Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers

Jessica LautzMay 17, 2012

Home Buyers

Demographics Have Changed

2011 Profile 2010 Profile

Median Age 45 39

Gross HH Income $80,900 $72,200

Household Composition 64% married couples, 18% single females, 10% single males, 7% unmarried couples

58% married couples, 20% single females, 12% single males, 8% unmarried couples

Children in Home 36% 35%

Own a 2nd Home 19% 14%

Why do buyers want to own today?

All Buyers

First-time Buyers

Repeat Buyers

Desire to own a home of my own 27% 60% 8%

Desire for larger home 10 2 15

Job-related relocation or move 10 3 13

Change in family situation 8 7 8

Affordability of homes 8 11 6

Desire to be closer to family/friends/relatives 7 1 10

Desire for a home in a better area 5 1 7

Retirement 5 1 7

Expected Tenure in Home

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 20110

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

First-time Buyers Repeat Buyers

The Search Process

Use of Information SourcesInternet

Real estate agent

Yard sign

Open house

Print newspaper advertisementHome book or

magazine

Home builder

Relocation company

Television

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

75

68

20

13

7

4

7

1

1

13

19

35

32

23

14

10

2

3

12

13

45

55

70

81

84

96

96

Frequently Occasionally Rarely or not at all

Length of the Search Process

Number of Weeks Searched

2001 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 20110

2

4

6

8

10

12

7

8 8.29 8 8 8

10

12 12 12

Satisfaction With Buying Process

Very Satis-fied57%

Somewhat Satisfied

32%

Somewhat Dissatisfied8%

Very Dissatisfied2%

Method of Home Purchase

All BuyersNortheas

t Midwest South WestThrough a real estate agent or broker 89% 88% 90% 86% 93%Directly from builder or builder's agent 7 6 5 9 5

Directly from the previous owner 4 6 5 4 2 Knew previous owner 2 4 2 2 1 Did not know previous owner 2 2 3 2 1

Referrals Matter

• 50% used an agent that was referred to them or they had worked with before

• 89% would refer their agent or work with them again

• 65% of home buyers contacted only 1 agent during their search process

Home Sellers

Typical seller:• 53-years-old• $101,200• 77% married• 13% single females• 6% single males• 3% unmarried

couples• Typically lived in

their home for 9 years

Who is selling today?

Why are sellers moving?

• Job relocation• Home is too small• Want to move closer to

friends or family• Neighborhood has become

less desirable• Change in family situation

(e.g., marriage, birth of a child, divorce)

Satisfaction With Selling Process

Very Satisfied; 54

Somewhat Satis-fied; 31

Somewhat Dissat-isfied; 10

Very Dissatisfied; 5

Method Used to Sell Home, 1991-2011

1991

1993

1995

1997

1999

2001

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

19 17 15 18 16 13 14 14 13 12 12 13 11 9 10

77 82 81 80 77 79 83 82 85 84 85 84 85 88 87

4 1 4 4 7 8 4 4 2 3 3 3 4 3 3

All FSBO (For-sale-by-owner) Agent-assisted Other

Method to Market HomeAll Homes

Listing on the Internet 92% Other Web sites with real estate listings (e.g. Yahoo, Google, etc. 27 Social networking Web sites (e.g. Twitter, FaceBook, etc.) 5 Video hosting Web sites (e.g., YouTube, etc.) 3Yard sign 77Open house 58Print newspaper advertisement 31Real estate magazine 25Direct mail (flyers, postcards, etc.) 18Video 14Television 3

Referrals Matter

• 61% used an agent that was referred to them or they had worked with before

• 85% would refer their agent or work with them again

• 66% of home sellers contacted only 1 agent during their search process

Preview of the 2012 Member

Profile

Years of Experience of Members

2012

Sur

vey

2011

Sur

vey

Broke

r-Owne

r (with

out s

elling

)

Broke

r-Owne

r (with

sell

ing)

Assoc

iate

Broke

r

Man

ager

(with

out s

elling

)

Man

ager

(with

sell

ling)

Sales

Agent

Appra

iser

0

5

10

15

20

25

1112

25

20

14

18

15

9

24

Evolving Communication Methods with Clients

Current clients/ customers

Past clients/ customers

Potential clients/ customers

E-mail 93% 67% 65%Telephone 89 58 59Text messaging 66 29 26Postal mail 28 42 38Instant messaging (IM) 21 8 8Blog 4 5 8Podcast 1 1 2

Median Age of Members is Rising

1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 201248

49

50

51

52

53

54

55

56

57

52 52

51

52

51

52

54 54

56 56