When seeking a home for a growing family, there are some basics that most are looking for. Buyers care about the school district, access to parks and trails, and often having multiple bedrooms on the same floor.
For Chris Dennis, a Broker with Lakes Area Realty, however, just as important as finding a house that matches a family’s specifications is finding a house that matches the ‘whys’ that prompted those specifications in the first place.
“The ‘why’ allows us to walk through the house with their eyes,” says Dennis.
An example Dennis gave, underscoring the importance of the ‘why’, is a family wanting a dining room in their new home. If the reason behind wanting a dining room is to host Thanksgiving every year for both sides of the family, many smaller dining rooms won’t work for that buyer.
The ‘why’ gets to the heart of what the buyer actually needs in a home.
“Whats and whys help us sift through MLS (Multiple Listing Service) data to get a picture of the house this family is going to need,” says Dennis.
When working with new buyers, Dennis makes a habit of sitting down with them to fully explore the underlying whys that are the drivers of what a home needs to be. Those whys are as varied as the buyers themselves, ranging from backyards large enough for a garden to spaces for hosting to even having separate bathrooms because the couple cannot stand how the other squeezes toothpaste (that last one is a real example, by the way).
But beyond the buyer’s whys, what makes a home family-friendly? The question can be deceptively difficult to answer. Due to Fair Housing Laws, realtors are not allowed to market homes as family-friendly, which often forces buyers to “read between the lines” on listings, says Dennis.
The staples of school districts and parks are obvious, but other amenities, such as a bedroom and bathroom on the lower floor for nannies or au pairs, or indoor sports courts, are great amenities for families.
Here in the land of hockey, having a multi-purpose indoor court that can be equipped with artificial ice for year-round practice can be a game-changer. Dennis is quick to point out that after the kids move out, those spaces make great golfing simulators, too.
For four-legged family members, raised washbasins or dedicated dog-washing areas can make keeping dirt and grime outside the home all the easier.
While some neighborhoods can be strict about the type, color, and look of fences, advances in invisible fence technology enable GPS tracking that keeps Fido on the lawn without needing to bury wire or install a physical fence.
Once a family finds a home that fits their specifications and their whys, the focus then shifts to the neighborhood. To better understand the feel of the neighborhood, Dennis offers simple advice: drive by the house on three different days at three different times.
Many buyers take a pass through the neighborhood and assume that’s all they can do to learn about the area. Seeing the area across different days and times, however, allows for a better grasp of the “energy of the place,” explains Dennis.
For example, if a buyer tours the neighborhood at 1pm on a Wednesday, the kids are at school, the parents are at work, and “nobody is going to be around,” Dennis says. The feel of the neighborhood at that time is a single data point that might not be representative of the whole.
The same idea applies to traffic.
While a road may seem desolate around noon, it could be a main thoroughfare for the community, bumper-to-bumper after 5pm. Dennis had worked with couples who didn’t realize the house they were looking at was on a busy street until late in the purchase.
For Dennis, who opened the Lake Minnetonka Office of Lakes Area Realty in 2019, finding the perfect house for a family is much more than a “transactional relationship.” Drilling down beyond the broad specifications of a house builds relationships that stand the test of time, ideally, “from your first home to your last.”
For four-legged family members, raised washbasins or dedicated dog-washing areas can make keeping dirt and grime outside the home all the easier.