The document summarizes a survey of home buyers and sellers in the Charlotte area in 2010. It found that the typical buyer was 39 years old, earned $70,900 annually, and 60% were married. First-time buyers averaged 30 years old and earned $52,700. The majority of buyers (72%) said the home buyer tax credit was a factor in their purchase timing. Sellers averaged 50 years old and typically lived in their home for 9 years before selling. Most sellers used a real estate agent to sell their home and received 96% of their asking price.

1. 2010 Charlotte Profile
of Home Buyers and
Sellers: Highlights
Jessica Lautz
December 2, 2010

2. Methodology
• Survey conducted with recent home buyers who
purchased a home between July 2009– June 2010
• Seller information gathered from those home
buyers who sold a home
• Mailed 3,500 questionnaires
– Received 305 responses
– Response rate of 8.7%
– Counties: Mecklenburg, Iredell, Anson, Stanly, Gaston,
Lincoln, Union, Alexander, Montgomery and Cabarrus
• Names obtained from Experian

3. Home Buyers

4. Typical buyer:
• 39-years-old
• $70,900
• 60% married
• 22% single females
• 11% single males
• 7% unmarried
couples
Who is buying today?

5. Share of First-Time Buyers
Charlotte

6. Who is buying today?
First-time Buyers
U.S. First-time
Buyer:
Charlotte First-time
Buyer:
30-years-old 30-years-old
$59,900 $52,700
48% married 42% married
23% single females 31% single females
15% single males 14% single males
12% unmarried
couples
12% unmarried
couples
32% have children 34% have children

7. Used Home Buyer Tax Credit?
All Buyers First-time Buyers Repeat Buyers
Used tax credit 69% 90% 50%
Did not qualify for tax credit 28 9 47
Was not aware of tax credit 2 1 3

8. Factor in Home Purchase
• 72% of all buyers
reported the tax
credit was a factor
in the timing of
your recent home
purchase

9. U.S. Repeat Buyer: Charlotte Repeat
Buyer:
49-years-old 50-years-old
$87,000 $99,000
68% married 76% married
17% single females 13% single females
9% single males 8% single males
4% unmarried
couples
2% unmarried
couples
37% have children 39% have children
Who is buying today?
Repeat Buyers

10. Why do buyers want to own
today?
All Buyers First-time Buyers
Repeat
Buyers
Desire to own a home 29% 50% 10%
Job-related relocation or move 9 2 15
Home buyer tax credit 8 15 1
Desire for larger home 8 1 13
Desire to be closer to
family/friends/relatives 7 1 13
Change in family situation 7 7 7
Desire for a home in a better area 6 2 10
Retirement 6 1 10
Affordability of homes 4 4 3

11. Timing of Buyers Recent
Home Purchase
All Buyers
First-time
Buyers
Repeat
Buyers
It was just the right time, the buyer was ready to
buy a home
34% 37% 30%
It was the best time because of affordability of
homes
28 35 21
Did not have much choice, had to purchase 13 6 19
It was the best time because of availability of
homes for sale
7 4 9
It was the best time because of mortgage
financing options available
6 8 5

12. What homes are being sold?
Typical home purchased in Charlotte:
• 73% of homes were previously
owned
• 78% detached single family
homes
• Built in 2001
• 2,000 square feet
• 3 bedrooms/2 full bathrooms
• 55% of homes purchased were in
the suburbs
• Buyers typically moved 14 miles

13. Location, Location, Location
• Quality of the neighborhood
• Convenient to job
• Overall affordability of
homes
• Convenient to shopping
• Convenient to friends and
family

14. Importance of Commute Costs

15. Importance of Home’s
Environmentally Friendly Features

16. Compromises on Home Purchase
All Buyers
First-time
Buyers
Repeat
Buyers
Price of home 19% 23% 14%
Lot size 19 19 19
Size of home 13 17 10
Style of home 12 15 10
Distance from job 12 15 10
Condition of home 10 13 8
Distance from friends or family 7 8 7
Quality of the neighborhood 5 7 3
Distance from school 2 3 1
Quality of the schools 2 1 3
Other compromises not listed 6 6 7
None - Made no compromises 37 31 42

17. Expected Tenure in Home

18. Senior-Related Housing
Share who purchased a home in senior related housing
(among buyers over 50) 10%
Type of home purchased
Detached single-family home 22%
Townhouse/row house 33
Apartment/condo in building with 5 or more units 22
Duplex/apartment/condo in 2 to 4 unit building 11
Other 11

