Men and women fall in love with a home differently

February 12, 2014
Author: 2014 Florida Realtors®

Realtor.com defined a “home crush” as a listing that a consumer likes and looks at more than once online or in person. The survey ran on realtor.com from Jan. 9-20 and found that more than 1,000 respondents reported having a home crush.

“We conducted the survey to see how searching for ‘the one’ in real estate correlates to searching for ‘the one’ in love, and we found that they’re very similar,” says Barbara O’Connor, chief marketing officer at realtor.com. “Buyers have to evaluate crushes based on turn-ons and -offs, and whether the home is in their league, so they often find themselves spending a good amount of time checking out their crush online.”

Overall, 69 percent of those surveyed said that they developed a house crush, and 31 percent did not.

“According to our data … men and women prioritize differently,” says Leslie Piper, consumer-housing specialist at realtor.com. “Men are more likely to move from one crush to another on a weekly basis and consider a garage an important home feature. Women tend to find a new home crush on a monthly basis and swoon for updated appliances and fixtures. However, the survey found that women and men share some common ground in that outdoor living spaces topped the list as the attribute most likely to make them fall in real estate love.”

Piper says it’s important for buyers to start with a short list of deal breakers. In real estate buying as in romantic love, it’s possible to fall for a house that isn’t ideal once owners strip away that initial emotional connection.

Overall, women are more likely to cultivate crushes on homes that are out of their league financially. Of the women included in the survey 41 percent said that their home crush was out of their price range, but only 30 percent of men said the same thing.

Men and women’s timeline

Of the women included in the survey:
• 29 percent said they cultivate a new house crush weekly
• 26 percent develop a new house crush monthly
• 17 percent develop a new crush quarterly

Of the men included in the survey:
• 36 percent said they find a new house crush weekly
• 19 percent establish a new house crush monthly
• 15 percent develop a new crush on a house quarterly

Top attributes that make consumers fall in real estate love

Of the women included in the survey:
• 54 percent said outdoor living spaces
• 42 percent open floor plans
• 29 percent curb appeal
• 29 percent updated appliances and fixtures

Of the men included in the survey:
• 46 percent said outdoor living spaces
• 40 percent garages
• 35 percent curb appeal
• 30 percent open floor plans