What do buyers want in their next home?
It’s not an easy question to answer and the answer can vary a great deal from one buyer to the next. While personal circumstances and individual preferences will often dictate the answer to this question, this article seeks to identify which features are generally more important to buyers when considering a home purchase.
I spend the vast majority of my time with two very distinct types of home buyers. The first group are first-time buyers which is pretty self-explanatory. The second group are what I like to call “first-time up-graders” which are those buyers looking to move into a home that addresses the shortcomings of their existing home. They aren’t necessarily second-time buyers but they are often people that have out grown their current home.
Storage Space
I always tell my clients that you can never have too much storage space. A little cliche 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 today are insisting on a double garage. Very few people use the garage for it’s intended purpose (to store cars) but it sure makes a great place to pile a lot of other stuff. Of course it doesn’t hurt that it usually includes access to a main floor laundry/mud room… yet another place people store their stuff!
First-time buyers: This is rarely a concern as many of them don’t have enough ‘stuff’ to fill the main rooms in the house they are considering let alone extra stuff to fill storage space. The double garage is still highly sought after!
First-time up-graders: These folks could teach the first-timers a thing or too. These are the buyers that count kitchen cabinets, open closet doors and look for space under the basement stairs all in an effort to determine if there is more storage space than their previous home. The double garage is truly a must have!
Other storage space considerations that rank 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 ‘the cantina’) and a large pantry in the kitchen.
Ceilings
There is a major ongoing trend in new home construction when it comes to ceiling heights which have been rising over the last 10 years. By 2005, 9-foot ceilings surpassed 8-foot ceilings as the standard in new single-family homes. Many upscale homes now come standard with 10-foot ceilings or more on the main floor and 9-foot ceilings on the second floor and in the basement. Ceiling height helps to make homes appear significantly larger and adds to the overall aesthetics of the home.
Both first-time buyers and first-time up-graders consider this amongst their most sought after features.
Technology Ready
It should come as no surprise that cable or satellite readiness and access to high-speed Internet are amongst the most important features for buyers. By extension, buyers place a premium on homes that enable technology 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 you don’t have an HD feed!
Both first-time buyers and first-time up-graders consider this amongst their most sought after features.
Room Sizes
Room Sizes have been gradually increasing for a number of years. Buyers tend to place the most importance on 3 key rooms which include the Kitchen, the Family room and the Master bedroom. You can expect to see these 3 rooms continue to increase in size over the next 10 years while rooms such as the living and dining room are likely to get smaller or disappear altogether. Many new homes scrap the living room and instead incorporate that space into the Family room otherwise known as the ‘Great’ room.
First-time up-graders: Room sizes are especially important as they have already experienced a deficiency based on the room sizes in their previous home.
Other Notables
Some other notable features that home buyers consider very important when buying a home include central air conditioning, recessed lighting, hardwood flooring, energy efficiency and the potential to turn a profit should they decide to sell that home in the near future.
You may be wondering why knowing what other home buyers want in a home is important. Of course you as a home buyer will have your own priorities when it comes to the features that are most important to you however consider one important fact: Knowing which features hold the most general market appeal to the largest number of buyers will certainly help when it comes time to sell that same home down the road.