The Mindset of Home Buyers in Sacramento Today

To understand why home buyers offer the prices that they do for certain Sacramento listings, it’s important to consider the mindset of today’s home buyers. Before the 2007 housing market crash, buyers used to approach homes with the attitude that they would absolutely adore all of them and want to buy every single home. In fact, in some cases, they had pretty much made up their minds by the time their agent pulled the car to the curb. That was their dream home. Or the last home was.

They would walk through the door expecting to love the home. They had already developed feelings for it from the moment they laid eyes on it, and were more likely to overlook a small defect. Buyers were much more positive and carefree. Why, they could fix that, their uncle could take care of that, their mom would help them do this. Not so today, I’m afraid. The mindset of home buyers has changed today.

Home buyers are cautious. They don’t want to get burned. They don’t want to make a mistake. When they enter a home, their first thought is not how utterly gorgeous we must own this, it is what is wrong with this home? There must be something wrong somewhere, and they walk through the tour looking for drawbacks that do not fit their objectives.

If they have their heart set on a kitchen with granite counters and stainless appliances, they are less likely to want to remodel a kitchen with ceramic counters and white appliances. Plus, you know, the flippers have ruined it for many of us as I hold flippers primarily responsible for the changing attitude of today’s buyers. But that and a dime won’t get me a cup of coffee.

When I spot a drawback that can cause a buyer’s emotions to move from the positive to negative, I convey that information to a seller. I also send my sellers showing feedback from other agents. Sometimes it’s a little thing that a seller can do to remove buyer objections such as painting a wall or replacing a light fixture. It is hard for a seller to believe that a buyer would, due to such small infractions a) not buy her home, or b) offer less than market value, but it’s precisely the small infractions that can get in their way.

That small fix might cost $200 but if it sells your home or returns an offer price of $5,000+ more, it might be worth considering. Because sometimes selling AS IS costs more than making a small improvement in the home. Perhaps try looking at it from the mindset of home buyers and ask yourself why wouldn’t you buy another home instead of this one?