Showing posts with label home buyer priorities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home buyer priorities. Show all posts

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Home Features Most Preferred By Millburn-Short Hills Homebuyers

As a Millburn-Short Hills home seller, you want to stand out to potential homebuyers as much as possible, and to satisfy their list of desires. Also, you need to know what the value of your home is, and what to list it for. Certain home features will make buyers more inclined to pay more.

As your New Jersey real estate agent, I can help you with this! I know what homes in the Millburn-Short Hills area are listing for and selling for, and I know what home features and upgrades can bump up your asking price. We can determine all of this when we work together.

As a preview, the National Association of Realtors just released their 2013 Home Features Survey, showing which features homebuyers cared about most and were willing to pay more for. Here is a summary of the results:
  • Out of all 31 home features mentioned on the survey, the most important feature to homebuyers was a home with central air conditioning. Sixty-five percent of buyers considered this very important.
  • In the kitchen, buyers most preferred new appliances and eat-in kitchens. In fact, 69 percent of buyers who did not buy a home with new appliances said they’d be willing to pay up to $1,840 more for this feature! After those two features, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances were preferred.
  • The rooms that had the highest dollar value, as in buyers were willing to pay more for, were basements and in-law suites.
  • Almost half of buyers prefer a home with a laundry room. Of those that found it at least somewhat important to have one, 89 percent did buy a home with a laundry room.
  • Other home features that interested homebuyers were fireplaces, which 57 percent of buyers purchased a house with, and garages, which 78 percent chose a house with.
  • After the fact, if they could change anything about the home they purchased, the majority of buyers said they would have wanted more or larger closets and more storage.
To view this report in its entirety, click here. 

As a Millburn-Short Hills home seller, what does all this mean to you? Obviously, unless you want to go through a major remodeling overhaul, some of these features are out of your control. But what you could do is install central air conditioning, update your kitchen appliances, add an island or table to your kitchen with seating, and show off all available storage space.

Need help staging your Millburn-Short Hills home or selling your home in the New Jersey real estate market? Contact me! I’m always here to help.

Elaine Pruzon
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
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Friday, May 10, 2013

First-Time Home Buyers Declare Good Schools a Priority

New Jersey home sellers are always interested in how to get top dollar for their homes. While there are a number of ways you can accomplish this, there is one element of your home you cannot change: the location. Just how important is it? The answer may rest in buyer survey results shared by Doorsteps.

The analysis of first-time home buyer surveys revealed what these buyers were most likely, and least likely, to compromise on when it came to buying a home. They are surprisingly willing to compromise on things like the size of the home they want, and the price they will pay.

But when they do not want to compromise, one issue seemed to outweigh the rest of the concerns: good schools. First-time home buyers ranked closeness to schools and school quality as their least negotiable items.

This is good news for Millburn-Short Hills home sellers, as Millburn High School placed 69th in the nation according to Newsweek's 2013 school quality evaluations.  Millburn High also placed among the 2013 gold-ranked high schools identified by US News & World Report. The school is well-respected for the academic proficiencies of its students as well as the caliber of its faculty.

While not all home buyers have school-age children, good schools are always an important consideration as they affect the desirability of a neighborhood, and therefore affect the resale value of a home. Millburn High School's excellent reputation helps draw first-time buyers as well as repeat home buyers to our area.

Back to the surveys, it should be noted that first-time home buyers also value living in proximity to family and friends, though schools are the primary concern. Home sellers cannot control every hot button a home buyer may have, but as long as buyers are getting their priorities met in regards to schools and location, other details may be open to compromise! This is where the art of negotiation comes in, and I will certainly help you!

As your experienced real estate professional, I'm happy to help home buyers and home sellers in the  Millburn-Short Hills, Livingston, and Summit area! Contact me for the latest market information and for expert real estate guidance!

Elaine Pruzon
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
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