What Makes People Decide to Buy a New Home?

What makes people decide to buy a new home? What are the real factors behind the buying decision?

Technology is great, but Selling is still a one on one business. In this age of technology, social media, blogging, virtual tours, and searching for new homes "online", it's a good reminder for salespeople to really break down the home buying process and understand what makes people decide to buy a new home. Do they really need another home? Are they looking for a deal or are they trying to improve their lives? Sure, people buy for different reasons, and sometimes they don't really tell us why...we often think it's about price. Well, it's not always about price. Do people buy facts and figures or do they buy the benefits of what the purchase will bring them? (I'm no expert, but I have listened to many people who are over my 26 years in this business .Let's examine some of what goes into a home buying decision for the fun of it)

Facts and Features deal with logic, which relates to the head, but benefits deal with emotions relating to the heart. People do need to help them “feel right” about our community rather than thinking about it some more. When sharing the features or selling points of your community or new home, be sure to explain the benefit of that feature....what's in it for them?

Most salespeople are better at educating than motivating – need to better understand human nature, and what motivates people to make large purchases.What’s the Benefit mean to the customer? While attending a National Home Builders Convention years ago and I remember hearing about what really motivates people to buy a new home. The Sales & Marketing Council for the NAHB has categorized the motivations for its Certified Site Professional course as follows...

Even though people are different, they seem to fall in seven different categories:

Desire for physical security and safety

Desire for financial security and potential gain

Desire for social acceptance and the need for friends

Ego fulfillment, personal recognition, and gratification

Desire for comfort, enjoyment, and absence of pain

Desire for happiness

Family welfare and closeness; building memories

Even though the decision to purchase is usually based on a combination of a couple of these different motivations, most of the time, there tends to be one or two dominant buying motives. It's also important to understand three factors that influence people's decision to buy a new home today-

1. Current Dissatisfaction- there is a built up demand and there’s a stronger urgency to purchase today! Salespeople need to realize and understand the dissatisfaction curve.

2. Future Promise- engage them, get them involved emotionally, get them to see the future promise

3. Cost and Fear- holds people back.

Which factor gets in the way of a sale?  PEOPLE WILL BUY WHEN, their current dissatisfaction times the future promise (what's it going to be like living in this new home community) is greater than the cost and fear (price is perceived too high or the fear of paying too much in this economy)

Current dissatisfaction X Future Promise > Cost/Fear

The majority of salespeople start with the Cost/Fear and work backwards. If there is a zero on either of the left side variables, what does that do to the rest of the equation? If the Current Dissatisfaction is very, very high, the Future Promise can be lower, and vice versa.

A surprising Future Promise can create a Current Dissatisfaction. Maximize the Dissatisfaction & Future Promise, you’ll have little work to do on the Cost/Fear

With any given buyer, you must be able to identify the most important variable in order to get them to move forward. (I know this, is really deep stuff).

By effectively demonstrating the benefits of your homes/community and how the customer will enjoy living there, it will help the customer overcome the other factors. Some will have the customer expand on their current situation they're in and the customer ends up sharing their discontent...okay, moving on, here's one more math equation-

KNOWLEDGE + CONFIDENCE = SALES

People will buy from you if they have confidence in you. Salespeople should work extra hard to build confidence and trust with their customers and clients early on in the sales process. Be genuine, be yourself. Respect your customers, people will be more comfortable with you and your product if you treat them with sincere appreciation and respect.

You build confidence by being the expert. Spend the extra time researching your builder, your community you're selling in and know everything you can about new construction and the home plans you're representing. I remember something I heard when I first started in real estate, "customers secretly want you to succeed...they will buy from you, but you have to sell them the way they want to be sold".

As Myers Barnes once told us, "Simply exceed expectations from the customer's point of reference on a consistent basis and you are a winner".

For Information about East West Partners’ communities, visit www.eastwestcommunities.com. Discover the best in lifestyle communities at Founders Pointe, Eagle Harbor, Liberty Ridge, and The Riverfront at Harbour View. East West Realty Sales Centers are open 7 days a week on-site. Equal Housing Opportunity