Senior Citizens Embrace Online Mortgage World
Use of the Internet to take part in the home-buying process is more prevalent than ever. According to a recent survey, this holds even more true for senior citzens looking into a house purchase.
A report was released today from the Senior Advantage Real Estate Council was entitled “Moving Forward: 50 and Beyond.” Itconducted in September 2005 and explores the buying trends of U.S. consumers 50 or more years of age who purchased a home within the last six months.
The survey discovered key differences in behaviors between “younger” seniors, those 50 to 64 years of age, and “older” seniors, those 65 or more years of age.
According to the study, nearly two-thirds (61%) of home buyers utilizing the Internet did so to locate a specific realtor, 92% used the Internet to research comparable prices and 19% went online to learn about specific neighborhoods.
“While the prospect of retirement is an exciting time for most seniors, many have not planned for the economic issues that arise as a result,” said Dr. Nathan Booth, senior advisor to the council. “For seniors choosing to remain in the workforce, or even retire early, help is needed in finding the best and most prudent use of the resources available to them in real estate.”
The survey also revealed that not only did most senior home buyers stay within their home state (82%), they moved less than 100 miles from their previous home. Younger seniors tended to move farther away from their previous residences than did older seniors, according to the survey.
Of those senior home buyers who did move to a new state (18%), the most popular choices were:
- Florida - 26%
- Texas - 11%
- Arizona - 8%
- Nevada - 7%
- Virginia - 6%
Florida home loans are affected by this online trend. How come? Because this is the state with the greatest number of retirees in the nation.
