I have some land that I'm building a duplex on. At the moment I'm looking at designs. Some of them are for 3 bedrooms and some are for 4 bedrooms.
My question is this.... what will sell better? 3 larger bedroom or 4 smaller bedrooms? It is near Parramatta so it's a pretty suburban area with lots of families.
Also 2 living areas or one living area and study with a large entrance?
Laundry with an external door or just go through the living room to the garden with the laundry?
Kitchen island or breakfast bar?
Downstairs floor tiles or wood?

Are there any special features that make you want to buy a home?
We are right into real estate, building for the second time and have an investment property so here are my thoughts:

- 3 large bedrooms all with double robes. Storage is paramount. Rooms big enough to fit queen size beds is a big plus (suits children and teenagers). If you can achieve that with four bedrooms then that's even better.
- definitely two living areas. Our last house had one living area (open plan with adjoining alfresco through byfolds) and it was a PITA if we had guests (especially with kids). If you have big bedrooms, the kids can do homework in their rooms (if required). Lots of families have laptops these days as well.
- normal kitchen with breaky bar. We had an island bench (galley kitchen) in our last place and I wouldn't do it again, unless we had no other choice. We found the kitchen became more part of the walkway, ITMS. A more closed off kitchen makes it more of a proper workspace, IYKWIM.
- door from laundry straight outside. It's easier to access the line in most cases and can be a good place for grubby kids to enter and dust off
- floorboards. We have just renovated my parents house and did the clip in floating floorboards. My dad installed them himself over a few days. They were quite cheap and look brilliant and if they get damaged, it's quite easy to replace the damaged board (as you don't sand them). We had real timber floors in our last house and will do the same in our next one. They are hard wearing (providing you choose the right timber), look warm and welcoming and their look is timeless. We had blackbutt in extra wide boards. It was a bit pricey but had so much 'wow factor'. Tiles can look really lovely but they often date very quickly.