Fsbo

The latest records show that when it comes to buying a home — more power to the ladies. Single women, as a demographic, are the fastest-growing group of home buyers in the U.S. They totaled 22% of all buyers in 2006, according to the National Association of Realtors.

That’s up from 14% in 1995. What’s more is single women are the second biggest category of buyers behind married couples. Single men represent 9% of all homebuyers.

Some trends that single women home buyers are exhibiting:

• 3 out of 4 spend less than 200k
• Most prefer 2 bedrooms or more (I encourage 3, if economically feasible because of better resale)
• They are less likely to choose new construction (INTERESTING!!!)
• They are more inclined to buy in the city over suburban areas
• Will compromise size and cost to be able to have other amenities
• Will not compromise on location or quality of neighborhood
• They prefer condos with well run homeowners associations over single family dwellings
• Small spaces tend to be more acceptable to them
• They have a stronger desire for security and/or gated access
• Like to engage in social interaction with neighbors
• Wants convenience of close proximity to stores, shopping and fitness centers

Manhattan real estate agent Jacky Teplitzky says she’s been increasingly working with young, professional women. "I love working with female buyers because they do a lot of homework ahead of time. They know what they want, which areas they want to live," she says.

Particularly with young, professional women these days, who are starting families later on in life, Teplitzky adds that this demographic is generally looking for more stability at an earlier age, relative to its male counterpart.

"Women have more special needs," says Teplitzky. "We want to know where our make-up is, where our clothes are, our creams. … Men, they can crash everywhere. They can sleep on their friends’ floor sometimes."

Times, of course, have changed. The Washington-based National Association of Realtors estimates that single, divorced and widowed women are now buying one-third of all condominium apartments and onetenth of all houses throughout the United States.

Women buy homes for the same reasons as anyone else might:

- For the security of being able to say, ”This is mine.”

- For the tax advantages.

- As an investment.

- As a way of setting down roots in a community.

Women-friendly features

To attract single-women buyers, homebuilders — by and large still a male-dominated group — are struggling to design specifically for women and to market to them. Men don’t get serious about homes until they find the right woman. But women are serious about buying homes now.

Indeed, single women are twice as likely as single men to buy a home.

To entice women, builders are putting in:

• Laundry rooms upstairs;
• Skylights in bathrooms for natural light;
• Slate floors that are "cleaning friendly";
• Security features;
• Built-in vacuum cleaners;
• Gourmet kitchens;
• Name-brand appliances; and
• Xeriscapes and other yards with low to no maintenance.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 27th, 2008 at 5:24 am and is filed under FSBO. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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