When Sally Chapralis and husband Jim purchased their tri-level Skokie home two years ago, they already had given a great deal of thought to how their new home would accommodate Sally`s home-based marketing communications business.
The couple had lived in two West Rogers Park apartments-including one in which there was no door to the home office and separating work space from living space was difficult-and they were determined that their next home would take into account their individual needs for space and privacy.
Whether because of corporate layoffs, the desire to cut down on commuting costs or the need to spend more time on a part-time business endeavor, an increasing number of individuals are taking part of their living space and turning it into a home office, complete with all the latest in electronic equipment. Though Title 17 of the Municipal Code of Chicago technically prohibits operating a business out of one`s home, more and more home-based businesses are springing up in the city as well as the suburbs.
If you`re in the market for a new house or condo and work out of your home, you`d be wise to consider a number of factors before signing on the dotted line:
1. Will clients be coming to your home?
2. How much space is needed in your home office for equipment, the storage of files and possible additional employees?
3. Is it important to have plenty of natural light and windows in your office?
4. Do you prefer a home office that`s close to other activities or situated in a remote corner of the house?
How much traffic?
Indeed, the first question that David Hall, vice president and managing broker of Kahn Realty`s Lincoln Park office, asks a prospective buyer who works out of his or her home is whether clients will be coming to the office. ”It would absolutely make a difference as to what building you would be shown because many condos in Chicago have rules that restrict customers or clients from visiting a home office on a regular basis.”
Hall also notes that having a business in which clients come to your home office might determine what type of layout you choose for your new home. ”It might be advantageous for an office to be accessible to the front door, or maybe, in the case of a single-family house, have a separate entrance so that a client wouldn`t have to go all the way through the house to get to the office.”
On the other hand, some work-at-home individuals might not need a separate office if clients don`t come to visit. ”A lot of people say you need an outside entrance if you have a home office. But I usually go to clients`
offices outside of Chicago, so a separate entrance wasn`t important when we looked at houses,” says hotel consultant Mary Ellen Young, who works out of her Downers Grove home. Three years ago, Young and her husband, Anthony, an orthodontist, moved into their current home, which features a spacious first- floor office situated next to the family room.
When looking at prospective homes, it`s important to consider whether you prefer using a remote second-floor bedroom as your office, a room that overlooks a busy street, or an office that`s situated next to the baby`s room so that you can be atuned to your child`s every cry. Each type of arrangement has its pros and cons.
Marketing communications consultant Chapralis and her husband, Jim, knew that their new house would need to contain a lot of separate space for each of them; not only does Chapralis work at home, but her husband has several hobbies and a need for some space of his own.
”Many of the houses that we looked at had a congested feel to them,”
Sally Chapralis recalls. ”We knew when we were looking that there would have to be a lot of space where Jim could do his own thing and a home office where I could do my own thing. Separation of space was very important to us.”
Finding privacy
Chapralis chose as her own office a large second-floor bedroom that contains her files, a phone, an electric typewriter, a computer and a printer. A smaller conference room right next to her office, where client meetings are held, contains a fax machine, table and couch.
”I chose this part of the house for my office because it`s off in a corner and I can be shut away from everything,” Chapralis says. ”I have privacy, and my husband doesn`t feel like he can`t be himself and work on his hobbies or watch television. The office doesn`t intrude on our life the way it did when we lived in an apartment.”
Though Chapralis`s office is in a bedroom on the second floor, away from the main activity of the house, she does have an office with plenty of windows and light streaming in. ”I wanted light in my office; I wouldn`t have chosen a room (for my office) without windows.”
Adds Jim Johnson, senior vice president of International Business Interiors, based in Des Plaines: ”If you`re working in a home office that has a computer, you must have adequate light that shines down on the work surface and light that is reflected in the room itself.”
Other home-workers agree that having a view of the outside world is important when you`re holed up in a home office all day. ”When my husband and I lived in a townhome in Oak Brook, I had an upstairs office that had one small window,” says Mary Ellen Young. ”The office looked out onto the street where there was no traffic, and I felt like there was no world outside. Now, my office, which faces the back yard, has two good-sized windows and there`s a bird feeder in the yard so I feel like there`s a world outside.”
Power shopping
Making certain that there are enough electrical outlets to accommodate all sorts of electronic equipment is important when searching for that perfect new house or condo.
”We told real estate salespersons and everyone under the sun that I would be working from a home office, and we checked whether or not the outlets would accommodate a computer and other equipment,” Chapralis recalls. ”So right off the bat everyone knew we needed a lot of outlets.”
When it comes to space for files and equipment, home-workers often forget that a small office with limited storage may not be suitable for a rapidly growing business. ”People don`t think about the growing needs of their business and where they`ll be in six months,” says Jim Johnson of
International Business Interiors.
Adds David Hall of Kahn Realty: ”I always ask home buyers how much space they need in an office. Do you need a 10-by-10-foot room or a 20-by-30-foot room? And in terms of storage, how much storage space do you need for files and papers? I might suggest that an adjacent large closet or room serve as storage space.”
Though architect Gigi McCabe-Neile lives in Chicago`s De Paul neighborhood and works full-time out of her office in the Monadnock Building downtown, she and her husband, John, are scouting the market for a larger-sized condominium that would accommodate a home office. ”The volume of my business has decreased a great deal,” says McCabe-Neile. ”I`d like to cut expenses (by working at home) and spend more time with our 8-year-old daughter, Justine.”
And like many professionals, McCabe-Neile needs to keep daily records and copies of correspondence, drawings and contracts for about 15 years to protect against potential lawsuits. That means that adequate storage space is high on the list when it comes to purchasing a condominium.
Storage space
”I`d need a lot of space in a home office, and unless there was basement storage, I might even have to rent additional space somewhere else,” says McCabe-Neile.
But it`s not only the storage of important papers that McCabe-Neile worries about. Though she currently has no extra full-time employees in her downtown office, she does anticipate possibly hiring some people to work with her in her home office. ”Architecture is not a solitary profession; it`s more of a team effort and I like working with other people. You have to be able to respond to clients` needs and perhaps get extra help, and that means having space for them. . . .”
Whatever your requirements are for a home office, it`s important to remember that somebody else who works out of a home office may have totally different needs. ”Some people,” says David Hall, ”are looking for a home with a space for an office, while other people are looking for an office that has living space in it.”
