Major Life Change is the Motivation for New Home Purchases

Here’s an interesting study on why people purchase homes - and it’s not the super low mortgage rates of the last several years. This should give you some ideas of the best times to reach prospects and what you might include in your info kits.

The survey, conducted for lawyers.com by market researchers Harris Interactive, found that one out of four Americans (25%) in the market for a new home cite a life change (either retirement, relocation, or a new baby/divorce etc.) as their primary motivation. Eighteen percent want a bigger house or more property. Sixteen percent want a home as an investment, and twelve percent want to rid themselves of the restrictions that come with renting. Yet only seven percent of those looking to buy a home say deriving tax benefits is their biggest motivating factor.

The recent boon in home buying does not mean the process is easy for those going through it. More than one half (51 percent) of current homeowners found at least some of the legal elements of the home buying process hard to grasp. Twenty-two percent said they had trouble understanding why they had to pay various charges and fees to close the transaction. Fifteen percent had difficulty unraveling closing documents. Eleven percent said they had a problem comprehending how the deed best serves their needs, and another 11 percent found understanding how to draft a purchase agreement difficult.

Among those in a home buying mood are young adults. More than one-in-three (34 percent) Americans aged 18 to 24 say they will buy a home within the next two years, and 26 percent of those want the home as an investment.

America is a land of homeowners. More than 2 out of every 3 (67 percent) Americans own the home in which they live.

Homeowners are both newbies and long-termers. Nearly one in four (24 percent) homeowners have owned their current homes five years or less. Twelve percent have owned their home a mere 2 years or less. But long-term homeowners still abound. Thirty-one percent of homeowners have owned their home for more than 10 years, and nearly one in five (18 percent) have owned their home for 20 years or more.

Homeowners plan to stay put. Just 10 percent of current homeowners plan on selling their homes in the next two years.

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