Community Amenities to Look For – and to Avoid Kansas

Clubhouses, swimming pools, tennis courts, play areas, soccer fields, hiking trails, nature areas, activity coordinators, massage therapists – the list of community amenities when you’re shopping for a home can be mind-boggling. So how can you sort through what’s best for you without getting, well, boggled by the choices?

A good place to start is to consider your lifestyle. Are you more comfortable walking in the woods than being at the center of a crowd, or do you have a busy, active family energized by physical activity and organized sports? Are you interested more in spa- or resort-type amenities, or do you think you wouldn’t get much use out of the hot tub, sauna and masseuse, much less the championship golf course?

Holly Slaughter, editor-in-chief of the RealEstate.com Tips and Tools section, suggests thinking about what the amenities say about the community.

For example, she said, “If there are a lot of playgrounds, green space and picnic areas, is that going to attract buyers with children?” If you are looking for a family-friendly community, this might be one to put on your list. But if you prefer a quieter lifestyle, the community might not suit you.

Some community amenities are more “urban or artsy,” Slaughter said. Mixed-use neighborhoods, which often include some multifamily housing and a town center, might have that lively feel you’re looking for in the mix of shops lining the pedestrian-friendly commercial area.

Lakeside homes also mean different things to different people. Someone desiring a quiet, lakeside retreat might not realize how noisy a recreational lake is on warm weekends between the speedboats, personal watercraft and partying boaters. In the north, frozen lakes may also attract snowmobilers, so the noise is almost year-round.

Slaughter can talk first-hand about the split personality of some waterfront living. She and her husband were envisioning a private waterfront paradise when they bought a home on a cul-de-sac that fronted a large creek. And it was a beautiful spot. But the creek flooded when it rained, and on nice days it was flooded with picnickers and others wanting to enjoy the water. Their private retreat was anything but.

She advises potential homebuyers to go by the home they’re thinking of buying every day for at least a week, at all times of day, to see the levels of activity and the “energy and character of the neighborhood.”

It’s important, too, to realize that amenities add to the cost of a home, Slaughter said – regardless of whether you use them. Costs also can be assessed in the form of monthly fees. Do you really want to pay hundreds of dollars a year or more in club memberships if you don’t golf?

Meanwhile, if one community’s amenity package doesn’t appeal to you, the next one might.

“I feel like we’re kind of back to the ‘80s with the big hair,” Slaughter jokes. “We’ve got big amenities now. Builders are trying to one-up each other with bigger and better amenities.”