How do Emotion and Logic Influence the Home we Purchase?
We’ve all been there. Standing in line, waiting to buy, when suddenly you see that impulse purchase that you just can’t walk away from. It makes sense when the spontaneous item is a few dollars but, are these same feelings influencing house purchases? You may be surprised to figure out just how much emotion as well as logic influence the homes we buy.
Emotion
Marketing professionals have long known that logical data like price, square footage, and location can all be trumped by the visceral reaction of seeing a home. Things like smells, colours, and sounds that you can hear inside or from the outside can all have an influence on your purchasing behaviour. In fact, the layout of a house may subliminally remind you of the home of a former boyfriend or girlfriend; which can have a very positive or negative emotional impact on how you see a home. Think back through different memories in your life as a kid, teenager, or young adult. Usually, you will recall stages of your life by what house you lived in at the time. This is how strongly a home can be connected to vivid emotional memories in ways you didn’t even consider.
If you’ve walked through a new home and thought to yourself “the Christmas tree would look great right there”, “I could just picture myself having coffee in the morning here”, or “think of all the fun hanging out with friends on this deck would be”, odds are you’re a home buyer lead by emotion. Emotional home buyers are influenced heavily by creating memories. This is a common reason for home purchases and is a huge motivating factor for many home buyers.
Pros
Home buyers with a strong sense of sentiment naturally feel a connection to the impact of memories. Understanding the importance of finding a home that “feels” right is essential to feeling content, which will result in staying in a home longer. These individuals are also very quick to assess the layout of a house in order to determine functionality. They’re able to think through an average day in the home and make sure that everything meets those daily demands. Unlike logical home buyers who focus on the data, emotional buyers understand that square footage isn’t created equal. You can’t just rely on the numbers; the layout has to be right for your needs.
Cons
As you may have guessed, the biggest problem with emotional buyers is that they are prone to make impulsive decisions. A thought like “there may be multiple offers on this property” can cause an emotional home buyer to panic and make an offer that is too high or decide to move forward on a house before thinking it through completely. They will cherry-pick or interpret information that confirms their ideas; falling in love with a house while dismissing the mouldy smell, because “the place probably just needs a little airing out”. Also, these home buyers often put so much of themselves into the search that they can get worn down quickly. If you know that you are a highly emotional home buyer, try to allow yourself plenty of recovery time during the process because there are many emotional aspects to buying a house.
Logic
Logical home buyers are usually looking for the best deal they can find based off their research. They usually don’t care as much about the layout, the colour of the walls, or the flooring type because they’re much more focused on things like price per square foot. How will this purchase affect them in the future? Will they choose the wrong house and lose money when they sell? You’ll find that logical home buyers need data. A lot of it! When looking for a home, they’ll search out information like what recent homes in the area sold for, what the current owners bought the home for, what money has been put into the home since they bought it, and how much the home is expected to appreciate in comparison to others. If you’ve found yourself walking through a home thinking “is there anything that would make this home harder to sell later?” or “what are the average utility costs and yearly property taxes?” odds are you have a logical streak.
Pros
Logic-driven home buyers are rarely surprised by anything because they typically look over the house very thoroughly before purchasing. They’ll have analyzed every aspect to determine if it makes sense to move forward. This means that they’ve thought through all the scenarios that most concerned them when they first looked at the home and have prepared themselves. This also means that logical home buyers are less risky. They prioritize maintaining a strict budget and are naturally financially cautious; adhering to the market value of a home, without straying above it. They don’t do anything that could jeopardize their bottom line when it comes time to sell.
Cons
Although data provides logical home buyers a sense of control and helps them feel safe moving forward in the buying process, this data won’t tell them how it will feel to live in the home. Since sentiment wasn’t a driving factor, the logic driven home buyer may find themselves in a home they don’t love or aren’t content with and will find themselves right back on the market in a couple of years. This fixation on information like price, while important, means they will ignore options that could overcome the price factor. A home with a lot of character or in a great neighborhood may be worth more than a house with similar square footage. A special feature or the finished result after a great remodel could drastically increase the home’s value.
Many things come into play when you’re buying a new home; and you’ll look at them differently depending on the type of buyer you are. Figuring out how emotion and logic influence how you buy a home is extremely important in order to help you negate some of the drawbacks that can come about. If you’re an emotional buyer, try to spend some extra time looking over finances and don’t get hung up on an expensive option. For our logical buyers out there, remember that, although this is a big financial commitment, how you feel about the home is also very important. If you have any questions and would like to learn more about how people buy homes please reach out to us at SkyHomes!
