Where is the dining room?

I see many people looking for the lare open great room and going away from the traditional entry with formal living rm & dining rm.

IN Manhattan New York market, sometimes having a dining room is a luxury. Many buyers convert that dining room space into a home office, babys room, second bedroom or some sort of 'other room' so they can use it for what is suitable for their lifestyle. It is tough to really have it as dining room especially square footage is so precious in this big city.

Angela,

Creative thinking like you just demonstrated can quickly reposition a dysfunctional, hard-to-sell home and make it salable again. Often the money involved doesn't have to be that much.

I think it depends on the dwelling itself. If it is a family home - 3 bedrooms or more, I would recommend it feature a dining room for family gatherings. If it's a small one bedroom condo, a dining room is not necessary.

My favorite stager Craig Schiller has a rule -- there has to be a space with a table and enough chairs for each bedroom, plus room for two more chairs. He thinks chairs communicate how many people are supposed to live in the house. The breakfast nook for a five bedroom house was clearly a builder boo-boo that he paid for with over a year of market time. Congrats on solving his problem.

Wise post...the expectation of a buyer isn't necessarily the same as how they will use a space, when actually living in a home.    The traditional layout, though, is important to show.

I see many people who don't require a formal dining room.  They may want space for one, but it isn't always possible in smaller homes.

I gave up the formal dining room about 10 years ago and really haven't missed it. Of course, we're empty nesters now.

here's the thing we always teach - people who don't want a formal dining room will always be able to figure out another use for the space... they've been doing it for a while now, people who want one, will never see another space turned into one.  You have to work for everyone and I've had the same issue and same solution several times before with the same results.  A formal dining room is simply important to many people - if you want to sell a 5 bdrm house you need one  there... and by the way - just because it's a 'formal dining room' doesn't mean it has to be 'formal'...

It definitely depends on your market. In Spokane most people are traditional and want the formal dining room, but in other more progressive cities I can see a trend towards not wanting one. Good Post Angela. Welcome to AR by the way.

Home Staging is all about showing the function of a room.  This is huge...Kudos Angela

www.poeticperspectives.ca

 Note 1. Most of the buyers want dining room. Later they will figure out that it's not really used often and maybe reconfigure, but it will happened later after they will be in their house for at leat a year.

Note 2 .If you put an office or something else in to the dining room area it will confuse buyers. Now go to Note 1.

Great post, Angela

The formal dining room debate continues. It's so nice to have for holidays and parties but they'll soon find out it mainly a showplace. For staging purposes a dining room is a must.

When my husband and I built our home three years ago, he wanted to lose the dining room for a larger eat-in kitchen.  I said absolutely not.  The home will appeal to more buyers if there's a formal dining room.

In a house I  need a BIG kitchen, living room and dining room. I have two brothers and two sisters each have 2.5 ....and three children and three grandchildren and three great grand children.....AND FINALLY 52 first cousins.... they all like to visit!

Hi Angela & Stephen Hardiman 

Great post and it is true that sometimes it is hard for buyers to imagine their furniture. I just sold a house that was empty and every time I showed it I seemed to get the same question "Where is the living room and dining room" as without furniture is is hard to envision.

2010 and still pertinent....great article! 

Great article. I often hear Buyers saying "where are we going to put the dining tabel?", "will our couch fit here?". When there is a staging suggestion, it's always easier for them.

I see it a lot lately but not necessarily in new homes.  Some ranch homes built in the early 60's here have an uncomfortable 3rd bedroom that is a walk-through off of the kitchen.  I think it was intended to be a bedroom, dining room, or den, but if it isn't staged it is just an awkward room that's hard to picture as a bedroom for sure.  But a small walk-through dining room with two doors and a closet is kind of weird too.

Even if you don't plan on using the dining room, you still want to know that the house has one.