We know this is true: Americans have a strong desire to become homeowners (79% among non-homeowners, according to the latest ValueInsured Modern Homebuyer Survey) and the next generation continues to view homeownership as an important part of their American Dream (78% among millennials). However, increasing evidence shows they may not enjoy the process of actually buying a home.
In 2017, Trulia found 51% of all homeowners have regrets about the process they went about to buy their home. Now, ValueInsured reports 59% of all existing homeowners have negative sentiments associated with their most recent home-buying experience.
When asked to describe their most recent home-buying experience by selecting among a list of positive and negative sentiments and emotions, ValueInsured found the following:
- 33% chose to describe their home-buying experience as similar to “a bumpy roller coaster ride.” It indicates at least a third of homeowners likely have experienced surprises or unpredictability during their recent home-buying process.
- 11% described their experience as similar to “watching paint dry”
- 10% described their experience as similar to “having a root canal”
- Another 5% described their experience as “a defeat”
When they are the backbone of a $31.8 trillion housing industry and support millions of jobs, it begs the question why nearly 6 out of 10 homeowners did not have a more pleasant home-buying experience.
Gen-Xers and millennials appear to have it worse than older homeowners. 72% of all Gen-X homeowners described their most recent home-buying experience negatively, while 69% millennials did the same.
Millennials’ positive feedback was boosted by having the largest segment among all age groups to describe the experience as similar to “winning the golden ticket,” at 15% among all millennial homeowners. This reaffirms the challenges faced by millennial homebuyers, and the gratification they feel when they manage to buy a home. Overall, 41% of all homeowners felt positively about their most recent home-buying experience. 31% described their experience as most similar to “a walk in the park,” and 10% described it as like “winning the golden ticket.”