Little Opinions Matter in Big Homebuying Decisions

Children today have more of a say than ever in home buying decisions according to a survey by SunTrust Mortgage released on Monday.

The survey, which was conducted by Harris Poll between April 18 and April 20, 2018, among 2,047 adults, found that 55 percent homeowners with a child under the age of 18 at the time when they purchased their home said that the opinion of their offspring played a major role in their home buying decision.

For millennial parents, their child’s influence and opinion while buying a home mattered even more. The survey revealed that 74 percent of millennial homeowners said that their child’s opinion had been taken into consideration when they bought a home.

Among renters too the opinion of their children under the age of 18 played a great role in future home purchases, the survey found, with 83 percent of these renters saying that the opinion of their children would be a deciding factor when they looked to buy a home.

When it came to renters, the survey also found that 72 percent of renters looked at being homeowners within the next two years, even though 17 percent said that the stress of the mortgage application process was discouraging them from looking for one more actively.

“As a parent of two kids, I know from experience that including children in the home buying process is not only fun for the whole family, but also educational for our homebuyers of tomorrow,” said Todd Chamberlain, Head of Mortgage Banking at SunTrust, explaining the idea behind the survey.

So what do kids look at for their ideal abode? According to the survey, 57 percent of the kids looked for their own bedroom, while 34 percent wanted large backyards. Proximity to parks, activities, and schools got a 34 percent and 25 percent vote respectively, whereas 24 percent also wanted to live close to their friends and 21 percent kids said that they lobbied for a swimming pool with their parents while the family was looking for a home.