The quest to understand new homebuyers in our ever-changing housing market is a continuous journey. Despite the digital age’s transformative impact, many traits of these buyers remain surprisingly consistent. Erick Martinez, executive vice president and owner of Blue Tangerine, shared his insights at this year’s International Builders Show in Las Vegas, highlighting the firm’s latest research that boiled down today’s homebuyers to four main groups.
During an educational session at the event, Martinez presented the results of a survey that captured the sentiments of 500 individuals. These respondents had either purchased a home after 2020 or were planning to buy one by 2025. With a high confidence level — boasting a 95% confidence interval and a margin of error of just ±3.9 percentage points — the survey offered robust insights into current homebuyer preferences.
Martinez’s research distilled today’s homebuyers into four primary groups, each with distinct preferences and behaviors. Notably, the survey revealed that a substantial 74% of new-home buyers still prefer to complete their purchase in person. However, 40% of respondents expressed a desire for some steps of the buying process to be conducted online. With each buyer having different preferences there is a greater need to set your sales strategy to meet the needs of each buyer.
4 types of new-home buyers
- Builder Preferers: 22%
According to Blue Tangerine, Builder Preferers prioritize working with a homebuilder during the buying process. These respondents say they’ve identified certain homebuilders they’d like to work with, research these builders, and trust their builder to advise them during the buying process. They want the best, and that means a new home that looks like it has been designed by a professional.
Traits of Builder Preferers
- Prefer working with a homebuilder
- Research the homebuilder(s) they want to work with
- Trust the homebuilder to advise them during the process
- Want a home designed by a professional
- Want to be involved in design choices
- Always looking for new information and advice on their new home
- Online Preferers: 28%
Online Preferers are comfortable with online purchases and prefer buying a home online. If they could buy a home with the click of a button, they would. They would prefer to do the homebuying process completely online if possible.
Traits of Online Preferers
- Comfortable with online purchases
- Would buy a home with the click of a button if it was an option
- Prefer the buying process to be completely online
- Would buy a home without seeing it in person if visual details are online
- Researchers: 23%
Researchers want a homebuying process that is easy and that they can guide. These respondents are information seekers, and their research efforts make them feel well-informed. They invest time in researching home features and neighborhoods and engage in a breadth of research before making any final decisions.
Traits of Researchers
- Want an easy homebuying process they can guide
- Information seekers who feel well informed from their research
- Research home features and neighborhoods
- Methodical and meticulous, take their time planning and choosing
- Have already identified communities or neighborhoods they prefer
- Highly important that their home is a quiet retreat
- Worriers: 27%
According to Blue Tangerine, Worriers have many concerns about the homebuying process. First, they feel overwhelmed and do not have somebody they can trust during the process. These respondents feel strongly about the buying process — they say it is a nightmare. Second, they are overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of decisions they must make to buy a home. Third, they are not sure what information they need to make a good decision about buying a home.
Traits of Worriers
- Feel overwhelmed and lacking a trusted resource in the process
- Feel strongly that the homebuying process is a nightmare
- Overwhelmed by the number of decisions involved
- Unclear on information needed to make a good decision about a home
- Not sure what they want but believe they’ll know when they see it
- Worry about making a major purchase online
Martinez noted that couples can be all intermixed versions of these buyers.
“You can have polar opposites that are all interconnected. Builders cannot afford to ignore any one of these segments because they each represent a quarter of the homebuyer market, and there are no major demographic differences across the segments. This was surprising as we expected the Online Preferers to be significantly different from all other segments,” said Martinez.
Martinez noted that sales teams and marketers instead should focus on the common ground between the different segments and strategies that appeal to each type of buyer. For example, a strong website with detailed information about the build process can help build trust for the Builder Preferers, all while providing transparency and details for the researcher and online preferers. Builders should start chipping away at some of the barriers and questions buyers may have before they meet with the salesperson.
“We’re not saying replace your model homes, people still want to go inside and feel and touch things, just invest some energy in the online lead process and you will see an improvement in your sales,” said Martinez.
Martinez emphasized the powerful role of testimonials and positive online reviews when appealing to all four types of buyers. The survey revealed a common desire among these buyers: they want clarity on what their budget can truly achieve. By being transparent with pricing on your website, you not only build trust but also streamline the sales process, making your sales team’s job easier.
These findings underscore the necessity for a flexible sales strategy that accommodates the diverse preferences of modern buyers. As the housing market continues to change, understanding and adapting to these buyer needs remains crucial for success in the real estate industry.
