5 Home Features LA Homebuyers Want Right Now

As buyers begin searching for a home in Los Angeles in 2021, there are numerous features and upgrades they desire when they ultimately close a deal on the home of their dreams. 

With the confluence of temperate weather and beautiful views in Los Angeles, homeowners increasingly blend traditional and high tech features to enjoy the comforts of indoors and out. Homes have become so advanced that tech-savvy buyers have a dizzying array of smart appliances and custom remodeling to consider when buying a home.

Below our team compiled a list of the leading home features buyers are asking for right now.

Relaxing poolside

An iconic staple of Southern California living is the in-ground pool, and people buying a home in Los Angeles prioritize properties with this aquatic amenity. They provide homeowners in the cities like Los Angeles with a serene respite after spending long hours in traffic. Swimming is as old as humanity itself, but developers introduced the backyard pool in the early 1900s when movie moguls and executives in Los Angeles had designers construct swimmable reflecting pools for their palatial manners. 

While private reflecting pools were out of reach for most people for many years, this changed by the 1960s as kidney-shaped pools mimicking the creeks and marshes of Sonoma County became a household fixture in the backyards of many Los Angeles homes. 

While buyers can find these historic kidney and clover-shaped pools all around Los Angeles, homeowners with money to spend have ushered in new trends when it comes to water-based relaxation. Wealthy home buyers searching for homes in Bel Aire, Brentwood, and Pacific Palisades will find masterpiece infinity pools with disappearing horizons providing sweeping views of the LA cityscape.

Despite living closer to the Pacific than many Americans, traveling to the beach can become an all-day affair for some LA residents. Locals with a heart for the ocean air can convert their pool from freshwater to saltwater. This conversion is easier to manage for homeowners and evokes feelings of soaking up the sun at Santa Monica Beach. 

Indoor-outdoor living 

The beautiful weather of Los Angeles draws tourists from around the world to the shores and hills of LA, alluring visitors to become residents. As such, a must-have amenity for homebuyers in Los Angeles are dwellings providing a seamless flow between inside and outside living. As a result, homebuyers scouring listings in LA increasingly seek properties providing an organic blend of indoor and outdoor living.

To bring these visions to life, designers drew inspiration from historical Spanish Missions, using columns to support terracotta tile roofs, creating open-air walkways that now expand the outdoor living space for local homeowners. Today, many Spanish and Mission Revival homes in Los Angeles feature a portico entrance in front and have large overhanging awnings providing much-needed shade in the backyard. Even classic Craftsman-style homes are modified so that their iconic overhanging roof extends farther in the back and side yard, providing LA homeowners with even more precious outdoor space. 

Developers and homeowners customizing their outdoor spaces usually mimick the defining features of their homes. Homeowners build open-air dwellings to house outdoor kitchens featuring grills, pizza ovens, heating elements for pans, and wet bars. Home designers take these outdoor retreats a step further by adorning spaces with weatherproof couches and weatherproof smart TVs, allowing residents to step outside and enjoy the same creature comforts found in the living room.

But if a prospective buyer wants the best blend of indoor and outdoor space, they’ll have to scour the listings for Post-Modern homes adorning the streets of Hollywood Hills. These sought-after compounds feature floor-to-ceiling glass walls and open-air plans that are awash with natural light. Then with a voice or touch prompt, the glass walls magically open to private yards with views of the city.

Open floor plans 

LA residents spend more time at home than ever before, and homeowners want houses that bask in the natural light awarded by open floor planning. LA homes featuring open floor plans coupled with large windows and glass doors provide homeowners with spacious living quarters that glow from natural lighting while freeing up precious square footage. 

Developers and home builders in the Los Angeles area did not miss a beat, as most newly-built and remodeled homes blend the lines between indoor and outdoor space. Inside, open floor plans make the kitchen or living room the focal point of a home, allowing more light in the house through large windows and sliding glass doors. 

These types of designs also allow homeowners to move fluidly through their living space. Additionally, modern open floor plans make it easier to heat up and cool down rooms, creating energy efficiencies while allowing natural sunlight to brighten up the home instead of using traditional lighting fixtures. 

Smart home technology

Advances in smart appliance technology enable homeowners in Los Angeles to preset their home temperature, adjust the angle of their blinds to let in or block the LA sun, and get notifications from their Ring doorbell when packages are delivered. 

Californians are spending more time at home than ever before, and when they wish to trade up for a new home, they will find many homes pre-equipped with connected devices. Connected home devices have advanced over the years, leading many homeowners in Los Angeles to integrate smart ovens, refrigerators, speaker systems, and AC systems units in their homes. An emerging trend finds homeowners tailoring remodeling projects to facilitate the use of connected appliances. For instance, handy owners customize their bedrooms by building walk-in closets designed around automated shirt steamers and other devices to keep their wardrobe fresh.

Depending on the funds a homeowner has available to them, some homes come equipped with smart pools featuring lighting and temperature control functions activated by an iPhone app. By augmenting their homes with smart appliances, homeowners improve their quality of life and raise the home value, giving them an edge in a competitive market. 

Garage space & accessory dwelling spaces

Before the pandemic, workers in technology, entertainment, or one of the many industries supporting these businesses would routinely spend over 110 hours a year stuck in the infamous traffic of Los Angeles. Cars are a way of life in Los Angeles, pandemic or not, and prospective homeowners in the city will need garages if they plan to keep their vehicles out of the elements. 

Drivers in the Northeast of America know all too well the damage their cars take from road salt each winter, and while drivers in Los Angeles don’t have the same issue, purchasing a home with a garage provides a different kind of protection. Buying a property without a garage means finding street parking or missing out on extra storage space. Garages also provide workshop space for handy homeowners to plan out and bring their home remodeling visions to life. 

In addition, creative buyers looking to maximize space can convert their garage into an accessory dwelling space (ADU) or an in-law suite, as they are sometimes known. Families with aging parents can create space for a multi-generational household or make room for a spacious home office.

Depending on the capital available to a homeowner, they can also have separate ADUs built on their property if there is enough room to comply with local regulations. They are perfect for homeowners that want an artist studio, writing room, or man cave.

Prevu Real Estate, Inc. is a licensed real estate broker in California, license number 02134758.