15 Nov What Women Want In A Home
92% of home purchases are determined by women, according to a recent study by Meyers Research Consumer Insights. For all the home builders who may be surprised to hear that, let it sink in for a moment. We’re going to discuss the shifting landscape of the female home buyer and her desires.
The priorities of these home buying women are beginning to shift. According to Meyers Research, more women are work-oriented, interested in multi-generational living, and more are singles (which we wrote a great article on single homebuyers here) or single mothers. Let’s discuss some of the things that motivate her purchasing behavior.
-Although men are more likely to be fine with renting, she wants to buy instead of rent. She can customize her home, appreciates the investment potential of a home, and the ownership adds a personal value.
-She’s looking at the home’s location, design (its interior style, curb appeal, and lifestyle betterment.), and price.
-Her personal lifestyle priorities are connecting with friends and family, use of time, and convenience. She wants a home that can fulfill those.
This article is primarily about the female buyer, but men are a factor in the home buying process. A male buyer identifies with the prestige associated with owning a home, wants a good location, and a good outdoor and garage space. Male buyers typically socialize outdoors more than their female counterparts.
Women are focused on homes that are 2,500 sqft or less, which could be a real plus for builders hoping to get more out of their land entitlement. Inside the home, if you want to really capture the attention of the female buyer, two areas need to be focused on: the master bathroom and the kitchen. As Meyers puts it, the kitchen is the heart of the house and the bathroom is the sanctuary. Despite the rise of food delivery and the decrease of time available to cook consistently, the kitchen remains a major spot in the home. A few intentional modifications to the kitchen and bathroom in your floorplan could go a long way in truly wowing a potential buyer. Make her life easy, giver her better kitchen pantry storage. For her, better organization (pantries, cabinets, closets, etc.) equates to more time with family or friends, one of her main priorities.
If none of this is new information to you, there are also some newer ideas that are drawing female buyers. Pets are important to her! Huge percentages are pet owners, and almost half of pet-owning women treat their pets like family. This means you could easily find a buyer willing to pay extra for pet-related features like an indoor or outdoor washing station, or built-in spaces for cats and dogs.
And if you’re building a community with shared spaces, you may consider the addition of an Amazon locker. With more purchasing happening on e-commerce giant Amazon, people are concerned with the safety of their packages arriving during work hours. The convenience and security of an Amazon locker is a great way to appeal to a person with those concerns.
The right recipe to home building isn’t always obvious, and you have to keep your eye on what buyers want if you want to continue to make a product that remains relevant. If you’re a developer, builder, real estate agent, or a home buyer, we’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Did all of this sound familiar, or was this new information? Let us know via Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, or Facebook.
