Buying a home? Your age may influence your decision. For younger buyers, the most important factors in choosing a property are convenience to jobs, affordability, and quality of the local schools. For older buyers what matters most is proximity to friends, family, and healthcare facilities.
A generation gap?
A recent survey by the National Association of Realtors found sharp differences in the choices between older and younger homebuyers that reflected different life situations and changing priorities.
Younger buyers chose older homes. As the age of the buyer increases, the age of the home declines, with younger buyers tending to choose single-family homes whereas older buyers opt for townhomes and condos.
Among homebuyers aged 32 and younger, 79 percent are buying their first property, compared with 5 percent among buyers ages 67 to 87. There are many reasons for purchasing a home, but younger buyers tend to want a home of their own, while older buyers want to downsize and be closer to family and friends.
Younger buyers don’t move far from their previous home, often staying within 10 miles. Older buyers move longer distances, typically more than 20 miles from their previous residences. And, as buyers get older they are less willing to make compromises with their home purchase while younger buyers tend to make sacrifices on the price, size, and condition of their home purchase.
Understanding your prospective buyer’s thinking and motivation can help you customize your marketing plan for your property. We’re often asked, “How’s the market doing?” And, we’ve learned over time, that the real estate market re-invents itself almost every day due to so many changing factors that affect the process. Just keeping up with all the internet innovations that are changing the way we do real estate is only one component. Stay tuned, more interesting insights are ahead!
