Home Mortgage Alliance Corporation (HMAC)

A single home feature is often all it takes to make an offer

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Published Date 2/22/2024

While letting your fingers do the scrolling has made it infinitely easier to narrow down available houses, it’s interesting to note what it is buyers remember most about them. As Realtor.com’s Kimberly Dawn Neumann says, “Love is subjective, often irrational. So is buying a home. Sometimes, it’s the littlest thing that tips the scales, where one thinks—no, knows—that a particular property is the one.”

So she collected a few stories about what floated buyers’ boats seriously enough to make them want to buy. Sometimes it’s a buzzword they assign to the house. “The one with the burnt orange front door.” Or “The house with the rainwater barrels in the backyard.”

Neumann’s first story is about a cuppa Joe. One coffee aficionado had spent an untold number of hours in business meetings or personal get-togethers sitting in coffee shops enjoying cappuccinos. “What a wonderful surprise when I was walking through my new potential home to find not one, but three built-in Miele cappuccino machines—in the main kitchen, basement kitchen, and the bar area. This meant that at any given time of the day or night, I could make my own caffeine fix and never have to leave the house.”

Another is about how natural overhead light was the clincher. Says another buyer: “The first time I saw the huge skylight running through the center of this house’s living room, I immediately knew this was my dream home. I am someone who thoroughly enjoys nature. This skylight opens the room up and allows in plenty of natural light. The best part is that I can enjoy a sky full of stars from the comfort of my home. Whether it’s raining, snowing, or a bright sunny day, all I have to do is take a seat and enjoy the weather.”

Sometimes included in a buyer’s mind is an object the homeowner had strategically placed that remains stuck in a buyer’s mind. One buyer couldn’t decide what seduced her more: the exterior Victorian elements or the floor-to-ceiling Victorian mirror between the shuttered Jefferson windows in the parlor. 15 years later, they still have no regrets about their buying decision.

While your Realtor will warn you against painting your house an odd exterior color, it is often that irrational color that sells the house. A Chicago buyer recalls seeing a pink house online that contained everything she wanted — and all at the right price and in a great location. When she went to tour it in person, she found it to be more purple than pink and loved it even more. “It felt like me. I love that my house is a standout in the neighborhood.”

An interior color can do it as well. A Boston buyer had viewed nearly 80 homes, but it was the calm color of some kitchen walls she fell for. “My spouse was at work; I said to leave immediately. We made a bid a few hours later and signed that night.” The kitchen color was close to Tiffany blue. With glass subway tile behind the sink, the blue calming to her. Nine years later, it’s still her happy place.

Would you buy a house with an outdoor home gym? Perhaps if you were looking for a home in Southern California you would. “I had first seen another house with an outdoor gym while walking around, and was so jealous!” said one buyer. “It was so inviting, and I remember thinking I would stick with my workouts more if I had a setup like that.” He found such a setup four blocks from Santa Monica Beach, bought the place, and appreciated it even more during the pandemic, citing it as a blessing for his sanity.

When a home is built with its surrounding nature in mind, it can be a huge attraction. “When I toured what’s now our house, I instantly fell in love with the tree it was constructed around,” said an Austin, Texas home buyer. According to arborist estimates the tree was well over 200 years old. “To me, it was evident that the tree would provide health and happiness for our household.”

Vacation vibes often rule as well, as evidenced by a San Francisco buyer who opted for a home that had a low-maintenance, tropical-inspired yard containing succulents, banana plants, and a palm tree, along with a synthetic lawn and a corner just waiting for a hot tub. “It was such a joy during the pandemic—our yard became our escape,” she says. “On sunny days, it was like our own little slice of the Caribbean, where we could just sit and enjoy a cocktail or watch the hummingbirds.”

The most off-the-wall story Neumann included was about a buyer who bought her home because the interior color of the home complemented her cat’s fur coloring. “I wanted him to match every room. He even has his own bedroom,” she said. This takes “cat-friendly” to an entirely new level.

Realtor, TBWS

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