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Marketing a healthy lifestyle is much more powerful than promoting a new home’s HERS score, LEED certification, or other features, according to research by the New Homes Institute at John Burns Real Estate Consulting.
The researchers also recommended two other steps to increase new home sales:
- making the benefits visual and easy to understand; and
- capitalizing on the health craze.
“New homes improve resident health in many ways, from reducing mold and odor to circulating healthier air throughout the house,” wrote research analyst Anja Seng in The Light, the company’s weekly newsletter.
Researchers discovered only 5%-to-15% of homeowners would value a home more if it had Low VOC paint, Indoor AirPlus or similar features. Instead, marketing ease of cleaning or “purified air” resonates much better than selling materials and features.
Easy-to-understand graphics and displays are also effective tools for calling attention to superior construction. These can be powerful in highlighting features that may be invisible. For example, award-winning David Weekley Homes, one of the nation’s largest privately held builders, showcases “behind the walls” energy-saving materials and durability benefits in some of its model homes:
With more than three-fourths (76%) of homeowners claiming to be taking more steps to promote their physical health now versus a year ago, sellers should capitalize on this craze by “helping buyers connect the dots: that ‘home’ is part of the health equation.
Seng singled out Thrive Home Builders in Denver for the messaging in some of its promotional materials. The company, which touts “Health Starts in the Home” on its website landing page, recently received its sixth consecutive EPA Indoor airPLUS Leader Award, a program that recognizes organizations that construct and verify enhanced indoor air quality protections.