Beware When Following Real Estate Trends

(NECN) - Massachusetts native, Cindy Stumpo, has some strong advice to those planning and building a new home: don't follow the trends!

The HGTV star of "Tough as Nails" joined "The Morning Show" to share some of her best advice, to help others avoid making major home mistakes:

1. Don't follow trends when building your home, stay classic. Just like clothing trends, home trends go out of style and you're stuck with something you don't want.

2. Make sure your house has character; keep it traditional, clean, classic, and elegant to maintain the resale value.

3. A home doesn't dictate what's practical; the cost of the land does.

a. People are building smaller, better-quality homes to really focus on detail and practicality rather than space and square footage.

Less important for small homes:

-A lavish or luxury living room is no longer important; people are really focused on entertaining and creating fun spaces, so the focus and money is now going towards the kitchen and the family room. This includes putting in a large island in the kitchen where people can gather and hang out.

- Media rooms are less important now, but people are focused on finished basements where their kids can hang. There is also a strong desire to have electronic hook-ups around the house for gadgets.

Must-haves for home owners:

- Luxury master bathrooms remain popular. Whirlpool tubs and steam showers are big. People always want a nice, luxurious space to retreat to after a long day.

-Large closets and fancy closet insets also seem to be popular; creating nice closets and compartments for your things (jewelry, shoes, etc.)

Interesting home features:

- Outdoor surveillance systems - people are very concerned about protecting themselves and their belongings.

- Elevator shafts; people are thinking about their future and planning ahead. Obviously an elevator is a huge cost, but creating the space just in case you need it down the road costs nothing. You simply stack closets on top of each other from the bottom floor to the top. If an elevator becomes necessary, you remove the floors of the closet and install your elevator.

One more note - As for what people are planning for the future - Cindy is seeing more people include first-floor guest bedrooms for when parents come to stay.

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