It’s hard to believe, but it’s already back-to-school time. As a Realtor, I often see how important schools are to families looking to buy a home.
Luckily, our area has many outstanding schools, which makes my job easier. It’s easy to show houses to people who are excited about the great schools their kids will attend.
Buying and moving into a new home is stressful, but moving with school-aged children adds an entirely different set of requirements and stresses. The National Association of Realtors explores the unique needs of homebuyers and sellers with children under 18 in the recently published “2018 Moving with Kids Report.”
Unsurprisingly, schools play a critical factor in the purchasing decisions of buyers with children. Fifty percent of buyers with children say the quality of a neighborhood’s school district is important, compared to 11% of buyers without children. Convenience and proximity to schools is also a crucial consideration to buyers with children, with 45% saying it’s important. Just 6% of buyers without children agree.
When choosing a home, buyers with children tend to purchase larger homes than their child-free counterparts. The average buyer with children under 18 purchases a 2,100-square-foot home with four bedrooms and two bathrooms, while the average buyer with no children chooses a 1,750-square-foot home with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Both groups prefer a single-family, detached house.
More than a quarter of all buyers with children (27%) say childcare expenses delayed the process of buying a home. Those expenses also have an impact on the buying process, forcing buyers with children to make compromises on the house they purchase.
Thirty percent of these buyers compromised on the size of their home, 29% compromised on its price and 22% compromised on its condition.
When it comes to selling a home, 24% of those with children choose to sell because their house is too small. Only 8% of people without children at home sold their house for the same reason.
This is further demonstrated when sellers were asked what they want most from their agent. Sellers with children want their agents to sell their home within a specific timeframe (22%), more so than sellers without children (20%). However, sellers both with and without children expect their Realtor to provide a broad range of services and manage most aspects of their home sale (80 and 79%, respectively).
For sellers with children, “urgent” is the word that most often describes their selling situation; 26% of sellers with children needed to sell their home as quickly as possible. Compare that to only 14% of sellers without children.
Buying a house is rarely just a financial transaction, especially when children are involved. Realtors help buyers navigate every emotional and financial factor to ensure families find their dream home. That’s Who We R.
Greater Chattanooga Realtors is The Voice of Real Estate in Greater Chattanooga. A regional organization with more than 2,000 members, Greater Chattanooga Realtors is one of some 1,300 local boards and associations of Realtors nationwide that comprise the National Association of Realtors. Greater Chattanooga Realtors services Hamilton and Sequatchie counties in southeast Tennessee and Catoosa, Dade and Walker counties in northwest Georgia. For more information, visit www.gcar.net or call 423 698-8001.