Survey: Women decide to buy homes quicker than men

Some think women are more indecisive than men but that’s not what a recent Coldwell Banker survey revealed.

The most surprising result in the survey was that women tend to make up their minds more quickly than men when it comes to buying a home, according to Diann Patton, consumer spokesperson for Coldwell Banker. “Women seem to be more impulsive and emotional in the homebuying process. They tend to fall in love with the house, whereas men tend to take a step back,” she said.

When asked how long it took before they knew their home was “right” for them, almost 70 percent of women had made up their mind the day they walked into the house vs. 62 percent of men. Conversely, significantly more men needed two or more visits: (32 percent of men vs. 23 percent of women).

The survey was conducted to determine gender differences when purchasing a home. “As REALTORS® it’s important to prepare ourselves how to communicate differently with men and women,” Patton said. “Men will look at rooms differently and walk the entire property. Women see their furnishings in each room.”

The 21-year real estate veteran from Grass Valley, CA, Patton noted, “This survey shows how important it is when working with a couple to have them both in the same room at the same time, asking the same questions in order to be able to move forward. “

One of the major differences between the sexes is that 55 percent of women surveyed would prefer to live closer to their families while 63 percent of men would prefer to be closer to their jobs.

Safety is a common area for both sexes. “We also found that feeling insecure about a home’s safety is a deal-breaker for most people, regardless of gender,” Patton added. “And both men and women are increasingly concerned with having a space to work in their homes – something we wouldn’t have seen 40 years ago.”

Coldwell Banker Real Estate engaged ICR to conduct an omnibus survey via telephone in May 2009, among more than 1,000 respondents.

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Tags: homebuying, women

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 at 7:00 am and is filed under Industry News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.