Heads Up, Builders: Listings That Highlight Kid-Friendly Features Can Sell Fast

• Kid-friendly outdoor amenities such as a treehouse, sandbox or playground can help homes sell more quickly.
• Highlighting interior features such as "finished basements" and "bonus space" can help homes sell for more than expected.
• It's smart for new construction marketers to review fair housing laws before marketing family-friendly features.

With homes doing quadruple duty — living, educating, working, entertaining — for more than a year, it's no surprise that home buyers, particularly those with children, are looking for houses with family-friendly features.

Kid-friendly outdoor amenities such as a treehouse, sandbox or playground may help homes sell more quickly and are associated with a higher sales price, according to Zillow research. Even nearby amenities such as community parks and pools, libraries or a cul de sac are highly prized. If families can walk to those spots, even better. Homes in a 'walkable' neighborhood tend to sell 3.9 days faster than expected.

While there's no guarantee these features will fetch higher prices or help homes sell faster, the data suggests that listing them can have an impact. Understanding this trend in buyer behavior can help savvy new construction marketers draw attention to listings.

Answering buyers' desires

When it comes to building new homes, builders have listened to what home shoppers want. Even before the pandemic, builders and designers embraced kid- and family-friendly features in their offerings.

Newly constructed homes often include flex spaces that home buyers can use as offices, home gyms, guest rooms and playrooms. Builders have placed laundry rooms on the first floor or near bedrooms (no more schlepping to the basement!), created open floor plans for open sightlines and added finished basements for storage and entertainment. It turns out that highlighting these interior features can help boost sales. For example, homes featuring 'finished basements' and 'bonus space' sell for 0.7% more than expected.

Construction professionals also are specifying more kid- and pet-friendly and healthy materials in everything from low-VOC paints to scratch-resistant and waterproof flooring.

Knowing the premium that buyers with families place on outdoor space and community, builders in master-planned communities, for example, include community gardens, pools, barbeque areas and trails for hiking and biking.

A way with words

In today's tight housing market, where resale homes and new construction inventory are selling rapidly, home seekers are jumping on 3D home tours for immediate satisfaction. These virtual tours save them time. And if there's anything buyers with kids are always low on, it's time.

Another time-saver for these buyers are listings that clearly highlight all the family-friendly features they're looking for. It's important to check with a local attorney to make sure your approach to marketing kid- and family-friendly features complies with applicable laws like the Fair Housing Act.

Something as simple as mentioning 'dog house' can motivate a home buyer. Turns out, homes with the word 'dog house' in their listings sold for 3.2% more than expected, according to Zillow research.

Ultimately, trust the home buyer: Families with children already know the kinds of things they want in a home — outdoor spaces for kids to play and run, indoor spots for homework and movie nights, and layouts that allow parents to keep their eyes on little ones. They will seek out homes with these features. Listings that accentuate kid-friendly features can help prospective buyers quickly find a house they love.