As real estate sales continue to break records, buyers’ needs are changing: which home downsides are turning into pluses?

“During the fifteen years of operation, we have developed several real estate projects, but the way Lithuanians choose housing changes little over the years: young families and first-time residents are looking for a home, medium-sized consumers or wealthier buyers are looking for completely different ones. Therefore, a variety of real estate projects are needed to satisfy the different needs of buyers, ”says Marijonas Chmieliauskas, the company’s commercial director.

New times are breaking stereotypes

Regardless of the location and class of the dwelling, Vilnius residents value more the green areas close to the house, the distance to shops, kindergartens, schools and health care institutions. The amount of light in the apartment is especially relevant: apartments with south and west windows sell faster, as well as those where the light is not blocked by nearby buildings. Vilnius residents are also interested in apartments with terraces, they are the fastest to buy in real estate projects.

“The old stereotype from the Soviet era that the apartments on the first floors of the building are lower is no longer valid today. Some people still admired the ground floor because it can be cooler, but now the builders are additionally insulating the first floor and the heat loss is so small that the neighbors do not feel it, ”says M. Chmieliauskas.

In addition, buyers are no longer afraid of corner apartments, on the contrary, they see more advantages in them: fewer walls with neighbors, more windows. If corner apartments were previously unattractive due to possible heat loss, modern building technologies ensure that corner apartment residents do not have to complain about it.

Access to parking near the house depends on the housing segment. “Buyers who buy a home in an economy class project are more inclined to buy a car space later, when they are old in a new house, when they assess the real need for such a place. Buyers of apartments in the middle or prestigious segment usually buy at least one parking space when buying a house, and then, after they settle in, they usually buy a second one as well, says M. Chmieliauskas. – If the real estate project is in the periphery, where there is more space to park a car, fewer parking spaces will be purchased. On the contrary, the closer to the center, the more parking spaces are bought. The price of the parking space also depends on it: the closer the project is to the center, the more expensive the parking space is “

You want more privacy

According to an expert in selling new homes, buyers always want more privacy, so it is more difficult to sell apartments with windows facing other residential buildings or it is assumed that after a while the plot next to the house will be built with new ones. buildings, for example. like a new store under the windows. Therefore, when choosing a home, buyers are very interested in the purpose of the plots together with the real estate project and construction plans.

In real estate projects in the economic segment, smaller apartments are more in demand, because the decisive factor for the buyer of said home is its absolute price. To save money, the affordable home buyer wants to buy the smallest possible apartment with as many functional spaces and separate rooms as possible. This desire of buyers often poses additional challenges for the real estate developer.

Meanwhile, exclusive apartments, such as those with a skylight or those located on two floors in the bathroom, are increasingly attractive to buyers in the middle-class or prestigious housing segment. “Newcomers tend to see the functional distinctiveness caused by building particularities or architectural solutions as advantages and tend to choose this type of housing for life,” says M. Chmieliauskas.

Financial capabilities dictate selection criteria

Property developers tend to target different categories of buyers, offering them apartments in the right class, from budget to prestigious. It is the financial capabilities of the buyers that dictate the criteria for choosing a home.

For example, flexibility and especially security, the possibility of giving up the house without a bank loan, as well as dividing the initial contribution into separate installments and paying it until the end of the construction of the project are important for buyers of apartments in class. economical. The choice is determined by the final price of the apartment rather than the price per square meter.

Meanwhile, the technical parameters of the apartment, the distance to the workplace, the main centers of attraction of the city are important for middle-class buyers. According to M. Chmieliauskas, there are more and more advantages in middle-class apartments. For example, in the past, only prestigious projects saw technical solutions such as wooden windows or heated floors, today they are common in middle-class real estate projects.

“Prestigious home buyers are the most demanding, both quality and exclusivity are important to them. In this segment, top-quality performance, exceptional location and architecture are expected from the real estate developer. Prestigious home buyers are interested in dwellings with a larger area, often expressing the desire to combine several apartments in one. There is great interest in exceptionally planned two-storey dwellings, “says M. Chmieliauskas.