The National Association of REALTORS® came out recently with their latest Buyer/Seller Survey.

REALTOR.com survey on Home Buying:

• Sixty-six percent of recent home buyers were married couples—the highest share since 2001.
  • The median age of first-time buyers was 31, unchanged from 2012, and the median income was $67,400. The typical first-time buyer purchased a 1,670 square-foot home costing $170,000, while the typical repeat buyer was 52 years old and earned $96,000. Repeat buyers purchased a median 2,060-square foot home costing $240,000.
  • For repeat buyers, 16 percent wanted a larger home, 12 percent had a job-related move and another 12 percent said they just wanted to own a home of their own.
  • Typical home buyers were 42 years old, first-time homebuyers averaged 31 years old and repeat buyers averaged 52 years old.
  • Many households were multi-generational either including children moving back or taking care of aging parents.

• For 42 percent of home buyers, the first step in the home-buying process was looking online for properties and 14 percent of home buyers first looked online for information about the home buying process.
• The use of the Internet in the home search rose slightly to 92 percent.
• The typical home buyer searched for 12 weeks and viewed 10 homes.
• Eighty-eight percent of buyers purchased their home through a real estate agent or broker—a share that has steadily increased from 69 percent in 2001.
• Eighty-eight percent of sellers were assisted by a real estate agent when selling their home.
• Two-thirds of home sellers only contacted one agent before selecting the one to assist with their home sale.
• The share of home sellers who sold their home without the assistance of a real estate agent was nine percent. Forty percent knew the buyer prior to home purchase.

*42% of home buyers STARTED their home search online and 14% of homebuyers looked up how to buy a home online. However 92% of homebuyers used the internet as their major tool in their home search. And then 87% of home buyers used an agent at the same time to purchase their home.However, just jumping on the internet using Google, Bing or a major housing search engine like REALTOR.com®, Trulia or Zillow can soon become over whelming and actually not very helpful unless you have the right knowledge and tools to start out with. Knowledge is power and is very valuable in your home search and purchase.So, what do you do? How can you educate yourself in the Houston housing market and the buying process? A good online website – with Buyer TOOLS!!

Consumer Buyer Tools on Enid Cruise-Cleland’s website:

Neighborhood Finder (Looking for your favored neighborhood?)

Home Value Finder

School Finder (What homes are in your preferred school area?)

Golf Finder (Want to find the right home on your favorite course?)

Highrise Finder

Housing Market Stats (What homes in your favored area sold – what is the trend?)

Affordable Housing (Are their special programs available to help with down payment and other things?)

Consumer Resources

Plus lots of home search options in special neighborhoods and areas. Also, there is a zip code profile available through the Houston Association of REALTORS®. Here’s a sample here for 77019.But the best tool to use is an agent who knows the area, the market and the business of real estate. Enid Cruise-Cleland. Thanks to Enid’s well-developed skills in business, marketing and negotiation, she has enjoyed enormous success as a Realtor. Especially adept at negotiating the best deals for her clients, whether buyers or sellers, she helps sellers achieve their maximum goal in the quickest time possible and buyers to find their dream property within their budgets and relocation requirements. Her clients can attest to it – Enid Cruise-Cleland LOVES what she does.You can have a truly enjoyable home buying experience! 

Call Enid today. Also, follow her on Facebook!

*According to the National Association of REALTORS® Survey