Furniture Shouldn’t Govern Your Home Choice

They were a couple in their early 30s, hunting for their first home.

But their search soon became a virtual obsession. Why? Because the wife was driven to find a house with an oversized dining room to display her treasured heirlooms: a set of heavy Elizabethan-style mahogany dining room pieces.

Unfortunately, the neighborhoods the couple could afford offered mainly ranch-type houses, few of which have spacious dining rooms or high ceilings.

So to meet their furniture goal, they had to settle for a place with a disjointed floor plan involving a family room built in the back. This they converted to a formal dining room.

It’s not up to buyers’ agents to dictate priorities to their clients, said W. Darrow Fiedler, the agent for the couple with the mahogany furniture.

But he knows that by letting the furniture drive their home selection, his clients passed up better deals, spending about $30,000 more than they would have for a more typical house.

It’s a rare home buyer who deliberately places a high priority on his furniture. Antique collectors and those with precious family pieces are among the exceptions. Still, many apartment renters make the mistake of spending large sums on furniture before they purchase a home, only to discover that the pieces they bought would be out of place in most homes in their price range.

“Try to delay any expensive or large furniture purchases until you’ve bought your home,” said Fiedler, who sells homes through Re/Max Beach Cities/Westside Realty in Manhattan Beach.

Seeking to find just the right home to accommodate your furniture is a burden too many buyers carry, said Robert Irwin, author of “Buy Right, Sell High,” a 1997 book by Dearborn Financial Publishing.

“Quite frankly, you have plenty to worry about when you’re buying a house. You don’t need to worry about the furniture on top of it,” said Irwin, who lives and works in the South Bay area.

For most buyers, issues related to a home’s floor plan, construction and location, such as whether it’s too close to a noisy highway or too far from decent public schools, should be far more important than whether it’s well-suited to their furniture, Irwin said.

The problem is that many apartment dwellers buy fancy bedroom furnishings, elaborate dining room sets and heavy entertainment units before they’re able to make a home purchase.

What explains their haste? Often, they’re convinced they lack the cash to buy a home and take furniture (or a luxurious car) as a consolation prize.

“People who want a home really want the freedom, independence and security that a home gives them,” Irwin said. “But if they think they don’t have the financial wherewithal, their energy gets redirected in other ways.”

Obviously, spending thousands of dollars on new furniture is at war with the goal of amassing a healthy down payment on a home. The problem is compounded if the furniture is financed at high credit card rates. To make matters worse, new furniture typically depreciates in value rapidly, whereas home prices in most communities are level or rising, Irwin said.

“The thing about furniture is that it has no investment value, unless you have antiques or rarities. Spend $10,000 on furniture at a department store and then try to sell it back to them the next day. They won’t give you 10 cents,” he said.

To be sure, those who must remain in a rental unit for financial reasons shouldn’t deprive themselves of the comfort of quality furnishings for an extended period of time.

But many overestimate the cash needed to buy a home. They don’t know about the plethora of low-down payment programs now available through such national mortgage companies as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, said Elaine R. Euscher, an associate broker for Coldwell Banker in Yorba Linda.

Are you determined not to let expensive furniture block your path to buying a first home or the right home? Then these suggestions could help:

* Shop for second-hand items at furniture rental warehouses.

Fiedler, the Re/Max agent, recommends against renting furniture for the dwelling you lease unless you’re certain you’ll be moving to a distant state within a year or two. Otherwise, your monthly rental tab can add up quickly.

However, furniture-rental companies will often sell their 2- to 3-year-old items at 50% to 75% off the cost of new furniture, Fiedler said. By shopping such secondhand outlets, you can furnish a whole apartment for $500, sparing thousands for your home-savings account.

* Take special care in selecting bedroom and dining room furniture.

Furniture showrooms are filled with elaborate master bedroom suites: king-sized beds and huge armoires, for example. Some renters spend a small fortune on such sets, only to discover that they won’t fit well in the home they select. Perhaps the bedroom is large yet has too many windows for the furniture.

Majestic dining room sets are also a problem, especially in brand-new homes. The reason? Many builders are shrinking the size of formal dining rooms as the family room and kitchen take on extra square footage.

* Remember that “entertainment units” are now often built-in.

An increasing number of new homes are constructed with customized entertainment systems, complete with a large-screen TV tied in with stereo sound.

If you’re convinced that a brand-new home is in your future, you may wish to forgo purchase of a free-standing entertainment system that could prove superfluous, says Euscher of Coldwell Banker.

* Don’t let new furniture define your choice of a home to buy.

Even if you’ve spent thousands on new furniture that wouldn’t look right in the home you’ve selected to purchase, you shouldn’t let the furniture dictate your decision unless the furniture has extraordinary value to you.

It’s better to give away your new furniture--or sell it at a fraction of the cost--than allow it to dictate your home purchase. After all, isn’t it more important that your young daughter attend an excellent elementary school than that she has a bedroom large enough for her new canopy bed?

“Buying a house is a big emotional decision. If you can let go of any furniture issues, that can lift a big cloud from your purchase,” Fiedler said.

Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate.