13 Cool And Unique House Features To Look For

Anytime you buy a home, you’ll likely have to sacrifice certain features you want. For instance, if the house doesn’t have a walkout basement, there isn’t much you can do about it.

As you start your home buying journey, it’s important to consider what house features you’re willing to compromise on and which ones are nonnegotiable. If you’re not sure what you want in your new home, this article will outline 13 cool and unique house features to consider.

13 Cool House Features Home Buyers Want Most

It’s important to start your home buying journey knowing what you’re looking for in a house and what’s worth including on your wish list. Knowing what you want will help you visualize your dream home and help ensure a higher level of satisfaction with the house once you move in.

There are certain features home buyers appreciate and are willing to pay more money for. However, you should always prioritize staying within your housing budget. While you may not be able to afford all 13 features on our list, there may be room in your budget for one or two features.

Spend some time researching the following essential home designs and decide which must-have house features are right for your budget.

1. Alternative Countertops

The kitchen is one of the most important rooms in a home, and your countertop design is a decorative accent that can stand out. Look for materials that are durable enough to withstand the regular wear and tear of meal prep and are visually appealing.

Fortunately, you have options beyond granite or marble to choose from for countertop materials. Here are some nontraditional materials you can consider:

• Concrete
• Wood
• Mosaic tiles
• Zinc
• Copper

2. Luxurious En Suite Bathroom

Older homes don’t typically have a primary bedroom with an attached bathroom. This design feature is usually found in new homes. Creating a spa bathroom off the main bedroom would be a nice place to retreat after a long, taxing day.

Spring for upgrades like a soaking tub, walk-in shower or unique sinks to create a bathroom oasis. If you really want to add another touch of comfort to your bathroom, consider adding heated floors. Not only will this make your bathroom feel more luxurious, but heated floors have been shown to lower heating bills in the winter.

3. Large Walk-In Closets

A walk-in closet is another feature that’s primarily found in newer homes. It’s more than a large closet for storing clothes and other items, which can be especially helpful for large families. It’s a large enough closet you can walk into. Many home buyers say a walk-in closet is at the top of their house-hunting checklist.

You can take your closet to the next level by including complementary features, like a full-length mirror or even a couch. You can also install display areas for shoes and jewelry.

4. Home Office

Since the height of the pandemic, many people are working from home – at least part time. This new reality has increased home buyer demand for houses with a formal home office space. Many homebuilders are adding home offices to their floor plans to accommodate this increasingly popular real estate trend.

Home offices will likely become a common house feature in the coming years.

To create a home office, you can set up a designated room or use a cozy nook in a corner of your home. If your home has a den, you can use a portion of it as a home office. Any secluded area with a lot of natural light can work well as an office space.

5. Fireplaces

Some older homes, like Victorian and Cape Cod-style houses, have a wood-burning fireplace in the living room. These homes commonly used fireplaces to heat living spaces, but in newer homes, fireplaces are largely decorative.

A home with a fireplace is a cozy, charming feature many buyers appreciate. After all, there’s nothing quite like curling up next to the fireplace on a cold night.

If you choose to install a fireplace, you must decide on the type of fireplace you want: woodburning, gas or electric.

A gas fireplace simulates the feeling of burning firewood with just the flip of a switch. Since gas fireplaces don’t rely on electricity, they’re usually more reliable than electric fireplaces. However, electric fireplaces are less expensive to install and more environmentally friendly than gas fireplaces.

6. High Ceilings

If you’ve looked at a lot of older homes, you may have noticed that the ceilings are often very high. Before air conditioning was a standard feature, high ceilings helped with airflow.

Today, the benefit of high ceilings, such as vaulted ceilings, is that they create the illusion of more space and can accommodate taller homeowners. And according to experts, high ceilings can raise a home’s value anywhere from 5% – 25%.

7. Skylights Or South-Facing Windows

Many of us spend a lot of time indoors, so it’s important to look for a home with a lot of natural light. There’s endless research about the benefits of increased sunlight, including its ability to increase focus and productivity, reduce blood pressure, relieve stress and lower anxiety.

