What Homebuyers Want

The National Association of REALTORS® has just released the 2007 Profile of Buyers’ Home Feature Preferences, the first such study since 2004.

The findings of this survey have implications for both homebuyers and homesellers.

Since the 2004 survey, oversized garages saw the biggest growth in terms of what recent buyers consider very important in a home. It seems the building trade has been slow to configure garages to match the sizes of today’s popular vehicles--trucks and SUV’s. As a full-time REALTOR®, it’s my experience that many people–most people?–don’t actually use their garages for vehicles but rather for storage or extra living space. If you’re selling a home, be sure to take time to de-clutter your garage so buyers can see how spacious it really is. If you’re buying, be sure to see if your vehicle(s) fit into the garage of the home you’re purchasing.

A walk-in closet in the master bedroom also ranked high among today’s home buyers, with 66% of respondents in the South giving high marks to this feature. It seems we can’t have too much closet space these days, so if you’re preparing your home to sell, be sure to clean out every closet, eliminating all but the most necessary items (think hotel closet).

You may be surprised to know that central air conditioning ranked as "very important" to 3/4 of the respondents! It never occurred to me that anyone would NOT rank central air conditioning as an essential feature, sort of like indoor plumbing. Guess they’ve not lived through many record-breaking 100+ degree days like we’ve had here in Northeast Georgia recently. Sellers, the message is clear: If you don’t have it, get it!

Both hardwood floors and granite countertops showed increased popularity in the 2007 survey compared to 2004. Today’s hardwood floors are not your mother’s hardwood floors–no Johnson’s Paste Wax or buffing machines required to keep today’s floors beautiful. As for granite countertops, I’ve personally resisted upgrading my countertops but am now really, really interested in doing so. It looks as if the kitchen’s importance in a home is not going to diminish anytime soon, so if you haven’t upgraded your kitchen, do so. Not only will you enjoy using your new kitchen, it’s a sure bet your updated kitchen will be one room that will help your home re-sell in the shortest amount of time and for the highest price possible.

Another result of the study shows that more consumers than ever before are relying on the expertise of professional REALTORS® when buying and selling residential real estate. With the proliferation of homes on the market, both new construction and re-sale, there’s never been a time when the experience, knowledge and skills of a REALTOR® have been more vital in representing home buyers and sellers. Just this week, I even heard consumer advice guru Clark Howard say so!

Whether you’re thinking of selling or buying, please give me a call if you’d like more information on the features today’s buyers are seeking in residential real estate. After more than a decade of real real estate experience, I’m an expert at helping you make the right move!

Jennifer Skogman is a full-service Broker Associate with Coldwell Banker Heritage Real Estate. She can be reached at 678-316-9109 or by email at jskogman@bellsouth.net, or you may also visit her website at http://www.jenniferskogman.com/.

YOU ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR...OR DO YOU?

All of us have a few axioms, mostly taught to us by our well-meaning mothers, which have served us well as we've grown from childhood to adolescence to young adulthood to middle age to, well, you know . . .



My mother had a theme which ran along the lines of "Get your college education and become a teacher so you'll have summers off." I followed this instruction, which had long before become part of my subconscious, graduating from college and become a teacher--but NOT in one of those schools which have the summers off. No . . . I became a teacher in adult vocational-technical education. These schools DO NOT have summers off!!



I remember mother's advice about marriage, too: "Don't marry a man unless he has a college education." Again, being the ever-dutiful daughter, I married a man whom I was certain had a college degree. Life bounced happily along, two children were born, and then one day without warning. . . my college-educated husband announced, "I'd like to become an engineer." And so he did, with me working full time while he was "Mr. Mom" and a full-time college student (for the 2nd time), finally graduating as an engineer a few years later.



Which brings me to one of those sayings I've heard over and over again: You Always Get What You Pay For. By and large, I believe this to be true, although there are certainly exceptions like those in the illustrations above.



In my chosen career as a professional REALTOR, I'm seeing new "business models" evolve in our industry, giving consumers choices based on price and service. This allows consumers who wish to buy or sell real estate the opportunity to "Get What You Pay For," so to speak.



There are several commodities, however, that I've yet to see on a price list of real estate services--Knowledge, Experience, Professionalism, Wisdom, Integrity--for instance. These are the traits all of us would hope to find in any professional we hire, whether it be a CPA, an air conditioning technician, an attorney, a child care provider, or a REALTOR. When you hire a real estate professional who possesses these traits, you not only get what you pay for--you actually get much, much more, for these traits are indeed priceless.



Choices in real estate companies, agents, and business models are great. When you choose a professional REALTOR who possesses knowledge, experience, wisdom, and integrity, you might very well get MORE than you pay for! I'm sure my mom would agree.

Jennifer's Gems: Today's Real Estate Market

It's no secret that today's real estate market is in transition. Looking back over the past decade I've spent as a full-time REALTOR, I recall a time--not so long ago--when demand in our market was so healthy that new homes were SOLD before they ever "came out of the ground".

The market was so hot that buyers often purchased homes based solely on seeing nothing more than a vacant lot and the builder's model home because there was no "standing inventory" from which to choose.

Existing homes, "resales", also benefitted from this brisk market, since new inventory was virtually non-existent and many homebuyers could not wait 60-90-120 days for a new house to be built. Thus, they eagerly selected a resale, even if it was maybe not in pristine condition, on the most desirable lot, etc.

Needless to say, demand has cooled a bit from those frantic days of just a couple of years ago. Overall, I believe this is a positive development that has created a more level playing field for both buyers and sellers in the Gainesville and Hall County Georgia market.

For homebuyers, there is, in most price ranges and areas in or around Gainesville, Lake Lanier, Flowery Branch, Oakwood, Lula, Clermont, Braselton, Buford, etc., a good supply of homes (both resales and new construction) from which to choose. BEWARE, however: I have not seen any evidence that homesellers are "giving away" their homes in any type of panic over a slight market correction. This simply means that, in any market, the BEST houses--those that are in desirable locations, in top-notch condition, and fairly priced--will sell FAST.

For homesellers, this means that houses which are not in tip-top condition, in good locations, and priced fairly, will linger on the market perhaps months longer than a couple of years back. The current market correction makes it imperative that you're one of the BEST properties--in condition, location, and price--from which a buyer can choose.

As we move from winter into spring and summer, indications are positive for an active real estate market in Gainesville, Lake Lanier, Flowery Branch, Oakwood, Lula, Clermont, Braselton, Buford, etc. We're in an area that has been blessed with low unemployment, great weather and abundant beauty and opportunity. It's no wonder that our area is growing!

I'm happy to discuss your real estate questions, so please post a comment, email me (jskogman@bellsouth.net) directly, or call me at 770-533-7241.