Finding the perfect housing match can be like finding the perfect mate, and that search isn’t always easy!

In a recent article, realtor.com® highlights how home-shopping can feel a lot like dating.

Home buyers are looking for storage, energy efficiency and outdoor space, according to the latest preference survey released by the National Association of Home Builders and Better Homes and Gardens during the NAHB International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas this week.

Some of the top new-home desires cited by home buyers of all ages include separate laundry rooms, energy-star appliances and windows, exterior lighting, and a patio.

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By age 61, the majority of people feel free to choose where they most want to live, according to a new study by Merrill Lynch, “Home in Retirement: More Freedom, New Choices.”

“Throughout most of people’s lives, where they live is determined by their responsibilities,” according to the report. “Most careers demand that people live within a reasonable commuting distance from where they and/or their spouse work. However, as people enter their 50s and 60s, they begin to cross what this study reveals to be the ‘Freedom Threshold.'” That’s the age when people say they can finally choose where they want to live, according to the survey of more than 3,600 retirees.

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You and your buyers should walk through every home like there is a nanny cam recording your private conversations. If you are recorded, the information gleaned from your private conversations with buyers could be used against you in negotiations, warns a new video by the Washington REALTOR® Legal Hotline Lawyer.

Lawyer Annie Fitzsimmons with the Washington REALTORS® says that more sellers are using nanny cameras to record video – and in some cases, even audio – when their home is on the market. The cameras may allow them to intercept conversations between agent and buyer inside the house that sellers can then use to their advantage in negotiations, such as the buyer raving about how much they loved the house and how they’d even be willing to pay full price for it, Fitzsimmons says.

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The next generation of home buyers say they will move to the suburbs if it means they can find quality schools there, according to a newly released survey by realtor.com®.

In fact, millennials – the generation born between 1980 and 2000 – are less likely than other generations to compromise on school districts when in house-hunting mode, the survey revealed. Fifty-two percent of millennials said school districts are a deal-breaker in their home search, compared to 31 percent of all buyers, the survey found.

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There’s no right or wrong answer when it comes to the question of old vs. new in real estate.

Ask yourself, do you enjoy a home with character and timeless style? Or, are you a fan of the starting-from-scratch approach, which begins from the ground up—literally—and creates something new, modern, sleek and, energy efficient?

Read Jessica’s post…