What do new-home buyers, Midwesterners and suburbanites have in common? They like garages. Seventy-eight percent of respondents in the National Association of REALTORS® 2013 Profile of Buyers’ Home Feature Preferences bought homes with a garage. In fact, garages were more popular among new-home buyers, Midwesterners and suburbanites than any other groups.
As we make our way through today’s seller’s market with scant inventory, buyers’ reps need to be prepared. Both the National Association of REALTORS® 2013 Profile of Buyers’ Home Feature Preferences and the National Association of REALTORS® 2012 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers reports offer insight into what buyers want and what your team needs to know.
What follows are some tips for helping your team—and their buyers—succeed in a low-inventory market.
Dealing with low inventory. A low-inventory market adds to challenges for buyers, who already say the most difficult part of the process is finding the right property. According to the 2012 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 23 percent of buyers said the most difficult step in the transaction was the paperwork, while 16 percent said the most difficult aspect was understanding the process and steps involved.