Home purchase is probably one of the most important and stressful decision you’ll make in your life. But you are not the only one! Every year, thousands of Americans are going through the process of buying a house. As a home buyer, you are probably curious to know where you stand in comparison to other home buyers. In late 2009, The National Association of Realtors® conducted a survey among American home buyers and sellers who purchased their homes between July 2008 and June 2009. Among national surveys, NAR’s 2009 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers is unprecedented in size and scope. Below, you will find several interesting results from this study. Whether you are a first-time home buyer or a repeat buyer, take the time to skim trough these statistics, it might help you in your process and your decisions.

• Typical first time home buyer:

First-time home buyers occupy 47% of all home sales, which is the highest proportion since 1981

- Median age = 30 - Median annual income: $61,600 - Purchased a home costing $156,000 (compared to $165,000 in 2008) - Plans to stay in that home for 10 years - 76% chose a fixed rate mortgage - Searched for an average of 12 weeks and visited 12 houses

• How did they finance their mortgage?

- 55% used a FHA loan
– 8% used a VA loan program

• Sources of downpayment

• Sacrifies

Of course, since money doesn’t grow on trees, in order to be able to make your monthly payments and other expenses related to the house, people have to make compromises and save money elsewhere. There are three principal categories in which people cut back:

- 39% on luxury items
- 38% on entertainment
- 30% cloths

• Typical repeat buyer

- Median age = 48 - Median annual income : $88,100 - Purchased a home costing $224,500 - Plans to stay in that home for 12 years

• Home buyers (first-time and repeat) appreciate agent’s services for :

- Helping to find the right house
- Helping to negotiate better sales terms and price
- Helping them understand the process
- Pointing out unnoticed features or defects,
- and supplying a better list of service providers

• Research: 90% of buyers use the Internet as a resource for their research. Here are the most popular Internet resources used among them:

1- Local metropolitan multiple listing service Web sites
2- Realtor.com
3- Real estate company sites
4- Real estate agent web sites
5- other Web sites with real estate listings
6- For-sale-by-owner sites
7- Local newspaper sites

• The biggest factors influencing neighborhood choice