The Home Buyer Avatar
For homeowners who are interested in what levels we go through in order to get a home sold, we wanted to provide you with some of the same information and data that the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) funds research for every year in order to create what we like to call a 'home buyer avatar'. We feel like an informed consumer is the best consumer especially when it comes to making one of the biggest financial decisions on what most families would call the most valuable asset they own. So when the decision is made to put your home up for sale and move your family, we want you to know what the data says about what lucky family may move into your home next!
Percentage of 1st Time Home Buyers
NAR 2021 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers
This is VERY IMPORTANT to know as far as who is out buying homes in today's market. Think about it, the chart above is showing that only 34% of people who are buying homes are first-time homebuyers. Who is making up the other nearly 66% of the marketplace of potential homebuyers? The biggest pool of people who are buying homes in today's market are actually people who have recently sold or who have accepted an offer to sell their homes. These people are usually going to be looking to buy as soon as possible because they need a home to move into when theirs sells. They are usually going to have cash available after getting a check from selling their home. Most importantly, for REALTORS® these people are REALLY EASY to find and identify! You can read my Ultimate Guide on the biggest pool of buyers by clicking HERE!
First Step Buyers Used In Their Home Search
NAR 2021 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers
Before we get into what buyers use and trust most often in their home search process, let's take a look at what buyers use as their first resource to start down their avenue to homeownership. Like many other times in life, people go to what they feel is the most beneficial and useful to them first. What the chart above gives us a peek into buyers' initial thoughts when starting their home search. Their first mind is telling them that going on the internet is the easiest and most trustworthy source of information to use to find a home that their family can call their own. The internet generally doesn't call their phones, harass them to be their agent, or forget to call them or follow up on the things they find most important.
Where Buyers Found The Home They Purchased
NAR 2021 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers
When you look at the numbers and compare how buyers found their home in 2004 and compare it to today, there's a 333% increase in how buyers are using the number one resource for finding their home, THE INTERNET. So knowing that buyers are using the internet more than ever to find the home that they eventually end up purchasing, the second most valuable resource for buyers to find their home is a real estate agent. After that, yard signs and word of mouth from the people buyers generally trust round out the most popular sources that buyers are using today. What the chart also shows is the diminishing value that buyers put into resources like home magazines, newspaper ads, and other archaic methods of marketing that I hope that anyone who is trying to market a home is no longer investing their resources in if they truly want the home to sell.
Information Sources Used by Home Buyers
NAR 2021 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers
Now that we know where buyers found the home that they purchased, let's inspect what other sources buyers used to help them in their home search process. Online websites such as 225avenues.com still rank as the most popular go-to source for buyers followed by real estate agents. For some reason, the option for online websites was omitted from the options for buyers to select when compared to the 2019 publication of this document. The chart also shows us the importance that open houses, yard signs, and online video sites like YouTube can still bring a level of value to home buyers in their home discovery process.
The Usefulness of Information Sources
NAR 2021 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers
Here's a painful statistic to look at as a real estate professional. Prospective home buyers feel like online websites and their search on their cell phones are more useful to them as an information source than their REALTOR®. This is according to the 2019 Profile for Home Buyers and Sellers. Well, we're hoping to make a change to that logic even if the buyers find our website very helpful which we hope that they will. We still want to build trust and appreciation for the agent who puts the content on the real estate website. This year's iteration doesn't flat out give the option for the internet as being useful. I would expect similar results that we saw in 2019.
Value of Website Features
NAR 2021 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers
Lastly, now that we've established that the internet and quality websites are the most valuable thing to prospective buyers, we also want to know what content or information are they looking for when they're on the website. According to the buyers nationwide, photos and detailed information are BY FAR the most important things that buyers will notice whenever they see your home online. We can not stress enough the importance of having as many quality photos available to buyers as possible. The more photos you have will give you the best chance to attract a buyer to view your home in person and eventually put in an offer to purchase it. Also whenever a home is listed you should provide as many details to the buyers as possible about the home because the data shows that's exactly what they're coming to the internet to look for.
Summary of What We've Learned
Bringing it all together, we've provided a heavy dose of quality information to homeowners on who the buyers in today's market are, where they are going to get their information, and what content they are looking for. The buyers that are in today's market want things just like everyone else in any other industry. A path to find things on their own with as little hassle as possible via the internet while being able to engage with a professional when they feel that it is necessary. What we do is leverage this data to put ourselves in a position to give buyers exactly what they are looking for, when they are looking for it, and where they are looking for it. That's why it's so important to know your target home buyer's avatar. Knowing your end customer is so pertinent whenever you're trying to sell or market anything. That's why big corporations spend an ungodly amount of money with advertising agencies just to know who their target customer is when they are looking to spend money, and what that customer finds most appealing about their product, service, or brand. The real estate industry isn't any different, so it's best to become informed on who is in the market to buy a home that we are putting up for sale! If you want to learn more about our unique marketing methods that are way more effective than most real estate agents, click the button below to schedule a consultation that works for you!