on each side, 40 feet to the back lot line, and the building restriction line within 15 feet of the back lot line, how much land area does that leave for the foot-print? Perhaps not enough for the larger foot-print for a home with a first floor master bedroom. This is one reason that homes in 55+ age restricted communities are more costly to build. The builder can only fit so many of those first floor master floor plans to an acre. The more homes that can be constructed per acre, the higher the profit margin for the builder/developer. This is one reason town homes are so popular with builders and developers and they fight hard to get more units per acre in the Master Plan. More units per acre makes for high profits for builders/developers.
THAT DANG MASTER PLAN. Going back to basics means going back to the Master Plan for land us county by county, and often with input by states for critical areas, wet lands, proximity to commercial areas, road construction, shopping, parking, municipal services, public schools, preserve areas, etc., etc., etc.
The First Floor Master Bedroom in the floor plan, on the right below, adds about 450 square feet to this floor plan. That would make this floor plan far too wide to fit into many building lots of 1/4 or 1/2 acre since the floor plan also has a side-loan garage.
Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988.
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