What buyers want most in their next home

What do buyers want in their next home?

This is not an easy question to answer, and the answer can vary greatly from buyer to buyer. While personal circumstances and individual preferences will often dictate the answer to this question, this article seeks to identify which features are generally most important to buyers when considering a home purchase.

I spend most of my time with two very different types of homebuyers. The first group are first-time buyers, which is self-explanatory. The second group is what I like to call “first-time homebuilders,” who are those buyers who are looking to move into a home that addresses the shortcomings of their current home. They are not necessarily second-time buyers, but are often people who have outgrown their current home.

Storage space

I always tell my clients that you can never have too much storage space. A bit of a cliché to be sure, but don’t let that diminish the truth in the statement. Believe it or not, a big consideration when it comes to “storage space” is the garage. More and more buyers insist on a double garage. Very few people use the garage for its intended purpose (to store cars), but it sure is a great place to stack a lot of other things. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that it usually includes access to a main floor laundry/mud room…yet another place people keep their stuff!

First Time Buyers: This is rarely a concern, as many of them don’t have enough “stuff” to fill the main rooms of the house they’re considering, let alone extra stuff to fill the storage space. The double garage continues to be highly sought after!

Students moving up a grade for the first time: These people could teach newbies something or as well. These are the buyers who are counting kitchen cabinets, opening closet doors, and looking for space under basement stairs, all in an effort to determine if there is more storage space than in their previous home. The double garage is really a must!

Other storage space considerations that are high on most buyers lists are walk-in closets (especially in the master bedroom), cold storage room in the basement (or as my friends in Woodbridge like to say ‘la cantina’) and a large pantry in the kitchen.

roofs

There is a significant ongoing trend in new home construction in regards to ceiling heights that have been increasing over the past 10 years. By 2005, 9-foot ceilings surpassed 8-foot ceilings as the standard in new single-family homes. Many luxury homes now come standard with 10-foot or higher ceilings on the main floor and 9-foot ceilings on the second floor and basement. The ceiling height helps make homes appear significantly larger and adds to the overall aesthetic of the home.

Both first time buyers and first time upgraders find this to be one of its most sought after features.

Tech Ready

It should come as no surprise that cable/satellite readiness and high-speed Internet access are among the most important features for buyers. By extension, buyers value technology-enabled homes more, especially when it comes to new construction. Many buyers express interest in homes that have been pre-wired for surround sound, in-wall speakers, high-speed Internet via Cat-5 Ethernet cables, and HD digital satellite or cable via RG-6 cables. After all, what good is the latest 60″ HD plasma TV if it doesn’t have HD streaming?

Both first time buyers and first time upgraders find this to be one of its most sought after features.

room sizes

The size of the rooms has been gradually increasing for several years. Buyers tend to give more importance to the 3 key rooms which include the kitchen, family room and master bedroom. You can expect to see these 3 bedrooms continue to increase in size over the next 10 years, while rooms like the living room and dining room are likely to shrink or disappear entirely. Many new homes ditch the living room and instead incorporate that space into the family room, also known as the ‘Great’ room.

Students moving up a grade for the first time: The size of the rooms is especially important since they have already experienced a deficiency based on the size of the rooms in their previous home.

Other notables

Some other notable features that homebuyers find very important when buying a home include central air conditioning, recessed lighting, hardwood floors, energy efficiency, and the potential for profit if they decide to sell that home in the near future.

You may be wondering why it’s important to know what other homebuyers want in a home. Of course, you as a homebuyer will have your own priorities when it comes to which features are most important to you, however, keep one important fact in mind: knowing which features have general market appeal to the most number of buyers will certainly help when needed. the time comes to sell that same house in the future.

Related Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *