Ok, Who Really Buys the House? Husband? Wife? Children?

I would never buy a house without my wife seeing and smelling it, it still go back to "if mom ma ain't happy, no one is happy"!

good points on the medias influence our life's, We so often buy items to try to impress people we don't know, dont talk to, don't even think we will like them.

We all know it is the wife who picks out the. When me and my husband got married I let him pick out our first. I got to pick out our first house. Good trade!

Often times I take my kids with me to show homes when I know my clients have children of their own.  My kids are taught to bring up the highlights of a property to me so the clients will hear, but mention quietly to me what they don't like about it so not to be disrespectful of a seller or buyer present.

They always bring great perspective! 

Estrogen buys the house, testosterone signs off on the garage. 

I think for the most part the wife decides which house.  The man kicks the tires so he acts like he knows what he is doing and is in charge.  But mom decides.

Agree, the mom decides.

it has often been stated that kitchen and bathrooms are what sells a house....so my vote to the wife

I am always nice to the kids, but mom is the final decision maker in most cases.

Every family is different. We should never assume that one particular person is making the decision.  If that were the case, we would only need to show homes to one person.  

If the wife is in love with the house....she usually wins.

Interesting comments about the kids.  Never thought of it exactly that way.

Children are very important in every aspect and may quietly have a strong influence on where they live. yes the woman runs the home and makes the decisions, but children have input

I have won over more than one client by listening to their children and making them a part of the buying decision.  Unless it is a single buyer I listen for subtle hints from everyone.  

Evelyn - In my past experience, there is no "one size fits all" in regard to to the family dynamic in buying a home.  I've seen some families where the kids are somewhat aloof and disinterested while in other cases the parents were very tuned into what the kids thought about it.  And the age of the children obviously makes a huge difference as well.  I'd still like to believe it is a little bit of everybody's decision, but of course that isn't true every time either!

Interesting. In my experience the wife has an emotional attachment, the husband trys to keep undetached and the kids just care about who gets the biggest bedroom. 

They can pick IF they are making the mortgage payments. But yes they do have influence on that decision.

You're so right! I've always said it was the wife who makes the homebuying decision, but I recently had a buyer tell me that she really wants the house, but that her teenage daughter said "No way in hell was she going to live nextdoor to..." (the other teen girl who lived in that neighborhood).  Kids may be the key!