Survey Says: Technological Home Features Preferred By Next Generation of Manufactured Home Purchasers
“Perception can be deceiving.” You might assume that I must be technically-smart, considering I work for a high tech manufactured home web-site. Your presumed assumption is totally incorrect. Like many of the senior generation I am a “dinosaur” when it comes to relating to the “techy” generation. (Forgive me, I’m not sure I even know the correct words in describing what I am talking about).
My formative years (birth to age 40) were completely devoid of cell phones, computers, fax machines, remote controls, etc. However, I did buy a state of the art desktop calculator in the early 1960s.
Examples of my technological ineptitude: my 4 year old granddaughter recently taught me how to play “Angry Birds” on “her” Ipad. Also, my 15 year old grandson showed me how to text and e-mail on my new iPhone. Tweeting? — #forgetaboutit!! Facebook? I have one that was set-up by one of my granddaughters. However, I didn’t like hearing about other peoples’ personal lives and feeling that I needed to respond to every inquiry. I don’t remember my password anyway.
When attending meetings here at Manufactured Homes.com with the technical staff, It seems that everyone is speaking a foreign language. When asked my opinion by someone in the meeting, I usually respond, “Sounds ok to me.” I often refer to my writing pad and my pencil as “my Ipad.”
Despite my lack of technological knowledge, there is one subject that I understand and am confident in describing: manufactured homes and the manufactured housing industry. For nearly one-half of a century, I have been an observant/participant in the evolution of the mobile home of yesteryear to the modern manufactured home of today.
I have witnessed the remarkable adaptive transition of the manufactured home industry in providing quality, yet affordable, homes that are always one-step ahead of the traditional site built homes in providing housing to serve the needs and desires of each generation of home buyers.
A new generation that has grown used to the convenience of touch-screen devices, expects the same from their homes, as a new survey shows. The survey, conducted on behalf of Better Homes And Garden Real Estate, reveals that the next generation of homebuyers prefer “customized” smart homes to the traditional luxury or prototype homes of the past.
The survey indicates that younger home buyers are not interested in the “traditional” homes where their parents grew up. “They are not looking into the bells and whistles of the old generation,” says Sherry Cris, President and CEO of Better Homes And Gardens Real Estate, Persipany N.J. They want “customized” features “like turning up the heat and down using their Ipad,” she says.
The survey shows 43 percent of participants prefer “customized” homes as opposed to a cookie cutter home, while 50 percent believe that technology is more important than curb appeal.
The survey was conducted by Wakefield Research using a nationally representative group of 1000 adults 18 to 35 years old.
You may have noted that survey respondents often used the words “customized” or “customization” in their response to their home preferences. One of the many advantages of manufactured homes is the customization of the home to match a home buyers individual preferences. In fact, every manufactured home produced is built to the specifications of an individual home buyer, whereas site home builders/developers offer homes built to generic specifications. As a result the home buyer may have to retrofit a site-built home to match personal preferences.
The manufactured housing is already “ahead of the curve” when it comes to the rapid and ever changing growth of technology, that so many of the “next generation” will demand.
We, of the older generation will continue to marvel and observe, even if we don’t know how to participate.
(photo via 4 Pillar Homes)
