Were you spawned from a generation of bobby soxers and honorably discharged men in uniform? Did you have a mom to greet you with cookies and milk every day after school, and your garage was graced with a solitary car? Chances are, you are not consistently referred to as just a "baby boomer" any more. You may be entering into that "empty nester" stage of life, and it feels just fine.

You may also be member of the "boom" generation that is about to make a profound effect on the new home market. Builders are already positioning themselves to provide smaller , elegant homes that offer versatility, comfort, convenience, and yet, still make a statement about what you have achieved and where you are going.

New home marketing trends study what key items buyers such as yourself look for in a "scaled down" home. They picture you with a decent income and an established trend for retirement savings. You are couples who don't care to hassle accumulating items at the bottom of the stairs (to carry up with them every time) any more, and who prefer the simplicity of a single level home. Some of you have already had the big yard complete with a pool, yard maintenance, or elaborate landscaping, and now you don't care to spend so much time manicuring, cleaning, and tending the "hole in your pocket" over them. Those times were golden, but now your needs have changed.

You may be looking for smaller house payments, for your grown kids to find their own way in life, and the ability to lock the front door and take a cruise to the Caribbean. Let's face it -- a big house may look like a virtual safety net for your little darlings to move back to, so why tempt them? Your discretionary income may now be used for health spas, dabbling in stocks, more frequent travels, or helping out your parents. Those post-war gals and guys who came home and created our freeways, booming cities, and social security system are now at ages none of us could ever have pictured them while we were growing up. Indeed, your personal landscape has changed quite a bit over the past ten years or so.

Tapping into this emerging need has been the focus of many a builder in the late '90s. Believe it or not, it is far more difficult to design homes with smaller square footages than it is larger ones, because the challenge here is not space, but the critical use of space. Although many new home buyers still love a formal dining room, they aren't so keen on formal living rooms any longer. They want elegant, roomy master suites, but don't need a slew of bedrooms. Three car garages areas with options for hobby rooms, workout areas, or workshops are commonly requested. Simplicity doesn't mean "stripped down" to the new empty nester. You tend to be savvy "upgraders", adding state of the art sound systems and computer wiring, gleaming no-care granite surfaces to your kitchens, and options first time homebuyers wait years to add to their homes. You opt for builders to add patios and walkways while the home is under construction, (why hassle it later on?), you usually choose modestly sized home sites, and finally go for the gusto on a carpet upgrade you've always wanted. Great Room (one large living area) concepts have come back with a vengeance. To an empty nester, smaller homes don't mean that kitchen sizes must be compromised. They are still the hub of activity for those who now have the time they never had when they were younger to fine tune their culinary skills and entertain at last.

Each buyer's idea of an empty nest and little slice of scale-down heaven is different, of course. I f you are in the market for a new home, I would caution you to think long and hard on just what "atmosphere" you are looking for in a new home neighborhood, first and foremost. Do you want to be surrounded by others at the same stage in life you have now earned? There's never a guarantee that you won't be dodging skateboarders and jump-ropers in a new home neighborhood, when it was your deep desire to avoid the "kiddie" zone. If that's the case, there are communities that may be referred to as "non-age restricted adult environments", complete with a club houses and community pools. Others state precisely how 'young' you need to be to buy there (usually 55), but for those of you who feel you're not ready for that yet, it may be difficult to find just the right "niche" area for a new home, even when you've found just the right house. A new home sales person, by law, is not permitted to divulge demographics in their communities unless they are like those mentioned above. You can, however, visit the communities you are interested in frequently on weekends to see for yourself who lives there. Get comfortable with the location, its proximity to shopping, golf courses, and freeways.

You may even want to be within range of those grown kids who are on their way to their own American Dreams, and can't wait to get into that roomy two story house on a half acre!

Related Article: When Is It Time To Sell ? The Empty-Nester Dilemma.

Published: April 16, 1999

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A veteran of the real estate and homebuilding industries since 1986, Dena Kouremetis first joined Realty Times as a new homes writer in 1998. Since then, she has authored four books, written consumer columns on new homes issues for websites and newspapers all across the country, contributed to builder trade magazines, appeared as a guest expert on several radio shows and even created a ten-chapter podcast for LendingTree.com’s homebuilder website, iNest.com, now available on iTunes, entitled Uncharted Waters; Navigating the Purchase of a New Production Home. Kouremetis recently joined her local Folsom, CA Coldwell Banker office as a broker associate while continuing to write for the real estate industry. For the past three years, she has been training real estate agents for both the resale and new homes industries, putting her experience, research expertise and gift of expression to work to help others entering the business.