Household Features Buyers Want

The National Association of Home Builders recently polled over 400 developers and real estate agents to find out what buyers want—and don’t want—in their new home. Green tech and energy efficiency are tops on the list, with ample organization, storage, and utility space following close behind. Here’s a rundown of the most desirable household features for new homes and renovations. These features are key to increasing a seller’s return-on-investment.

55% of home buyers seek a newly built home in a fresh subdivision, or a custom home built on their own land, and 45% prefer a pre-owned home. Buyers expect a median of 2,226 square feet and a home price of $203,900.

While the lot size is only important to 25% of buyers, over 65% are seeking a house with “living space and number of rooms that meet their needs,” which most often includes 3-4 bedrooms and at least 2 bathrooms.

In evaluating a potential home’s features, most buyers focus on quality and appearance when looking at cabinets, doors, floors, and countertops, but when it comes to appliances, they focus on both quality and brand-name.

There are 11 features ranked as “most wanted” 85%+ of home buyers. Energy-Star appliances and windows coupled with a high LEED or Energy-Star rating for the whole home ranked are strong features on the list.

Utility and storage are also big on the list with the laundry room, bathroom linen closet, garage storage, and walk-in kitchen pantry listed as particularly desired.

Certain household fixtures are particularly important to home buyers, who want exterior lighting, ceiling fans, and exhaust fans in the bathrooms.

Home buyers want table space for eating in the kitchen, which leaves the formal dining area free to be used as an office or home theater.

With all the talk about what homebuyers are looking for, it’s also good to know what they absolutely do not want. Unsurprisingly, 70% of home buyers do not want an elevator in their home. 66% do not want to live in a golf course community, and 56% do not want to live in a high density community. 51% of home buyers do not want a master bath featuring only a shower stall, however magnificent that stall may be.

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