19. The Search Process

20. First-step Taken
All
Buyers
AGE OF HOME BUYER
18-24 25-44 45-64
65 or
older
Looked online for properties for sale 34% 33% 37% 30% 31%
Contacted a real estate agent 20 20 15 26 35
Looked online for information about
the home buying process
15 13 18 13 3
Drove-by homes/neighborhoods 10 7 9 14 7
Talked with a friend or relative about
home buying process
9 7 9 7 7
Contacted a bank or mortgage lender 5 13 6 5 3

21. Frequency of Use of Different
Information Sources

22. Usefulness of Information Sources

23. Use of the Internet

24. Length of the Search Process
Number of Weeks SearchedNumber of Weeks Searched Charlotte U.S. South
2001 7 7
2003 8 8
2004 8 8
2005 8 8
2006 8 8 8
2007 7 8 8
2008 8 10 8
2009 12 12 10
2010 10 12 10
Number of homes viewed 12 12 12

25. Where Buyer Found Their Home
Charlotte
Real estate agent 38%
Internet 34
Yard sign/open house sign 13
Friend, relative or neighbor 7
Home builder or their agent 6
Print newspaper advertisement 0
Directly from sellers/Knew the sellers 2
Home book or magazine 1

26. Most Difficult Steps in Home Buying
All
Buyers
First-time
Buyers
Repeat
Buyers
Finding the right property 54% 57% 51%
Getting a mortgage 13 16 11
Meeting the April 30, 2010 deadline to qualify
for the tax credit 7 10 4
Saving for the down payment 7 10 4
Appraisal of the property 5 5 5
Meeting the deadline to close on the purchase
to get the tax credit (September 30, 2010) 3 6 1
No difficult steps 24 20 28

27. Satisfaction in Buying Process

28. Working With An Agent-Buying

29. Method of Home Purchase
Charlotte U.S. South
Through a real estate agent or broker 84% 83% 80%
Directly from builder or builder's agent 8 6 9
Directly from the previous owner 3 6 5
Knew previous owner 2 3 2
Did not know previous owner 1 3 3
Through a foreclosure or trustee sale 4 4 5

30. What do buyers want from real
estate professionals?

31. Agent Skills and Qualities
All Buyers First-time BuyersRepeat Buyers
Honesty and integrity 98% 98% 99%
Responsiveness 96 95 97
Knowledge of purchase process 95 99 92
Knowledge of real estate market 95 96 95
Negotiation skills 92 90 94
Communication skills 88 89 87
Knowledge of local area 88 90 86
People skills 82 82 83
Skills with technology 42 40 44

32. Benefits Buyers Had When
Using an Agent
All Buyers
First-time
Buyers
Repeat
Buyers
Helped buyer understand the process 65% 83% 49%
Pointed out unnoticed features/faults
with property 59 62 57
Negotiated better sales contract terms 50 50 50
Improved buyer's knowledge of search
areas 48 50 47
Provided a better list of service
providers 48 50 46
Negotiated a better price 46 45 47

33. Referrals Matter
• 53% used an agent that
was referred to them or
they had worked with
before
• 67% of home buyers
contacted only 1 agent
during their search process
• 9 in 10 would use agent
again or referral to others

34. Financing the Home Purchase

35. Percent Who Financed Purchase

36. Home Financing
• Typical buyer financed 92%
– First-time buyers typically finance 96%
– Repeat buyers typically finance 84%
• Downpayment sources:
– Savings
– Proceeds from sale of primary
residence
– Gift from relative or friend
– Sale of stocks or bonds
– 401k/pension fund including a loan

37. Difficulty of Obtaining Financing
All
Buyers
First-time
Buyers
Repeat
Buyers
Much more difficult than
expected 15% 13% 16%
Somewhat more difficult
than expected 21 24 18
Not difficult/No more
difficult than expected
65 63 66

38. Sacrifices
• Cut spending on luxury
items
• Cut spending on
entertainment
• Cut spending on clothes
• Cancelled vacation
plans
• Earned extra income
through a second job

39. Housing a Good or Bad Financial
Investment?
All Buyers First-time BuyersRepeat Buyers
Good financial investment 88% 93% 84%
Better than stocks 47 55 40
About as good as stocks 30 27 33
Not as good as stocks 11 11 11

40. Home Sellers

41. Typical seller:
• 50-years-old
• $106,700
• 82% married
• 10% single females
• 4% single males
• 2% unmarried couples
• 39% have children in home
• Typically lived in their home
for 9 years
Who is selling today?

