The Most Important Feature People Look For When Buying A Home - Exclusive Survey

Aside from your overall budget, there are many considerations that go into making your final decision when purchasing a home. In the end, it comes down to a balancing act between what you want in a home and what you need. According to HGTV, when it comes to making a list of what features to look for in a new home, it helps to figure out which features are driving you away from your current living situation.

If you're a large family crammed into a one-bedroom apartment, having additional bedrooms may be right at the top of your list of needs. Tired of wasting time doing the dishes? A new dishwasher could be a must-have. However, when it comes to a pool or central vacuum system, these may be more along the lines of wants instead of needs.

Although we all consider different factors when shopping for a new home, we at House Digest wanted to know what most people put at the top of their priority list. In a recent survey, House Digest asked the question, "Which is most important to you when looking for a home?" The options included location, privacy, home features, size and floor plan, neighborhood, and home exterior/yard. Let's take a look at the results.

In our House Digest survey asking people what they felt was the most important feature to look for when buying a home, of the 627 surveyed, 199 people (31.74% of the vote) said it all comes down to location. Moving.com agrees, saying location is often the number one factor people think about when looking at buying a new home or relocating to another state. Having a home in a safe area, with public transportation and low crime rates, as well as nearby schools, parks, and grocery stores, can be a sure sign that it is a house worth investing in.

Other features that those surveyed found important to look for are the size and floor plan of the house, and the type of neighborhood the property is in. Both tied for second with 115 votes each (18.34% of the survey). Roughly 14% (90 people) stated that privacy was a top priority for them. Home features such as the number of bedrooms, stainless steel appliances, age of the home, etc, are what 79 folks (12.60% of those surveyed) found to be the most significant detail when looking for a new property. Finally, 29 people ( 4.63% of the survey) said that the home exterior/yard was a major focus for them.