Jennifer LeBow

To be honest, living in the Philadelphia metro area, we don’t see a lot of outdoor kitchens as the weather isn’t conducive to using them all that often.  However, I do see them sometimes when I’m listing or showing houses and they run the gamut from minimalistic to “over the top”.  I read a great article on how to decide which amenities you need and how to design an outdoor kitchen tailored to your individual lifestyle. It advises you to start with answering several questions about how often and what foods you plan to cook outside, how to determine whether your grill should be natural gas, propane or charcoal, how much prep work you’ll do outside (do you need running water?) and how many people will be using the space at one time. Do you need an eating space out there?  For how many? The author then tackles the layout of the kitchen and discusses custom vs. pre-fab pieces and the different materials available.  She raises questions about whether you’ll need electricity (will you want to plug in appliances out there? have an ice maker?). Different types of cabinetry, from stainless steel to marine grade polymer are available and there are some important considerations for each. She addresses different counter top materials (as well as size) and reviews flooring options–stone? concrete?  The article ends with an in depth discussion of different kinds of grills and which features you’ll need. It’s a very thorough article and, should I ever have the opportunity to design and build an outdoor kitchen, I’ll now be better informed about the scope of such a project and just how many decisions need to be made.

When people decide they are ready to consider purchasing a home, one of the first things we real estate agents recommend to them is to get a pre-approval so they know what they can afford.  I’ve made it a practice to tell my buyers that their pre-approval does NOT take into account a complete picture of the cost of home ownership.  While most pre-approvals include taxes and home owner’s insurance and some even address home owner association fees, no pre-approval takes into account the cost of home maintenance.  I try to warn (especially first-time) buyers that it costs money to keep a home in good repair. The seller’s disclosure brings some of the major expenses to a buyer’s attention, like the age of the roof, HVAC system and whether there is water in the basement. These items are definitely important to budget for, but there are lots of others that don’t necessarily occur to people, like the cost of redoing a driveway (or having it plowed), the cost of landscaping and gutter cleaning and tree work (which can be very costly)?  How about interior and exterior paint? Refinishing hardwood floors? A contract with a pest control company? Then there are the things that just break and need repair like leaky pipes or backed up drains, chimney liners that require replacing, electrical problems, stone patios that start to crumble…budgeting for home repair is so important, but so frequently overlooked when buyers are figuring out what they can afford. My advice is to set aside a certain amount of money every month to be earmarked for maintenance (recommendations range from 1%-4% of the purchase price of the home). Otherwise, you will either find yourself housepoor and not able to do some of the regular activities you’re used to doing (like dining out, traveling, etc.) as you have to divert that disposable income to caring for the property or worse, if you don’t have much discretionary income, your home may fall into disrepair which affects not only its value as an asset/investment, but your enjoyment of it while you’re living there.