Single women seeking good home to build equity for future

Written by on October 27, 2004

Women are no longer waiting to find "the man of their dreams" before investing in their future as the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) reports that single women now make up 21 percent of all home buyers – that's 1.7 million. That makes them the second largest home buying category next to married couples.

And these women aren't just single moms or divorcees. There are a growing number of 20-somethings and even women over 50 buying their own homes.

While high divorce rates, delayed marriage decisions, longer life expectancies and increasingly flexible lending guidelines contribute to the growing number of women homeowners, a study conducted on women and homeownership by Matthew Greenwald and Associates for Sears, Roebuck & Co., found that 92 percent of women surveyed saw their home as an investment in the future. And, by 2010, women-headed households are projected to increase to nearly 31 million – close to 28 percent of all households in the country.

Women spend only slightly less on a home than their male counterparts – a median of $139,500 versus $142,000, according to NAR. Further, about one-third of condo buyers are single women, while single women make up only one-fifth of single-family homebuyers. And they're not just buying one home, either. Single females accounted for 13 percent of all second/vacation homebuyers in 2003.

What's the best way to market to your prospective female customers? Many women are likely to use the Internet as their first step for searching for homes. In fact, a white paper by Real Living, the nation's fifth largest residential real estate company, reports that female heads of households indicated that the Internet helps them feel more in control of the home search process by providing easy, "anywhere, anytime" access to real estate market information and listings.

According to the white paper entitled, Women, Technology and Real Estate: Leveraging the Connection, women now rely on the Internet to gather information up front, often before contacting a real estate agent. However, women who are short on time and long on needs place a high value on the agent to guide them through the home buying process once they have used the Internet to educate themselves and narrow down their home search criteria.

What does that mean for the real estate agent? Finding new ways to deliver convenience and control will be an important factor for your prospective female clients. There are several ways to convey this message when marketing your services to women:

  • Promote your website as "anywhere, anytime" access to your listing information to drive efficiency, convenience and control for consumers.

  • Deliver online customer communication, comparables and transaction forms to add value to the agent-consumer relationship.
  • Meet consumer needs for efficiency and convenience by ser

    ving as a source for one-stop-shopping referrals for related services such as mortgage, title, relocation and home warranty services.