My night owl self is enjoying the one am activities: rearranging my kitchen cabinets, watching What Not To Wear, browsing Facebook and moving artwork around on the wall; yes, all at once lol. I also found myself taking a step back and thinking about what this season’s home buyers have been looking for in a home.
1. My buyer clients seem to be matching the size of the home they want with their needs. If there are plans to increase family size, then room to grow. If a client wants a space for one or two people, only one client has asked for a home with a lot of rooms and square footage. (This client also wants lots of character in a home so the McMansion doesn’t appeal to her either).
2. Stainless steel appliances are still ‘in’ for my clients. But black granite counter tops are not as appealing anymore. Are black counter-tops the new avocado refrigerator? I guess we will find out. Granite is still popular, but other colors seem to put more smiles on my buyers faces.
3. Move in condition or fixer upper? I’ve had a lot of first time home buyers, in all price ranges, but the most popular home for my buyer clients is one that is basically move in ready. The inventory is smaller than it was a year ago in most of the neighborhoods in which I work, but there are still lots of choices. A move in ready home wins most every time.
4. In the past, if I had a client who originally contacted me to see condos or town homes, they would usually stick with that determination. Not this year. I have been a bit surprised to find that even the younger buyers have changed their minds after seeing a single family home or two. I haven’t figured out why. If I had to guess, I would say doing yard work wins out now that home prices are so reasonable and the addition of the condo monthly maintenance fees makes the choice to switch to single family more attractive. What do you think?
5. I find buyers who resign themselves to doing laundry in the basement if they have to, but preference is always to have a first floor laundry or in newer homes, the second floor laundry. (I have a really cool house listed in the Clifton Edgewater neighborhood with laundry on the first floor and I would think that would appeal to a lot of buyers, but that particular neighborhood is still not calling out to many of the people I work with).
6. Last point for the night, so I can get back to the kitchen cabinets: while tons of square footage may not be as popular, room sizes are still important. And a more open layout, especially between the kitchen and dining area, are more attractive than a ‘regular’ room division between the spaces.
7. Okay I lied; one more point. If you have an older, worn rug or wall to wall carpeting, and there are wood floors under them, it’s always better to remove the rugs. Very few of my clients want carpeting if they can have wood floors. Some because of style preference, some because of allergies, etc.
Having said all this, there of course are still a few people who have wanted to roll up their sleeves and do work on a house as long as they were getting a good deal on the home. I think a lot of buyers are making sure they are not overbuying, i.e., buying the best house on the block. Increasing value of their home is important, and the last few years have made buyers, at least mine, more reluctant to purchase homes at the top of the areas market value.
If you bought a house this season, I’d love to hear from you and get your take on this, as well as hearing what was important to you in your purchase.
Peace out – 3C
2 responses so far ↓
1 Christine // Aug 2, 2009 at 10:40 pm
I wonder why Edgewater isn’t more appealing to your clients? I think this place is great. I’m actually really glad we bought here rather than in Ohio City. We got a lot more value for our money, I think.
I’m surprised that people seem to prefer first-floor laundry. IMO washers and dryers are about as visually appealing as the toilet. Hide them in the basement!
We had an awful time trying to find an old house that hadn’t been “remuddled.” Are your clients tending to look for older houses? It seemed like all of the older houses we looked at had been gutted and turned into modern, open-plan nightmares. Is that what people want?
2 Carole Cohen // Aug 3, 2009 at 1:56 am
Oh I really like your take on things, Christine. I also think your neighborhood has everything needed: grocers, street fairs, galleries, shops, diners, you name it. And walking distance to RTA (I know because I did it! lol) Very happy you are happy.
All things considered, people would like laundry in a closet out of sight. I am finding (and this surprised me) more people who hate basements and that’s why they don’t want to do laundry there.
90% of my clients are looking for/at older homes. But they do like the open floor plan modernization. Especially in the kitchen.
Had to laugh at your laundry vs toilet comment. My biggest quirk is the refrigerator. I always find them butt ugly, whether they are stainless, white, built in or taking up room. I’d be happier if we could rely on a block of ice in the back yard!
I still haven’t visited Big Fun since it moved to your neck of the woods. Dying to do that soon.
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