Features Homeowners Want the Most
2nd in a 13 part series

By Rich Patrick of LazrWeb Services | Oct, 2017

We continue our series on what home buyers want in the house they want to buy:

Features ALL Homebuyers Want - The Millennial Market

In most Real Estate markets today, along with the excess of TV shows hawking this feature and some other must have room, type of door/entrance or whatever to improve this stylish home makeover, most of this excess has finally given way to practicality. Now buyers look at and consider spaces focused on function and usefulness rather than just keeping up appearances.

Just as the Real Estate market rebounds, the Millennials also are driving the requirements more toward a modern, streamlined look and feel with far less less room and complexity.

Current buyers are not going for the media room, wine cellar or the nice outdoor bar by the pool with a roof, double sink, fridge and BBQ, they think more about what is affordable to them and look at it as; “what do we really need and what can we really afford?”

This change has more to do with the layout and design then anything else. The trend is for smaller, more utilized available space then smarmy shelves, media rooms or tricked out closets.

Most current home buyers look for just the right amount of space, neutral colors that lets them visualize their belongings in the home. Most buyers do not want to over do the features they simply want the basics that they feel they can plan and grow with over time, instead of buying large and feature rich right now.

Why purchase a mansion when a salt box will do? That is the new way the Millennial approach buying a home. They look to stay within their means and be practical, ergonomic and ecologically friendly.

Tough call if you’re a realtor trying to find a home that fits that bill. Bot this is the new reality, one born out of a Real Estate market that now has matured and finally has more practical buyers in the market.

If you’re trying to sell your home, you may want to look at it now from a different perspective, one where smaller and more practical is better, and more appealing to the current buyers.

And it’s not just the younger crowd either, older folks are scaling back by purchasing smaller homes as well. Considerations are walking distance to local stores, parks, pharmacy and coffee shops. They want to loose the need for the large home that comes with its own larger problems and go smaller. Herein lies the issue; the baby boomers are now left holding the preverbal bag or house as it were.

Open floor plans are all the rage now, as time shave changed as well as buyers tastes in what they now want, which is an open floor plan smaller than the average home. Less cost, less utilities, less upkeep, overall less to worry about. Not a bad bunch of reasons.

The millennial are still stuck on amenities though, they want luxurious bathrooms, updated appliances, granite countertops, etc... But they are finding it hard to handle the finances involved. Updated house close to city/work with open floor plan (remodeled) at a bargain price... Real estate agents do not have an over abundant amount of inventory like that to show this new crop of would be buyers.

The is one huge reason for millennials putting off buying a home: huge student debt. This has pushed back the age, by several years these young couples are waiting to buy a home.

Builders have yet to catch on to this trend, as over 90% of all new construction homes have 4 bedrooms, so if they cut that back a bit and built smaller more affordable homes, it probably would be a good start for everyone.