Britain is a nation of decisive home buyers who are quick to fall in love with a home and act fast to buy it. Some 61% of home owners were able to buy the home they originally fell in love with and 25% were lucky enough for this to be the first home they viewed.
This highlights the decisive nature of British home buyers, according to the survey report by conveyancing services firm
My Home Move. The research found that house hunters know extremely quickly whether they like a property with 26% making the decision to buy their home even before viewing the whole property.
It also found that 18% make the decision within 30 seconds of entering the property and 8% knowing the property is for them before even entering. In contrast, 17% needed a second viewing to decide it was the home for them.
Around 45% of buyers did not have to make any sacrifices or compromises when buying their home and are therefore living in their dream home. However, first time buyers and Londoners are more likely to compromise with 11% finding it much harder to find their dream home and viewing 10 or more properties before finding the right one.
The one that got away
Thirty nine percent were not able to buy the property they originally fell in love with and this is more likely to happen in London where 60% were disappointed in this way.
Londoners are more likely to make sacrifices or compromises and 70% said their current property did not have everything they wanted, compared to 55% for Britain as a whole. This is due to the high demand and shortage of properties for sale in the capital, alongside rocketing prices, meaning buyers in London have fewer options.
First time buyers were worse hit by this reality when buying their home, with a significant majority of 83% aged 30 or below saying they had to make sacrifices or compromises when buying their home. In comparison, only 43% of home buyers aged above 51 said their home did not have everything they wanted.
Savvy buyers
'Being outbid by another buyer' is the most common reason home owners were not able to buy a property. This happened to 27% and is much more likely among first time buyers than older home owners, with 41% of those aged under 30 being outbid, dropping to 26% or less for those aged above 51.
The second biggest reason for losing out on a dream home for 17% of buyers, was being ‘gazumped’ (the seller accepted a higher offer from a new bidder after accepting their original offer). This trend rises significantly for those aged under 30 with 38% being gazumped, falling to 15% or less for those aged above 51.
Buyers are becoming savvier, thanks in part to the multitude of property programmes on television and researching via the internet. By the time it comes to arranging a viewing, the typical buyer now knows all about the location and the property from its online profile. This means they can make their mind up extremely quickly.