42. Home Selling Situation

43. Why are sellers moving?
All Sellers
Job relocation 26%
Want to move closer to friends or family 20
Home is too small 15
Moving due to retirement 11
Neighborhood has become less desirable 9
Want to move closer to current job 6
Change in family situation (e.g., marriage, birth of a child, divorce) 4
Home is too large 2
Can not afford the mortgage and other expenses of owning home 1
Other 6

44. Trade up or down?
Price of home
sold
Price of home
purchased Difference
18 to 34 years $165,000 $263,000 $98,000
35 to 44 years $165,500 $267,500 $102,000
45 to 54 years $230,000 $240,000 $10,000
55 to 64 years $321,000 $271,000 -$50,000
65 to 74 years $259,500 $205,000 -$54,500
75 years or older $237,000 $259,000 $22,000

45. Selling Market Today
• Sellers typically
received 96% of their
asking price for the
home
• 47% of sellers did not
reduce their asking
price
• 53% offered incentives
• Homes were typically
on the market 5 weeks

46. Equity Earned in Home
TENURE IN HOME All Sellers in Charlotte
Dollar value Percent
1 year or less -$40,000 -
2 to 3 years -$29,500 -
4 to 5 years $6,000 3%
6 to 7 years $24,500 11%
8 to 10 years $30,000 17%
11 to 15 years $60,500 40%
16 to 20 years $63,000 48%
21 years or more $112,500 125%
Median $30,000 18%

47. Satisfaction with the Selling Process

48. Working With An
Agent-Selling

49. Method Used to Sell Home
Charlotte U.S. South
Sold home using an agent or broker 84% 88% 85%
Seller used agent/broker only 83 85 83
Seller first tried to sell it themselves, but then
used an agent 1 3 2
For-sale-by-owner (FSBO) 13 9 11
Seller sold home without using a real estate
agent or broker 10 8 9
First listed with an agent, but then sold home
themselves 3 2 2
Sold home to a homebuying company 0 1 1
Other 2 3 3

50. Level of Service Provided

51. What do sellers want from their
real estate professional?
• Help price home competitively
• Help seller market home to
potential buyers
• Help find a buyer for home

52. Method to Market Home
All Homes
Listing on the Internet 93%
Yard sign 75
Open house 49
Other Web sites with real estate listings (e.g. Google, Yahoo) 33
Real estate magazine 27
Direct mail (flyers, postcards, etc.) 24
Print newspaper advertisement 20
Video 15
Social networking Web sites (e.g. FaceBook, MySpace, etc.) 11
Video hosting Web sites (e.g. YouTube, etc) 1
Television 1
Other 4

53. Buyer Side: Usefulness of
Information Sources

54. Referrals Matter
• 58% used an agent that was
referred to them or they had
worked with before
• 51% of home sellers contacted
only 1 agent during their search
process
• 8 in 10 would use agent again or
refer them

55. FSBO Sellers

56. FSBO Experience (Charlotte)
• Most cited reason for
FSBO selling:
– Did not want to pay a
commission or fee (36%)
• Most difficult tasks:
– Getting the price right
– Having enough time to
devote to all aspects of the
sale

57. FSBO Selling Market (U.S.)
All Sellers All FSBO
Seller
Knew
Buyer
Seller did
not Know
Buyer
All Agent-
assisted
Agent-
assisted
only
First FSBO,
then Agent-
assisted
Median selling
price $190,000 $140,000 $139,600 $155,700 $199,300 $200,000 $168,000
Median (sales
price as a percent
of asking price)
96% 100% 100% 97% 96% 96% 93%
Percent who
reduced asking
price 57% 42% 23% 62% 59% 59% 62%

58. Social Media Changing Landscape

59. Interact with NAR Research on the
Internet
Join our social media
network:
Facebook
Twitter
Active Rain
RealTown

60. Where to find NAR Research…and
make social media easier
• FaceBook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/NAR-Research/7388829
• Slide Share: http://www.slideshare.net/NARResearch/
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/NAR_Research
• Active rain: http://activerain.com/blogs/nar_research
• Real Town:
http://www.realtown.com/NARResearch/blog

69. 2010 Profile of Home
Buyers and Sellers
Jessica Lautz
jlautz@realtors.org
202-383-1155