Study Sheds Light on Homebuyer Types

To gauge motivations for buying a house after the boom went bust, researcher Randy Cantrell surveyed 384 people between the ages of 25 and 50 who had children under the age of 19 living under their roof and who purchased homes after the 2008 financial crisis. The results of his study could help Realtors and home sellers. The University of Florida housing specialist found that buyers who purchased a home because they wanted to live near the best schools focused first on external factors, like the suitability of the neighborhood or community for raising a family, and then were motivated by their first impressions of the property’s exterior and interior. He uncovered other segments of buyers, including those who were motivated by fine craftsmanship in the home’s interior but paid little attention to the exterior as well as those who paid close attention to every fine detail. Cantrell says when selling his own home a few years ago, he hired a professional stager after prospective buyers expressed confusion about how the living room integrated with the home’s floor plan. He was told to move his big-screen TV next to the windows looking over the large front yard. “I complied with unconventional thinking, and my home sold,” he says. “I knew there was a story to be told about the ‘hidden’ details that most sellers never come to understand about buyers and why a seller’s really nice home continues to sit on the market. It’s all in the eye of the beholder.” | Read More