With 60% of potential buyers saying they’d prefer a newly built home over an existing one, builders have a great opportunity. Though lumber prices have made completing homes much more challenging, there is a huge potential market for new construction. But what, exactly, do homeowners want, and how can you provide it? Let’s look.
Laundry rooms are a must for most
Of everything home buyers want and expect in a home, a laundry room (preferably on the first floor) is #1. In fact, 47% of buyers said it was essential (40% said it was desirable as well). It’s important for you to consider including laundry rooms in your homes to attract the most buyers possible.
Outdoor features are important to many
A close second to laundry rooms is outdoor features. Particularly, exterior lighting is important to buyers. It makes sense, given that their new home will likely be in newer suburban developments that don’t have the glut of lighting urban centers do.
But exterior lighting makes even more sense when you consider the other popular outdoor amenities buyers want. These include a front and back porch, a patio, and a deck. Being outdoors from the comfort of your home is crucial for home buyers, day and night.
Energy efficiency is key (just don’t make buyers pay more for it)
Energy efficiency is important to homeowners. Buyers tend to expect ENERGY STAR windows and appliances in their homes. Ceiling fans—a traditional energy-saving cooling method—also appear high on buyers’ want list.
Interestingly, though buyers say they want greener homes that have a smaller environmental impact, they simply aren’t willing to pay much more for it. According to the NAHB, a mere 15% of buyers would be willing to pay more for an environmentally friendly home. That tracks consistently with past data, which showed that only 16% of millennial buyers would be willing to pay more for an environmentally friendly home.
However, there is a caveat. Buyers said that they are willing to pay more if energy-efficient items will lower their utility costs.
Multi-generational housing could be on the rise
Multi-generational housing is becoming more popular every year. This may be due to forces like stagnant wages, overwhelming debt, and the extreme costs of hospice and childcare. However, it’s interesting to note that multi-generational housing seems to tend along racial lines.
According to the NAHB, there’s an even split among home buyer desire for multi-generational homes (39% want them, 39% don’t). But there’s an interesting split when you break the responses down by race.
For example, while only 35% of White buyers said they wanted a multigenerational home (42% said no), the desire is much higher among Asian buyers (46% yes, 29% no), Black buyers (50% yes, 30% no), and Latinx buyers (53% yes, 27% no).
When you consider these stats in light of the fact that non-White buyers have a growing interest in suburban living—which is where much of your new construction likely exists—it can give you an advantage in this emerging home ownership market.
A structural warranty is always popular
Finally, buyers of new construction have an overwhelming want for a structural warranty. According to a joint survey from 2-10 Home Buyers Warranty (2-10 HBW) and NAHB, 94% of prospective buyers said that they’d be more likely to purchase a new home from a builder who offers a structural warranty.
As the industry leader in structural coverage, 2-10 HBW can help you easily fulfill this want. We work with builders of all sizes, from small builders to large builders who require COVE-approved warranty books and everything in between.
On top of giving your homeowners something they really want, a structural warranty from 2-10 HBW benefits you greatly in three ways.
- Protects your budget by transferring structural liabilities from your books to ours and giving you access to our administration teams
- Promotes your quality by providing third-party validation of your work
- Lets you plan for your future by decreasing the risks involved with every home you build.
Learn how you can protect your business and add valuable selling points to your new builds with a 2-10 HBW structural warranty.
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