SAN FRANCISCO and SEATTLE, July 13,
2021 /PRNewswire/ -- With millennial first-time buyers
taking advantage of record low mortgage rates and jumping into
homeownership, many are likely unaware of the projects they may
have to undertake to get their new home move-in ready. New
research1 and survey data from Thumbtack and
Zillow find a typical for-sale home could need nearly $30,000 of work, which could come as a shock to
the large majority (65 percent) of active home shoppers who are not
seeking a fixer-upper.2
To help first-time buyers feel prepared for the home-buying
journey, Zillow compiled a list of the most common projects its
teams tackle after purchasing homes through Zillow Offers, a
service that allows sellers to skip prep, open houses and showings
by selling directly to the company. Zillow handles the prep work,
including repairs, so buyers can feel confident they're purchasing
a move-in ready home that is clean, safe and functional. Using that
list of common repairs, Thumbtack, the modern home management
platform, calculated the national average costs to complete each
project.
According to the new survey of 1,000 homebuyers, the average
millennial expects to pay between $10,000 and $15,000
to make a home move-in ready, when in reality, the data shows new
homeowners should actually expect to spend about $26,900 on these projects. Evaluating, repairing
or replacing HVAC systems is the most expensive move-in project,
costing $3,615 on average
nationwide.
"This research suggests first-time homebuyers typically
underestimate the costs of the unsexy projects they may have to
tackle before they even move in," says Amanda Pendleton, Zillow home trends expert.
"That sticker shock may be increasingly common in a competitive
market where buyers are dropping inspection contingencies as a
strategy to win a bidding war. Make sure to factor in these
unexpected costs when making an offer to make sure you can afford
them, or nail down the tradeoffs you're willing to make for a
move-in ready home. That way, you can focus on the fun,
personalized projects that make a new house feel like
home."
Homebuyers say they're most excited about improvement projects
that allow them to express their personal style and make a home
feel like their own. Millennial homebuyers are most excited to
tackle interior painting ($385/room),
followed closely by wallpaper installation ($530/room) and kitchen updates like remodels and
renovations ($7,445).
"We know homebuyers are most concerned about the hassle of home
maintenance and repairs. It feels overwhelming to know where to
begin, but also, who to entrust with your most valuable
possession," says David Steckel,
Thumbtack's home expert. "Thumbtack makes it easy to care for your
home from top to bottom. We help bring to life the joy of
homeownership by connecting homeowners with skilled local
professionals who can make their homes a haven, fit for relaxing,
working, entertaining and more."
Homebuyers are least excited about making roofing repairs, which
cost an average of $800 to evaluate
and complete. This is followed by general plumbing repairs
($335), painting the entire home
exterior ($2,415) and repairing
damaged floors ($315-$1,245, depending on the type of floor). These
projects tend to be more time consuming or require a deeper level
of expertise to complete, which can make homeowners feel out of
their comfort zone.
One way to manage costs when purchasing a home is to work with
the seller's agent to negotiate compensation for repairs and
updates in the offer terms. By working with a trusted agent who can
help identify unforeseen issues, and springing for a
pre-inspection, buyers may get a better idea of the necessary
projects a for-sale home could need before submitting an offer.
Thumbtack can then help estimate the costs of these projects and
connect homeowners with the right skilled professionals in their
area to get each project done and done well. For those seeking a
move-in ready home, shoppers in 25 markets can also filter their
search on Zillow for "Zillow-owned homes."
Methodology
- First, mapped the Zillow list of projects against Thumbtack
categories based on keywords
- Filtered out projects that were too specific and that did not
have a sufficient number of matching data points with
Thumbtack
- Cleansed the job values by removing outliers or amounts that
were far too high compared to normal
- Averaged the amounts per Zillow Category and Thumbtack's top
designated market area (DMA)
- Top DMAs were chosen according to the availability of data
points across all Zillow projects
- All prices shown reflect the national average across the U.S.
Prices may vary by city depending on supply and demand, price of
materials, etc. For data on specific regions, please go to
www.thumbtack.com/prices.
About Zillow Group
Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: Z and
ZG) is reimagining real estate to make it easier to unlock life's
next chapter.
As the most-visited real estate website in the United States, Zillow® and its affiliates
offer customers an on-demand experience for selling, buying,
renting or financing with transparency and nearly seamless
end-to-end service. Zillow Offers® buys and sells homes directly in
dozens of markets across the country, allowing sellers control over
their timeline. Zillow Home Loans™, our affiliate lender, provides
our customers with an easy option to get pre-approved and secure
financing for their next home purchase. Zillow recently launched
Zillow Homes, Inc., a licensed brokerage entity, to streamline
Zillow Offers transactions.
Zillow Group's brands, affiliates and subsidiaries include
Zillow®, Zillow Offers®, Zillow Premier Agent®, Zillow Home Loans™,
Zillow Closing Services™, Zillow Homes, Inc., Trulia®, Out East®,
StreetEasy® and HotPads®. Zillow Home Loans, LLC is an Equal
Housing Lender, NMLS #10287 (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org).
About Thumbtack
Thumbtack is a technology leader
building the modern home management platform. Through the Thumbtack
app, homeowners can effortlessly manage their homes — confidently
knowing what to do, when to do it and who to hire. Bringing the
$500 billion home services industry
online, Thumbtack empowers millions of homeowners to fix, maintain
and improve their most valuable asset. The company is backed by
Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global Management, Javelin Venture Partners,
Baillie Gifford and CapitalG, among others.
1 Source: Thumbtack Home Project
Data
2 Source: Thumbtack and Zillow
Millennial Home Buying Survey. A sample of 1,000 U.S. adults
was surveyed between June 11, 2021
and June 14, 2021. DKC Analytics
conducted and analyzed this survey with a sample procured using the
Pollfish survey delivery platform, which delivers online surveys
globally through mobile apps, the mobile web and the desktop web.
No post-stratification has been applied to the results.
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SOURCE Zillow