7 Features Home Buyers Want Most

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Percentage of buyers who want this feature: 80%

Cost to install: $1,000 – $10,000

Eat-in kitchens are a must-have for many buyers, especially families with children. It’s a space where they often congregate in the morning for breakfast before the kids head off to school and parents to work, or in the evening for dinner so everyone can share highlights from their day.

Removing a wall to create space for a small table and chairs in your kitchen is relatively inexpensive, but that price can quickly escalate if there’s additional repair work that needs to be done, says Neil Parsons, owner of Design Build Pros, a Red Bank, N.J., project design firm. First, determine whether the wall is load-bearing. Non-load-bearing walls are used merely to separate rooms, while load-bearing walls help hold up the weight of the house. Improperly removing the latter could cause rooms on upper levels of the home to cave in. Getting rid of a non-load-bearing wall can cost as little as $1,000; removing a load-bearing wall can run as much as $10,000.

Another concern is the possibility of mechanicals in the wall, such as plumbing, duct work and electrical wiring, that may need to be removed, Parsons notes.

SEE ALSO: 5 Ways to Remote-Control Your Home

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Eat-In Kitchen

7 Features Home Buyers Want Most