The Outdoor Fireplace and Real Estate Values

I’ve written quite a bit over the years about pizza ovens and real estate values. In the early days of the Forno Bravo Forum, we had a community member who had built (and loved) a Pompeii Oven, who had been transferred at work and need to move and sell his house. This was during the worst moments of the economic downturn and the drop in house values. But he was able to sell his house, and he was convinced that his beautiful oven was one of the big factors as to why he was able to sell it. And with the recently articles in the NY Times and South Carolina’s Post and Courier, it’s good to see the trend continue.

But yesterday’s NY Times article in the Long Island Regional Real Estate section; Creating Outdoor Appeal opened my eyes to the wider opportunity.

Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times

Outdoor fireplaces, outdoor kitchens and outdoor living space as a whole can add value to your house and help you sell your house. And the “staycation” theme is alive and well.

During spring and summer on Long Island, as buyers think about relaxing, entertaining, barbecuing and “staycations,” backyard appeal is as important as curb appeal in selling a home. Standards have been pushed higher than ever these days; a dining table with an umbrella on the patio and a few chairs on the lawn no longer make the grade.

And,

These well-appointed “yards on steroids” are a magnet for spring- and summertime buyers. “People come in and they go right to the backyard,” Ms. Hauser said, citing a listing in Lloyd Neck with multiple levels of patios, and a large pool with a grotto, a swim-up bar and a built-in barbecue. “They are so excited to have this extra living space. It’s the generation that is looking for instant gratification. If two houses are next to each other and one has that extra living space, it adds some sort of inherent value. People like to be outside.”