When selling your home, you want to stage it so that it appeals to the majority of buyers. While there tends to be niches in different areas, the largest demographic tends to be young families. So typically, you’ll want to stage your house so that a young family can imagine living there. The big question is… what are they looking for?
Today’s trends are leading to open floor plans instead of a lot of formal spaces such as dining rooms and offices. Parents of kids today want to keep an eye on the kids at all times. Instead of a traditional office, parents would prefer an office nook in a family room that opens up to the kitchen. Laundry rooms on the main floor and wide stairs to make it easy to carry kids or laundry up stairs are the best. Even the garage should be connected with little to no steps to appeal to young families.
Data has always supported that women are the decision makers when it comes to buying a home, and that’s especially important to consider for this buyer group. This is one of the reasons why the kitchen is the most important room for selling a house. Today, the kitchen is the gathering place, where all the family is, cooking, eating, or kids doing their homework. Stainless steel appliances, large islands with breakfast bars, and lots of storage are the key features in a kitchen.
Parents know that kids are messy… and that’s probably an understatement. Families want mudrooms connecting the garage to the house, away from the main entrance where guests won’t see it. They want a place to throw backpacks, coats and boots with seating to make it easy to dress the kids before leaving. It’s not just mud and dirt that parents are worried about though. It’s the clutter. Families want a lot of hidden storage space to throw toys when company comes over such as closets, cabinets, and under stair storage.
Families are very concerned with location. Parents don’t want children playing near a busy street, but they do want to make sure there are a lot of great amenities close by, such as shopping and restaurants. The school district is actually more important to most families than the layout or functionality of the house itself. Parents want their kids to have the best and that starts with a good education. Many listings have the wrong school district listed, so it’s important to be sure that information is accurate.
With young families making up the majority of perspective buyers, it’s important to know what they are looking for and how to stage and accentuate your homes features for them. For more tips or a free personal consultation of your home, call Helen today at 847.967.0022 or email [email protected].