If you have a home with skylights and south-facing windows, it can cut your heating costs and make your home more energy-efficient. Buying a home with lots of windows can benefit you when selling the home. Houses flooded with natural light look more spacious, and buyers may be willing to pay more for the extra room.

8. Second-Floor Laundry Room

Doing laundry may not be high on everyone’s list of favorite household chores, but having a second-floor laundry room can help make this task a little easier. When the laundry room is on the same floor as the bedrooms – a feature typically found in luxury homes – you won’t have to drag laundry up and down stairs.

9. Outdoor Living Space

Outdoor living spaces have always been important to home buyers, but they’ve become even more popular post-pandemic. People are spending more time at home, and a large front porch, spacious backyard or extended patio can make that time more enjoyable.

If you move to an urban or older neighborhood, outdoor living areas are especially important to home buyers. For instance, an outdoor living space makes it easier to host parties outside or build an outdoor kitchen.

10. Hidden Rooms

Hidden rooms are becoming a popular feature in homes. What started as a trend among wealthy home buyers has become popular with mainstream buyers who have enthusiastically added this feature to their wish lists. Secret rooms feel fun and exciting and are a great way to add privacy to your home.

You can use a hidden room as a secret library, kids playroom or wine cellar. If you buy a home without a hidden room, you can create it by adding wall-to-wall shelving.

11. Mudroom

A mudroom is an entryway with additional space to leave items you don't want to bring into the house. You can drop off mud-soaked shoes in the mudroom so you don’t track dirt through the house.

You can also hang up coats, backpacks and sporting equipment. Mudrooms are usually near a garage, making them a convenient stop before you make your way into your house.

You can make a mudroom more functional by adding a storage bench so guests can sit down to take off their shoes. You may also want to add cubbies, coat hooks and shelves for extra storage.

12. Exterior Lighting

When contemplating what you want in a home, exterior lighting may not be the first thing you think of, but it can add a ton of value to your house. Exterior lighting improves a home’s curb appeal and adds an extra layer of security.

If you buy a home that can use more exterior lighting, the good news is that outdoor lighting is an easy feature to add. You can have an electrician wire in new lighting or add landscape lighting.

13. Walk-In Pantry

Without adequate storage space, your kitchen can quickly become overcrowded and cluttered. That’s especially true for homeowners with large families or who frequently buy groceries in bulk.

That’s why a walk-in pantry is one of the top features potential home buyers look for. Some pantries have added functionality like open shelving or cabinets with a countertop.

How To Decide On Must-Have House Features For You

The must-have features you want in your new home will ultimately depend on your personal preferences, goals and finances. To help narrow your choices, consider:

• Assessing what works best for your lifestyle: Consider how these bells and whistles may influence your lifestyle. Will your coveted home feature require regular maintenance you may not want to carve out time for? Or will it help make a particular household routine more efficient?
• Ranking features by importance: Review your wish list of must-have household features and rank them by importance. Determining what’s a must-have and what’s a “would like to have” can help set your priorities if there are many features you want to add or update in your home but aren’t quite sure where to start or how much money you need to budget.
• Learning what adds the most value: If your goal is to prioritize investments that increase your home's value, consider a kitchen or bathroom remodel, finishing the basement or boosting the energy efficiency of the home before completing other home improvement projects, such as flooring and lighting.
• Talking to your REALTOR® or contractor: A REALTOR^® or contractor can likely guide you on the house features worth investing in based on your home and current market trends.

The Bottom Line: Figure Out Which Unique House Features You Want Before Shopping

If you’re hoping to buy a house in 2023, our list highlights some features home buyers are often willing to pay more to have.

Buying a house with some (or all) of these trending, unique house features can help ensure that your home not only meets your needs but may benefit from a boost in resale value. For help finding homes with the must-have features you’re looking for, connect with a Verified Partner Agent from Rocket Homes^SM today.