ValueInsured: Americans Tour 7.4 Homes Before Buying
Robert Aronheim, a Fairfax, Va.-based realtor, once offered this advice on buying a home: “Take your time–but be prepared to act quickly.”
That advice might not be as practical in today’s hyper-competitive home buying market. With only slowly improving housing inventories, many home buyers are in tight competition for available properties, and their first choice might not win.
ValueInsured, Dallas, reported in its 2Q 2018 Modern Homebuyer Survey that on average, American homeowners report to have toured 7.4 homes before buying the one they currently own. One in four 4 (26%) report to have toured more than 10 homes before buying.
The survey said Baby Boomers report to have toured the most homes, on average 7.8, before finding the right one, followed closely by Gen-Xers who report to have toured 7.7.
“It is possible that more seasoned buyers are discriminating in choosing a home that they are willing to buy, or they rely less on online websites to help them prescreen homes before touring,” the report said.
ValueInsured said in some regions, homeowners need to tour more homes before finding one they like or having their offer accepted. California homeowners report to have toured 8.7 homes before buying; in Washington, homeowners toured on average 7.7 homes before buying.
On the other end of the spectrum, 7.4% of homeowners report to have bought their most recent home sight unseen, without having seen the home in person before making an offer. These homebuyers report to have seen the home only in photos, online or through a representative.
“Interestingly, one might expect Millennials to be more digitally savvy, and more likely to have bought a home sight unseen,” the survey said. “However, they report the contrary, as the least likely generational segment to have bought a home recently sight unseen, at only 5.9%.”
The survey said Millennials expect to tour on average nine homes before buying; however in reality, they tour only 6.4 homes before making an accepted offer.
“It points to a few likely explanations: some starter-home buyers are not as diligent as they planned to be, or they lose patience when they buy a home; it is also possible that in today’s overheated housing market where, increasingly, Millennials are concerned they could be priced out,” the survey said. “Many starter-home buyers are over-eager to make offers when they find a home within their budget, without touring as many homes as they had initially hoped.”