When looking for a new or used house, is a fireplace a top priority on your check list? In other words, if a new or used home are without any fireplace, will that stop you from buying it? Does a fireplace in a home really matter when it comes down to your buying decision? Thanks
I would be careful about buying a home without one. My wife is a realtor and has had multiple clients not purchase a particular house due to it not having a fireplace. It is something that people consider when buying a house.
ive lived in my house for about 19 years, and we still have never used it before. I think my mom was all paranoid about it.
I don't care either way, personally. It wouldn't stop me from buying, though. The number of buyers who would require one would probably out number the buyers who refuse one...so, having one can't hurt, imo. As for home heating, one theory is that the fire pulls oxygen out of the home, so it has to "pull" fresh, cold, outside air into the home to fuel it, which sort of defeats the heating element of it, unless you're in close proximity of the fire. I wouldn't mind one, but it's not something I look forward to having.
What I'm really worry is when it comes to selling time, personally, here would never have any power outage, and the weather is not too cold too, no snows or anything like that, it's in California. I just worry about that buyers would turn down my offer because without a fireplace, personally, we would never use it, but I just want some opinion and suggestions from you guys.
It depends. My wife really wanted one when we built our current house. It was put in such a place that severly limits our options in the living room. We do use it and enjoy it. If we move to a larger house, then I assume we'll want one. In our current place though, it was a bad idea.
We're looking for a new construction home, and we're debating about whether or not we should put one in, personally, we would have no uses for it because its in ca where the whether is not too cold, and no power outage, but it might be a stereotype thing that a fireplace is a must, and it might be hard to sell if there's none, or the home value would go down.
Whenever I buy a home I want one in mine. If you live in a place where the winters get cold I have been told it saves money on your heating bills.
OK, I lived in central California, the weather is not cold here, no snows, rarely rain, slim chance of power outage, and I know 100% sure that we will never use it one time. But all my friends have one, and they all tell me that it's a must because it will be hard to sell later on if you don't have one. So, I'm confused and don't know what to do, I need some suggestions.
Well it just must be for the way it looks inside the house. I am not sure how much a fireplace will raise or lower the value of a home but as Rockets Red Glare said it may be better to have one anywhere.
Put it in. When you go to sell the house, you might get someone not buy the house because of no fireplace, whereas nobody is ever going to not buy it because it does have one. It would be a negative on the market to not have one. Don't put to many negatives in your house if you ever need to sell it (and despite what people think about a "dream house" you will sell that home eventually). Its not worth the possible cost savings now to leave it out compared to the potential problems when it comes to sell the house later.
I wouldn't buy a house without one. They make the house look nicer. I wish I had one in my master bedroom also. Actually I wish my master bedroom was big enough to have one.
I think a big bedroom with a fireplace would add some good value. Plus, it wouldn't have the possibility of taking functionality out of a living room or something, like leroy said. I have no experience with this sort of thing, other than watching tv, though, so just take that with a grain of salt.
Well, it's not really about the saving, to me, it's just that why put it there and waste space when we know for sure that we're not going to use it, and I know that I could make that empty space look much better with my decorative. But then again, to other people, it's a must, so we need to make a decision, that's why I want to know does it matter to a lot of people.
I've got one, rarely use it, but feel the house would seem "naked" without it. I think most people have that as something they want in a home they're considering purchasing, for the same reason a lot of others do... that it'll help resale. I might add that top quality artificial gas logs can really look like the real thing, can be started with the push of a button, or turning a handle and lighting it with a long lighter. Those are very nice for ambiance, require no maintenance worth mentioning, and are nice during a winter evening with family and friends. Of course, they are frequently located in the focal point of your living room or den... exactly where you might want to put your big screen display and surround system. Something to ponder.
I'm a realtor here in Texas, and I think you should get one. It could have an effect on the value of your home if a buyer is looking for one. Most buyers look for a house with one( at least buyers that I work with), so it wouldn't hurt to get one if your looking to sale later down on the road. Personally, I don't mind if my house has one or not, because Houston weather is strange and I've never used mine before. But if your looking at your house as an investment, get one, there are more buyers out there that are looking for a house with a fireplace, than no fireplace.
Well, it's not an investment, it's the house that we will live there for at least 5 years, but you never know what's going to happen tomorrow, we might sell it after a year or two, so what would you guys think? Personally, I think we're going to stay there for at least five years. What about renting? Is it hard to rent w/o one?
My first home had no fireplace. It actually ended up being a good thing, because: 1. In newer houses, fireplaces are not fireplaces anymore. They are fire boxes. Very small, most are gas, and are not usually very efficient and frankly don't provide much heat anyway. 2. If I had gotten the fireplace, it would have killed my whole living room set up by taking up a corner of the living room that I needed for a large piece of furniture. As for it having a negative effect on resale, I had a contract on my house in two weeks from the time I put it on the market. It's all personal preference from the buyer's perspective. Ironically, I have one in my current house, and haven't used it once. I guess it is nice for aesthetics on Christmas morning or whatever.
On average, families are living in their homes 7-10 years. It all comes down to your opinion. As Hoop-T said, it all comes down to the buyers perspective. If they want one, they will find a house with one. There are more that want a house with a fireplace than without. If you're not going to live in the house for at least 10 years or more, get one as it would attract more buyers to it than houses without one. That's based on buyers that I have dealt with.
