Why are people buying homes? How are they purchasing their home? What kind of influences do they have when making these decisions? These were the questions Redfin, an industry-leading real estate brokerage, wanted to know about their consumers. Redfin teamed up with SurveyMonkey in search of answers.
Many of the results they found may surprise you. For example, 21% percent of the people they interviewed made an offer on a house before ever setting foot on the estate. How are they able to make these large financial decisions without seeing the physical home?
Through the use of technology, buyers have the ability to research online housing listings, take virtual tours and download mobile real estate apps. This trend seemed more common in millennials, with 30% saying they made an offer on a home without touring it first. Even more unusual was the 53% of individuals who had a mortgage of $750,000 or more who did not tour the home before offering.
58% of homeowners buy a home for a sense of stability and longevity.
You might also find it unusual that millennial homebuyers said their number one priority in a neighborhood was stability. They wanted a place that was safe, affordable and centralized around good schools. The survey found the ease of commute around the neighborhood was less of a concern.
Affordability was the top priority of all factors for most of the new homeowners Redfin surveyed. What made them decide to buy rather than rent? 58% said they decided to buy because it gave them a sense of stability and longevity, while 44% said they wanted to invest their money wisely and put it toward a safe investment — all of which are practical factors.
Together, Redfin and SurveyMonkey were able to find some surprising and not-so-surprising trends in the real estate market today. The need for real estate companies to have an accurate, up-to-date database on their website is obvious, and it’s clear safety and affordability are still a common priority.
