Are These the Amenities You Want in Your Home?

October 5, 2010

A survey done by ZipRealty in May, listed the following amenities as preferences of the 1000 house hunters who registered on its site. Would you agree with these choices?

1. Garage or parking space: 86.8%

2. Master suite: 78.9%

3. Ample storage space: 72%

4. Large or walk-in closets: 66.5%

5. Guest Bedroom: 66.4%

6. Outdoor entertainment area: 64.3%

7. Gourmet or updated kitchen: 60.6%

8. Breakfast room or eat-in kitchen: 55.8%

9. Large yard: 43.2%

10. Wood floors: 8%



According to the report from ZipRealty, men and women's top preferences were largely the same with two exceptions. Men put having a view on their lists while women put wood floors on their lists. The men did not include wood floors and the women did not include having a view.

There were four turn-offs for house seekers in the survey. Structural damage, bad odors, an awkward floor plan and a busy street seemed to discourage interest in a particular property.



For potential home sellers, evaluate your home using these preferences and recognize that having them is a plus and not having them is a minus. However, we are still in a price driven real estate market and a really competitive price can overcome the lack of certain amenities.