Balance size, functionality and feel

Three or four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a great room and an open kitchen. Access to a private outdoor area from a home that’s about 2,000 square feet on a lot big enough to enjoy but easy enough to maintain. Energy efficiency and smart home features. Those all sound standard, right? For the most part, they are.

But there’s more to choosing a home than square footage, lot size or even number of bedrooms. Striking a balance between size and functionality — or actual usability of the total area — is at least as important as choosing which bedroom belongs to whom.

Consider your overall priorities while factoring in how you currently live.

Perhaps opulence is a priority. It could be that after decades of living in an average Bay Area home and raising a family, now is the time that you have an opportunity to build luxury into your daily life.

A spacious house with a grand foyer, wide doorways, elegant finishes, top-end appliances and formal living spaces may answer that need for luxury. But so might a luxury condominium in a high-end, multifamily community with luxury amenities on-site.

How about the ability to entertain and cook for large groups of family and friends? If that tops your list, open-concept areas may be a top priority.

For others, having a variety of quiet places within the home to which each person can work or get away from the others may rank highly.

And for many, proximity to parks, community amenities, shopping and schools may rank more highly on the list than square footage.

Before choosing a home size and plan, visit several communities and speak to several builders, all while considering some of the factors that influence the way you will live in the new home.

What is the size of your current home? Look around; focus not only on the cramped spaces but the areas that are underused. Consider which spaces could be used differently if only the layout allowed.

Are you buying a new home as a single person? If this move is an all-new journey for you, how do you want the setting to suit your story?

Alternatively, is there a chance you may want to share the home or rent to a housemate? If so, separate living spaces and ample bedroom sizes — ideally with separate bathrooms — will be an important consideration.

If your household includes children, will they share rooms and, if so, will they need a dedicated place for play and school work? Think about the layout in terms of flow and noise level, including where children’s rooms sit relative to the master suite.

And then there are visitors. Is there a chance that the new home will be a destination for long-term or frequent visitors, such as grandchildren, adult children or an older parent visiting for weeks or months at a time?

If so, make sure you designate one room as a guest room and that the room doesn’t simultaneously need to be a year-round office space.

How many generations will live in the house permanently? The pandemic made it clear that young adults, including those who are either just finding their wings or have returned to school, are living with their parents longer than they were pre-pandemic.

Large bedrooms that can also serve as a young adult’s living space may be as helpful as spare bedrooms.

Many new-home buyers feel more comfortable knowing that their older parents live safely under the same roof as they do, rather than moving to a senior living community.

Do the members of the older generation currently own a house? If so, the equity from the sale of their house might help with the purchase of a home that can accommodate three generations or more.

Many municipalities also allow for the construction of an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) on a previously single-family property. An ADU can serve many purposes over time, from an apartment for specific family members to a private office or a rental unit.

If the ADU concept intrigues you, learn about local ADU requirements in the city where you’re hoping to purchase a new home.

Do you or will you work from home and, if so, how often? Some new-home floor plans include a loft, which can serve as a great alternative to using a bedroom for an office.

Do you want a single-story forever home? Single-story homes may take up a larger percentage of a homesite than two-story homes, but usable space increases considerably when staircases don’t occupy cubic footage.

Choosing a floor plan and a homesite can feel like a series of tradeoffs. But the more thought you put into the livability factors that matter most to you personally, the more you have to gain.