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What Home Buyers Want Today vs 40 Years Ago

By
Real Estate Agent with Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker DRE #00697006

There are times in just about every Sacramento real estate agent's life when she realizes that first time home buyers today have little idea how many amenities they get in a home versus what people used to wish for years ago. I don't mean just four walls and a roof over your head, but the items that a home buyer hopes to find in a home. Those little details on your wish-list that can make a big difference and ultimately increase your overall satisfaction with your home and life in general.

Yes, home buyers today pay attention to the little details, the niceties that they are either missing or need to acquire in a new home but in comparison they are very different from a few decades back. They might look at those things in a new light when they compare those desires to what buyers wanted in the old days. You can read more about it in my personal blog today about What First Time Home Buyers Wanted 40 Years Ago.

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Elizabeth Weintraub is co-partner of Weintraub & Wallace Team of Top Producing Realtors, an author, home buying expert at The Balance, a Land Park resident, and a veteran real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown, Carmichael and East Sacramento, as well as tract homes in Elk Grove, Natomas, Roseville and Lincoln. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put our combined 80 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at RE/MAX Gold. DRE License # 00697006.

Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of RE/MAX Gold. Disclaimer: If this post contains a listing, information is deemed reliable as of the date it was written. After that date, the listing may be sold, listed by another brokerage, canceled, pending or taken temporarily off the market, and the price could change without notice; it could blow up, explode or vanish. To find out the present status of any listing, please go to elizabethweintraub.com.

Comments(9)

Ed Silva, 203-206-0754
Mapleridge Realty, CT 203-206-0754 - Waterbury, CT
Central CT Real Estate Broker Serving all equally

An interesting post, Elizabeth. I have first time home buyers that think it is ridiculous to look at a house with only one bath, and they can't afford more than that.

Nov 16, 2014 11:57 PM
Sam Miller
RE/MAX Stars Realty - Howard, OH
Knox County Ohio Real Estate Specialist

Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Real Estate Agent, Top 1% of Lyon Agents, I agree that the things I hear buyers requesting today is different than when I first entered the real estate industry 28 year ago.  High speed internet, solid surface counters, dimensional shingles, stainless appliances and the list goes on.

Nov 17, 2014 02:01 AM
Chris Ann Cleland
Long and Foster Real Estate - Gainesville, VA
Associate Broker, Bristow, VA

I remember my first place had a portable dishwasher.  I felt so spoiled when my next place had one built in.

Nov 17, 2014 09:30 AM
Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
Greater Sacramento Realtor - Retired

Elizabeth - You have hit on a subject I haven't seen written about before.  And, you make valid points about the difference in homebuyers today vs. 40 years ago.  

When I bought my first house, all I wanted was a good roof, and some form of air conditioning.  We ended up with the good roof, a wall heater, and no air conditioning.  We put in a refrigerated wall unit the coming summer.  There are many first time homebuyers today, that would settle so easily.

CONGRATULATIONS on having this blog FEATURED in the Old Fart’s Club group! 

Nov 17, 2014 11:25 AM
James Dray
Fathom Realty - Bentonville, AR

I can remember getting our first central air conditioner.  Before that just some fans including an attic fan kept us cool.  I also remember our first TV.  Priceless

Nov 17, 2014 07:20 PM
Gabe Sanders
Real Estate of Florida specializing in Martin County Residential Homes, Condos and Land Sales - Stuart, FL
Stuart Florida Real Estate

Oh the good old days!  And, if this were in Florida, it would have been nice to have a road through the swamp to be able to get to your home.

Nov 17, 2014 08:52 PM
Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker
Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA
Put 40 years of experience to work for you

Ed Silva Well, the interesting thing is a buyer can put in a bath for about $15K which is generally much less than it costs to upgrade to a two-bath home.

Hi Sam: I don't hear "solid surface counters" as much as the term granite. It can granite tile though and they don't always notice.

Hi Chris Ann: After my first portable dishwasher, I bought a used dishwasher and figured out how to install it myself.

@Myrl: I am amazed at how people buy homes in Sacramento without any AC at all. For years I kept window AC units in my garage to use when I listed a home without AC.

Hi James: I remember our first stereo, after mono. And our first color TV. My mom would put on a record of a train and make sure we sat in the middle of the two speakers for the full effect to hear the train arriving and departing. It was a miracle sound!

Hi Gabe: I bet some people on the Big Island of Hawaii feel that way about a road through the lava.

Nov 18, 2014 04:04 AM
Barbara-Jo Roberts Berberi, MA, PSA, TRC - Greater Clearwater Florida Residential Real Estate Professional
Charles Rutenberg Realty - Clearwater, FL
Palm Harbor, Dunedin, Clearwater, Safety Harbor

40 years ago, homes were much smaller and most of them in Florida did not have pools.

Nov 18, 2014 06:33 AM
Robert Bob Gilbert
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Anderson Properties - Katy, TX
Your Katy TX ( West of Houston) Real Estate Expert

Times ceratinly change and of course today everything is communicated so fast. Buyers and sellers use the internet for just about everything. back years ago there was no such thing and research maent going to the library. good post. 

Nov 22, 2014 04:20 AM