Is it love at first sight?
Did you know that around 71.2% of homeowners in England are coupled up? People buying or selling a home in the next 12 months are 42% more likely to celebrate Valentine's Day than the population?
![](https://lifesycle-cdn.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/29e0f8d6-d187-4ee3-a596-2b726ca0c01c/articles/65e05dc8c0801_large.png)
Did you know that around 71.2% of homeowners in England are coupled up? People buying or selling a home in the next 12 months are 42% more likely to celebrate Valentine's Day than the population?
That's a third of all movers, an estimated 831,000 people. Are the romantics in the home moving market more likely to buy if they fall in love at first sight with a home?
According to the latest Rightmove statistics, the average time a property is on the market before finding a buyer has increased steadily since early last year. Figures in December report that it now takes an average of 71 days, quite a long time if you need to sell quickly. And a lot of tidying up as viewers come through the door.
Changing socio-economic dynamics, such as shifting demographics and lifestyle preferences, have reshaped the real estate landscape. Millennials, now the largest cohort of homebuyers, exhibit distinctive preferences compared to previous generations.
![](https://lifesycle-cdn.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/blog/KvYwju9K7ZtsuLR7TjlqV7jdE9ZUeDOqiwQkRxvC.png)
For instance, they have much higher expectations than previous generations on how a property should look. They will scrutinise all the digital technologies at their fingertips, lifestyle videos are a particular favourite, and meticulously research properties before even booking a viewing. This heightened level of scrutiny and deliberation elongates the buyer's journey, in turn extending the time it takes for sellers to secure a sale. Consequently, estate agents are tasked with understanding and catering to these evolving preferences, which inherently prolongs the process of finding the right match between properties and buyers.
We recently conducted a nationwide survey through the market research company Opinium, and the results were dramatic. 70% of those surveyed said 'love at first sight' when searching for a property was at least 'fairly important', and only 5% said it was not important at all.
With people expecting to buy a home only around three times in their life, it seems pretty clear from these stats that if agents and homeowners are prepared to accept first impressions as a principal factor in the buying process, they can speed the time from launch to market to securing a good offer.
![](https://lifesycle-cdn.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/blog/TjUxRE74qNAGRoWIWzXkuJfKGvZ1VqMvIu6RGVjD.png)
We believe that currently, only about 1% of homes in the UK are benefiting from professional advice or staging before they are launched to market. This is a surprising statistic when you consider that first impressions, or 'love at first sight', are so crucial with a majority of property buyers.
To maximise the impact of your property when you launch to the market for sale, ensure you have mastered the first impression to your buyers. Hiring a home-stager can deal with this for you, and with the By Design/Lemon & Lime partnership, we have advice available. Help your buyers fall in love at first sight!
Elaine Penhaul, MD of Lemon + Lime.