For Douglas Poretz, “office” means a plush 300-square-foot space with 10-foot ceilings, huge windows and a pair of French doors leading out onto a patio. It’s the lower level of his new home.
Are you, like Poretz, one of the 41 million Americans who work at home? Then the experts say you should definitely take your office needs into account when you buy your next house.
“There has to be a separation between work and living quarters,” says Kim Gordon, author of “Growing Your Home-Based Business,” a Prentice-Hall paperback.
Poretz, an investor relations consultant, once tried to operate his one-person company from a library near the noisy family room where his young son played. It didn’t take long to realize he needed to be away from the flow of family traffic to be successful.
His new home, a 10,000-square-foot colonial, affords him the quiet out-of-the-way space he needs to concentrate. There, he can also surround himself with his office gear, which includes two computers, a fax and a Bloomberg Business Service monitor that lets him track his clients’ stocks.
“The most important thing is to look for a house with separate space if not a separate building,” says Tim Mattox, founder of the Tag-Team Cooperative, a 2,300-member organization of home-based businesses.
If she had to do it over again, Jane Applegate, a small-business expert, would have bought a house already equipped with an elaborate office where her company could grow. Instead, she later converted her garage into a high-grade home office.
When you buy a home that already offers a good work space, you spare yourself the disruption that’s always involved in a major home-improvement project, notes Applegate, author of “Succeeding in Small Business: The 101 Toughest Problems and How to Solve Them,” a Penguin paperback.
All too often, the owners of new home-based businesses try to fit their work area into a kitchen nook or den. Then, a few months later, they realize the need for calmer, larger quarters, Applegate says.
It’s the lucky home-based worker who has the chance to buy a property with his office needs in mind.
“That way you can save yourself a lot of hassle,” says Sarah Edwards, co-author of “Working From Home,” a Tarcher/Putnam paperback.
If you expect to be working at home, or already are, these house-shopping pointers could prove of value.
1. Look for a house in a neighborhood that welcomes home-based businesses.
By tradition, zoning laws in many communities are hostile to entrepreneurs who labor at home. The fear is that home-based companies will shatter the serenity of a residential neighborhood by adding traffic as employees are hired and deliveries made.
Understandably, most local governments still refuse to allow smokestack-style companies in their residential areas. But the reality is that most home-based workers are individuals who labor alone on computers for their own firm or employers based elsewhere. As quiet, non-polluting companies, they help rather than hinder a neighborhood.
“More jurisdictions are dropping their arcane laws and becoming hospitable,” says Mattox, of the Tag-Team Cooperative, which markets group health insurance and other products to its members.
The law is one thing and community sentiment is another. If you’re intent on building a business at your house, you should not only check local government restrictions, but also track down leaders of the local improvement association to see if anyone is making a fuss about work-at-home firms.
“It’s the old adage that one troublemaker in a neighborhood can really make a huge amount of trouble,” Mattox says.
2. Consider buying a house in a non-isolated setting. Some introverts can work alone at their computers day after day without feeling isolated. But many home-workers yearn for the companionship they once found at the corporate water cooler.
Are you a gregarious soul planning to work at home? Then you could be better off buying a house in a close-in area with foot traffic, shops and restaurants rather than an out-of-the-way suburb. The coffee shop around the corner-where you meet friends and associates on your lunch breaks-could be your salvation.
“If you like being around people, it could absolutely drive you nuts to live in the country,” Mattox says.
3. Look for a second entrance if you’re going to see clients at your home office.
“If you’re a chiropractor, you need a prestigious office with a separate entrance,” says Gordon.
By having a separate entrance, you project a more professional image to your clients than if they have to traipse through your living quarters. For the same reason, it’s ideal to have a separate bathroom to serve your home office.
“A lot of people still have negative stereotypes of home-based businesses,” says Gordon, who heads the National Marketing Federation Inc., which assists such companies through phone telephone counseling. It’s important to try to overcome this image problem, she says.
4. Shop for a home office that puts you at ease while you work.
It could be a fourth bedroom, a converted garage or a room specially designed as a home office. Whatever space it is, it should be inviting to those who will spend hours each day in the office.
For many, a bright office with large windows is essential, whether they work at home or in a corporate setting.
