Is it love at first sight?
Did you know that around 71.2% of homeowners in England are coupled up? People buying or selling a home in the next 12 months are 42% more likely to celebrate Valentine's Day than the population?
Did you know that around 71.2% of homeowners in England are coupled up? People buying or selling a home in the next 12 months are 42% more likely to celebrate Valentine's Day than the population?
That's a third of all movers, an estimated 831,000 people. Are the romantics in the home moving market more likely to buy if they fall in love at first sight with a home?
According to the latest Rightmove statistics, the average time a property is on the market before finding a buyer has increased steadily since early last year. Figures in December report that it now takes an average of 71 days, quite a long time if you need to sell quickly. And a lot of tidying up as viewers come through the door.
Changing socio-economic dynamics, such as shifting demographics and lifestyle preferences, have reshaped the real estate landscape. Millennials, now the largest cohort of homebuyers, exhibit distinctive preferences compared to previous generations.
For instance, they have much higher expectations than previous generations on how a property should look. They will scrutinise all the digital technologies at their fingertips, lifestyle videos are a particular favourite, and meticulously research properties before even booking a viewing. This heightened level of scrutiny and deliberation elongates the buyer's journey, in turn extending the time it takes for sellers to secure a sale. Consequently, estate agents are tasked with understanding and catering to these evolving preferences, which inherently prolongs the process of finding the right match between properties and buyers.
We recently conducted a nationwide survey through the market research company Opinium, and the results were dramatic. 70% of those surveyed said 'love at first sight' when searching for a property was at least 'fairly important', and only 5% said it was not important at all.
With people expecting to buy a home only around three times in their life, it seems pretty clear from these stats that if agents and homeowners are prepared to accept first impressions as a principal factor in the buying process, they can speed the time from launch to market to securing a good offer.
We believe that currently, only about 1% of homes in the UK are benefiting from professional advice or staging before they are launched to market. This is a surprising statistic when you consider that first impressions, or 'love at first sight', are so crucial with a majority of property buyers.
To maximise the impact of your property when you launch to the market for sale, ensure you have mastered the first impression to your buyers. Hiring a home-stager can deal with this for you, and with the By Design/Lemon & Lime partnership, we have advice available. Help your buyers fall in love at first sight!
Elaine Penhaul, MD of Lemon + Lime.