When looking to selling your home, get in the mindset of what buyers are looking for. Some things just might surprise you.
Bigger isn’t necessarily better as trends have shown with recent buyers. Realtors.com survey shows that the most coveted style by buyers is a Ranch-styled home. Over half of those polled were looking for a more modest 3 bedroom-home and 75% were considering 2 bathroom homes.
While single family homes across all age segments are the most desired (53%), townhouse style is the second most sought after property type (26%). In fact, the 25-34 age group, townhouse/row house style is even more desired than single family, 40% to about 32% preferred one over the other.
About 12% of the same age group were looking for condo style homes. That number dips slightly for the 35-44 age group before peaking at 16% for the 45-54 age group.
What is triggering people to buy?
The reason people are looking to buy is different across all age groups. With younger generations, increasing incomes as they progress in their careers triggers extra money to put towards a house and get away from renting. Increase of income was the third most popular response. As the generations age, retirement becomes more and more important for homeowners to sell their current space and usually downsize.
Combining all the data, the overall top response to what triggered home buying was people were frankly tired of their current home and just looking for something new. Like vehicles, clothes, or significant others (as the next paragraph touches on) people are just looking for something new and fresh in their life.
With couples splitting up, divorcing or losing a loved one, changes of family circumstance is the second most popular reason triggering people to buying new properties. One the flip side couples getting married or moving in with their significant other was the fifth most received answer.
You have heard the term buyer and seller’s markets. Buyers waiting for the market to turn in their favor as favorable home prices was the fourth on the list.
What does purchasing a new home mean to buyers? We found out that home buyers are setting goals as to when they become homeowners.
Goals as homeowners
People are looking to purchase homes for several reasons besides looking for a place to call their own.
Having privacy in a space that is solely their own was the top reason. The desire for privacy grew consistently starting with the 25-34 age group and peaked with the 55-64 group before slightly declining for the 65+ demographic. Family was a strong second place response, topping out at the 35-44 segment before slightly declining. Stability with having control of future direction was the third on the list.
A home is often the biggest investment most people will make in their lifetime. Financial investment ranked fourth of importance for future buyers.
The 65+ group valued physical comforts and amenities and being part of a broader community as their top priorities. That percentage grew as the ages increased which shows the increased popularity of 55+ associations and retirement communities.
Important spaces according to buyers
The top of the list shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Across all age groups, 80% surveyed agreed that the kitchen was the most important space followed up by the master bedroom. While the living room was the third most desired space in a house across the board, age groups 55 and over voted the garage as the most important space to them in a new home. Master bathroom and outdoor living space rounded out the top 6 answers received.
On the flip side, buyers found a guest room, an office space and last on the list a man cave as the least important spaces to them. If you have an extra room that is being used as an office it might be a clever idea to stage it as a functioning, every day used bedroom. The office space may be important to you but buyers aren’t going to picture it as a bedroom seeing your computer, printer and paper work.
The man cave seems like a great idea for a dad to escape his family and hang out, but the issue is these spaces are too customized for the current owner. If you have a dedicated man cave space in your home, tone it down a bit and stage it as an extra room for the family to congregate and have a movie night together.
You know what buyers want, now abide dude
After you get done enjoying The Big Lebowski reference, concentrate on your current home you are trying to sell. Now that you know have an idea as to why buyers are looking and what they are looking for in a house, what can you do to make your home more appealing?
You know what the top three things buyers are looking for, the kitchen, master bedroom and living room. Be sure to make to do your best Cam Tucker from Modern Family and create your own “Wow Factor”. Make your kitchen unique with a new back splash or paint your cupboards. Update your master bedroom with a coat of paint and have the carpets cleaned. Update any outdated fixtures throughout the house. Make things pop.
As we have learned, your man cave just isn’t cutting it for them, re-purpose as a more functional, less customized space for staging purposes. Clean out and make your garage one of the featured stops of a potential showing. Your home office might be serving you a great purpose but it’s not doing much for potential buyers.
Now that you know what you need to do to get your home market ready, get started on your homework. Let us handle determining out what your home is worth with a market report and get your home listed. Give us a call at 612-767-9000 or send us your contact information, we’ll reach out to you. Let’s start the journey to selling your home and finding your next spot today.
