Home buyers are willing to make extreme sacrifices and even give up some basic rights to get a chance at homeownership or help with their down payment, a new survey shows. In exchange for a 10 percent down payment, would-be buyers said they’d forgo their dream car, vacations, and even their right to vote.
Twenty-two percent of 1,000 buyers recently surveyed said they’d be willing to give up the right to vote in exchange for a 10 percent down payment they would not need to pay back, according to Unison Home Ownership Investors and Atomik Research’s
The Value of Owning a Home survey. Millennials (26 percent) are more likely than Gen X (20 percent) and baby boomers (7 percent) to be willing to give up their right to vote. Men are more likely than women to give up their driver’s license—14 percent versus 9 percent, respectively.
Forty-four percent said they’d be willing to give up their dream car, and 38 percent would give up vacationing for the next five years.
Homeownership status may even affect relationships, the survey found. Fifty-eight percent of respondents said they’d be more likely to date or marry someone who already owned a home at the time their relationship began, according to the survey. Homeowners may be more attractive to aspiring buyers. Millennials (58 percent), Gen X (59 percent), and baby boomers (56 percent) admit preference toward engaging in a relationship with a current homeowner.
To overcome the down payment barrier, more consumers are showing openness toward crowdfunding. Twenty-six percent of respondents surveyed said they’d consider crowdfunding a down payment, and 29 percent would use an equity investment or homeownership investment. Read more about
buyers using crowdfunding to secure a home.
Source: “The Value of Owning a Home,” Unison Home Ownership Investors (May 24, 2018) [Log-in required.]
