The Top Features Home Buyers Are Craving In 2020

January 21, 2020

Stressing about how to show your home in the best light for the market is something you can minimise by knowing the modern trends that new homeowners are shopping for. Understanding what makes a home popular at opens gives you an edge when it comes to preparing and staging your own home for a home sale or maybe helping guide your budget allocations for those long await renovations, makeover or remodelling works.

How do we gain these amazing insights? Simple, we simply pool together the most common searches completed recently as well as find patterns in home sales, prices and selling times. Are you ready to get started?

Here are the...

Features home buyers are craving in 2020

What's the current number one home feature home buyers are searching online?

A swimming pool

Pool technology has come a long way and looking after a pool isn't the massive headache it used to be. That makes the fun, luxury and togetherness of owning a pool much more desirable than in years past. This is an especially big bonus if it comes with an outdoor living area, creating a home extension in many ways and giving families the lifestyle perks they are dreaming of.

Next up on the most searched for features is...

A garage

Most families now have two cars and street parking is not as secure, convenient or accessible as having your own covered car spaces. And that security is not just for the car, it's also for the people moving to and from in the dark and wet. Garages are also great storage spaces and help reduce car insurance premiums. Families, in particular, need garage space to help load kids and gear for outings in all types of weather.

Solar panels

Power is something we just can't live without, it runs everything in our home from the essentials, like the fridge to the luxury items like the pay-TV. It's also expensive. With Australia's drastic seasons a large portion of our income goes on powering the aircon in summer and heating in winter. Plus there's the laundry, TV and lighting. Solar panels are enticing because they mean long term sustainability and cost-effectiveness to the new owner. As well as the reduction of costs many people are looking to reduce their environmental footprint and help save towards a green future.

Multiple living areas

Open plan used to be the big thing, in 2020 though research shows that home seekers want a choice for where to spend their downtime. That could mean a formal dining room, a casual lounge area and a rumpus room for the kids. It also means that outdoor dining space or lounge space with alfresco options or sliding doors to create a seamless indoor-outdoor experience are big ticks.
Two or more living spaces is an especially big factor for family homes. People are thinking to give their kids space to grow, play and move.

Seamless flow between spaces

Having a theme in your home will help create flow from room to room. It can be as simple as a splash of colour which you can provide in art and fabrics (i.e. bedspreads, cushions, curtains) rather than wall paint and skirting flourishes which have more permanency. Think about a theme of a season, or maybe something that complements your fittings like gold or silver through each room.

Lots of sunlight

Beach views and beautiful horizons are expensive. Chances are your average suburban home looks out to a fence or neighbouring wall rather than a skyline vista. To combat this, new homeowners are seeking lots of natural light. Big windows, lots of glass and well-placed skylights create a desirable feeling of open space which is a big plus in current home searches.

Simplicity

One great way to save money on renovations on your home before you sell is not to do any. Cleaning up your property and having a seamless look is a key factor but there is no need to go overboard, in fact, getting too heavy-handed on renovations can cost you. When you make changes to your home you will inadvertently be adding your personal hand and create a look and feel that complements your personal palates, no matter how subtle. No matter how great your tastes are they are never going to match someone else's wants exactly. Spending a lot of money on refitting your kitchen or bathroom, for example, may present a gleaming new space with a big price tag and no wriggle room for the new owner to dabble.

It's far more appealing to a potential buyer to have a lower price tag and be excited about fixes they can do now or in the future than pay for something that's high cost, new and not perfectly matched to their desires.

Lasting quality

Savvy home buyers will quickly be able to spot cheap tapware and joinery. It might seem like a small detail, however, when you are looking at things from their point of view, they are spending a lot of money on this home, the last thing they are going to want to do six months into moving is to replace the finishes. Swapping out your fittings for high-quality new ones is a great way to renovate without actually renovating and while it might be more expensive in the short term to pick luxury fittings where you can that will add style and will stand the test of time, keep in mind the difference it can make in the asking price and the acceleration in the time it takes to sell your home, overall, the expense is well worth it. If you have planned your home sale budget carefully and factored in all the costs that come with selling your home and moving house, you should easily be able to see what money you have available for enhancements and cleanups.

Who is Peta Stewart?

Award-winning conveyancer. Entrepreneur. Business mentor. Women’s cycling advocate. These are just some of the ways Peta Stewart is introduced. What ties them together is a steely determination to help people achieve their life goals and have fun in the process.

In 2004, Peta became the first licensed conveyancer in the Albury Wodonga greater region. Five years later, she launched her own business and started shaking up the industry with a good dose of personality, integrity and humanity.

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