Creating the Ultimate Home Theater in Your San Antonio Home

Not too long ago you had to be somewhat wealthy to have a home theater room in your home. Projectors, screens, and components used to cost an arm and a leg. But just like a lot of things, as innovations occurred, prices began to drop. Now just about anyone can enjoy watching sporting events and movies from the comfort of their own homes.

And that’s a good thing in these troubling COVID-19 pandemic times. Most movie theaters have been shut down since March. They are just now beginning to reopen at very limited capacities. Sporting events are being held in empty stadiums, if they are being held at all. And besides, just how safe do you think it may be to mingle in a crowd of people today? Home theaters make maintaining social distancing a lot easier.

So the answer is to turn that family room or bonus space into your own personal home cinema. Here is what it is going to take.

A High-Quality Projector

A laser projector is now an affordable state-of-the-art necessity. They are easy to set up, have a greater picture quality then the older technology lamp-based projectors, and can be used in rooms that are less that completely dark. The important features that your choice of laser projector should have include:

• 4K UHD (Ultra-High Definition) resolution
• High brightness, measured in lumens, of at least 2500-3000 lumens
• A contrast ratio of a minimum 50,000:1
• Throw ratio – how far away from the screen can the projector be placed to obtain the image size that you desire (room dimensions need to be considered)
• Zoom lens capability

A Viewing Screen

Yes, you could just use a white wall, but if you are making an effort to create a true home theater, a quality screen is required. There are several types of screens on the market, so you need to explore all of the different options.

• Permanent
• Portable
• Manual pull down
• Electric

Seating

Comfortable chairs to accommodate the crowd has to be part of the plan. The seating doesn’t have to be theater seats, but recliners with footrests are recommended. After all, even a short movie is more than 1 ½ hours long.

Components

Make sure you have a good sound system with surround and rear speakers, a subwoofer, and ceiling-mounted height speakers. You should also have a 4K blue-ray player, computer, or some other device that provides streaming services, like an Amazon Firestick.

Space

You need a room to put everything in. Although an extra bedroom will do, a larger room to fit the chairs and theater equipment would be more reasonable. Remember the number of viewers you want to have and the need for comfortable seating with adequate viewing angles. Your seating should not be in one line from side to side. Seating needs to be arranged in rows, one set of seats behind another, and maybe a row or two behind those.

Conclusion

The entire home theater concept should cost somewhere in the $4,000 to $6,000 range, depending upon how fancy you choose to make it. Dimming lighting features, motorized window blinds, and a conveniently nearby snack bar could add to that overall cost.

If you are in the market for a new home, make sure that your realtor understands that you need room for a home theater. Realtors are hearing this requirement from buyers more and more often these days and will have no trouble finding you prospective homes with room for a home theater.

The decision to buy a preowned home as opposed to new construction is sort of like the decision between buying a used car or a new car.  Preowned homes will most always cost less than new construction, plus you may get the upgrades the prior owners paid for (that would cost even more in a new construction home).  What you don't get is the "new-home smell" and "bumper-to-bumper" warranty a new home comes with.  New homes cost more due to the prices of building materials, land, construction labor and permitting always going up.  Plus, new home communities tend to be farther away from downtown areas, shopping, restaurants and entertainment.

While the home itself may cost more, new home builders (even in a seller's market) may offer incentives such as lower interest rates and greatly reduced (or zero) closing costs if you use their preferred lenders and title companies.  Here at Yellow Rose Realty San Antonio, TX, we have experience guiding our buyers through the new construction home buying process.  

Stay tuned for more information on purchasing new construction homes!

The beginning of the second quarter this year saw a deep dive in housing activity followed by a huge increase in activity at the end of the quarter. That increased activity has carried forward to July and will probably continue, powered by pent up demand and incredibly low mortgage rates. The low levels of inventory are driving prices higher. Nationally, inventory rates are down 15% across all price bands compared to a year ago.

Societal factors are driving the market as well. There is an increased demand for suburban homes as well as rotation within suburbs of people looking for more green space as well as separate home office spaces. More affluent buyers have been accelerating second home purchases as well as moving to states with better tax situations or better weather. Bottom line...we will continue to see a strong housing market for the foreseeable future.

I just participated in a economic outlook webinar presented by Dr. Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist and Senior VP of Research at National Association of Realtors. Here are some key takeaways: In 2021, we should recover from 2020 losses caused by pandemic 30 year fixed interest rates have room to dip down to about 2.9% Inventory of mid-range priced homes is scarce. This shortage (and the heavy competition associated with it) will not go away any time soon. Federal Reserve is printing money to buy debt...there is a possibility of inflation rearing it's head in 2025 and beyond. This means it will be extremely advantageous to lock in low, fixed interest rates NOW since principal and interest will remain low as home prices continue to appreciate. Permanent changes post pandemic will include: Virtual office meetings More working remotely Less traffic around city centers People moving further out from large cities People looking for larger homes (think 4 bedrooms instead of three for a home office)

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