What Are Home Buyers Looking For in 2019?

Hello Everyone!

Right now, the housing market has shifted a little bit. It went from lots of people trying to sell their homes with very few buyers about 10 years ago, to lots of buyers trying to find homes with very few sellers 3 years ago, to what we are seeing now; which is a more level amount of buyers and sellers, but buyers are really taking their time and being particular with what they are buying.

Some homes are selling quickly and some homes are selling slowly. So what is the difference? There are several factors that go into that. One factor is price range. Houses that are in the entry level price range to mid level price range are selling quicker while the homes in the higher price range are sitting around longer. But that doesn't mean that just because you are trying to sell your entry level priced house that it will go quickly. Thanks to HGTV, buyers these days are a lot pickier than they have been in the past. They want a magazine quality house and they are not interested in doing the work themselves. They want their new house to be move in ready, but not JUST move in ready. They want it to be HGTV quality move in ready and they are willing to pay top dollar to get it. Essentially, they would rather have a smaller high quality house than a larger mediocre house for the same price. So if you are wanting to sell your house but haven't been updating it you have 3 options 1. be patient and let it sit for a few months, 2. price it reasonably to try and make it move faster, or 3. update it to make it sell quickly and for top dollar.

So what is it exactly that home buyers are most interested in when they are looking for a house? According to a National Association of Home Builders survey, the top feature that buyers are looking for in 2019 is a laundry room. Keep in mind that this means a nice laundry room. The great thing about that (if you have a laundry room) is that you can make a really high quality laundry room pretty easily and for not a whole lot of money.

They want to be able to conveniently access their laundry without having to look at it constantly. And they don't want to be scared off by the laundry room (the chore of doing laundry is scary enough 😝). Make your laundry room clean, well decorated, and inviting and people will be much more interested in buying your house.

Not surprisingly, the second most sought after feature in a home is an open kitchen with an island. Let's be honest, we all saw that one coming. Unfortunately, some homes cannot open their floor plan, but if you can open it up, it is always a good idea to do it.

Other things they are looking for in their kitchen are walk-in pantries, granite or natural stone counter tops (although engineered quartz is an emerging trend) , stainless steel appliances, and white cabinets. Again, not super surprising as this has been the trend for awhile now.

Storage is another thing that is important to buyers. Really try to emphasize the storage that you have in your house by keeping it neat and organized. If you have built-in shelving don't have too many things on the shelves, but rather use it primarily for decorative purposes .

If you keep your home as a whole clean, organized, and de-cluttered it will give the illusion of having more storage space. If there are things crammed everywhere, people automatically assume there isn't enough storage and that is big blemish on your house's score card. For some great tips on how to organize your home check out my home organization page.

As far as flooring goes, buyers are by far most interested in hardwood floors, but they also find LVT (Luxury Vinyl Tile) very desirable too. Other things on the buyers' wish list include specialized rooms such as toy rooms or craft rooms, water conserving toilets, USB wall outlets, a patio, and exterior lighting.

photo from stampnstorage.com

Try to feature as many of these things in your home as possible to help it stand out from the rest. Remember, homes may be sitting for longer but they are still selling and they are selling for a higher price. Don't get frustrated if your home doesn't sell in the first 10 days. That isn't the kind of market that we have right now. If we had continued to have that kind of activity there would have been a bubble created in the market and you would not want that! What we have now is a steady, stable, growing market which is exactly what you want for a strong housing future.

For more tips and information, visit chrissymyers.com/sellers. I hope this helps!

Have a great day!
- Chrissy

Chrissy Myers Realtor Direct: 937.241.7123 Office: 734.944.7900 1365 E Michigan Ave Saline, MI 48176 ChrissyMyers@RealEstateOne.com ChrissyMyers.com