When it comes to buying a house, what room seals the deal?
It depends on the size of the house. The kitchen is perhaps the most important room in any house. The kitchen in a small house is perhaps the room people focus on the most when they are ready to buy. As you might have noticed, in every party the kitchen is the only room that is always full of people. I am a firm believer that the kitchen needs to be an open, spacious and bright room because you spend a lot of time there with your family. 
The Master Suite in bigger houses is the room that most people feel should be the main focus when it comes to buying a house. People look for privacy and when there are kids, having a Master Suite helps a lot.
When you have an extra room that can be used as a Family Room, that gives the house some extra points, more so than having a den. A Family Room adds an area where the kids can watch movies or play away from the adults and where the husband with his friends can watch the game and be loud while the rest of the house can be left alone.
Another area that people pay attention to is the separate rooms like guest houses that they can use as an office or just a study. Some people like to buy houses with guest rooms away from the house to be able to rent them for some extra cash but that is a dangerous thing to do since the City would fine you if they find out. I will cover that on another topic.
People love Walk-In-Closets and in general, bathrooms and/or kitchens that have been redone. It does not take much to remodel a kitchen or a bathroom these days. Nice improvements and sharp looks can be achieved with very little money and the best part is, you always get most of the money back when you sale the property. 
Making just cosmetics changes or improvements is usually enough to give the house a refreshed look. Remodeling and adding area to your home can be hard when you are living in the house, so I always recommend that the homeowners move out during construction or at least for part of it. Make sure you calculate the cost for relocation when you put together the project expenses and add it to the budget.
Here are some numbers so you can have an idea about the cost of construction right now and what you get back if you build a remodel or addition now.
From the REMODELING COST VS. VALUE REPORT – NATIONAL DATA, 2009
Mid Range House in San Diego
Project Job Cost Resale Value Cost Recouped
Bathroom Addition $38,078 $24,187 63.50%
Bathroom Remodel $15,899 $11,857 74.60%
Big Kitchen Remodel $56,611 $43,030 76.00%
Master Suite Addition $101,571 $67,037 66.00%
Siding (vinyl) $10,256 $8,274 80.70%
2-Story Addition $146,538 $103,553 70.70%
Deck Addition (wood) $10,601 $8,676 81.80%
Family Room Addition $81,315 $53,608 65.90%
Garage Addition $57,272 $38,161 66.60%
Upscale House in San Diego
Project Job Cost Resale Value Cost Recouped
Bathroom Addition $74,325 $49,100 66.10%
Bathroom Remodel $51,455 $36,400 70.70%
Big Kitchen Remodel $110,964 $78,398 70.70%
Master Suite Addition $223,876 $136,764 61.10%
Siding $13,177 $11,424 86.70%
Garage Addition $85,844 $53,908 62.80%
For more information on this topic: Remodeling Cost vs. Value, visit the Remodeling Magazine
Home Design remodels and additions are the thing to do right now. Take advantage of the low design and construction costs right now and start preparing your Home Design Layouts today! Please read my previous article: To Remodel Or Not To Remodel? Part II
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