Single women skilled in house buying

While the women of “Sex and the City” spend most of their time searching for the perfect man, the reality is that plenty of single women are spending their time searching for the perfect property to buy.

The National Association of Realtors‘ (NAR) 2007 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers found that 20 percent of all home purchases nationally were made by women, or about 1,285,000 homes. In the past decade, NAR says, single women have accounted for about one in five buyers.

In the Washington area, NAR’s statistics show that single female buyers represent 24 percent of the market. Single male buyers are 15 percent of the home-buyer households, with 51 percent married couples, 7 percent unmarried couples and 3 percent listed as other.

Single women buying property is part of a natural progression - now that, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics in 2005, women earn 58 percent of all college degrees. These well-educated women go on to earn significant salaries and want to build their wealth and security through homeownership.

NAR says the national median age of single-women buyers was 41 in 2007, 32 for first-time single-women buyers and 50 for repeat buyers.

While local real estate agents try to avoid stereotyping their customers, many say women are among their favorite clients because they tend to be well-organized and prepared financially and emotionally for buying a home.

“It’s hard to characterize people across the board, but in general, single-women buyers are more decisive than other buyers,” says Glen W. Sutcliffe, a Realtor with W.C. & A.N. Miller Realtors, a Long & Foster company, in the District. “They say what they want and they need and express themselves very directly, so there’s very little guessing and the whole transaction is easier.”

Mr. Sutcliffe says single women must be decisive to have attained the kind of financial security that allows them to buy a home in the expensive D.C. area on a single salary.

“Women buyers have changed in the past decade or so,” says Pat Estryn, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate LLC in McLean. “They are more savvy and understand the importance of their credit rating. Single women tend to research mortgage companies and understand the value of building up equity in a home for their financial future. Lenders are eager to work with women when they have a good job with high income and a pattern of saving money.”

Andrea Evers, a Realtor with Evans & Co. Inc. in the District, says at her office, single women buyers are the favorite type of client.

“It’s almost an office joke that single women are the best to work with because they are so well-organized, with a list of what they want and don’t want,” Ms. Evers says. “They have usually already seen a lender, so they are financially prepared, too. We’ve found that single men are much less likely to actually a buy a home, that they know they should buy, but they tend to decide just to rent after looking around for a little while.”

Greg Ford, an associate broker with Long & Foster Real Estate Inc. in Potomac, says that, like most buyers, women have issues that are important when looking for a home.

“Couples and families usually focus most on the schools and community features,” Mr. Ford says. “For single women, security is paramount. They want to know where the parking is in relation to their front door and they do not want a first-floor home in a condominium.”

Focusing on security means many single women are interested in a condominium or town home and want to live in a safe neighborhood.

“Not only do women not want a first-floor or basement location, they are also concerned about having a balcony away from places where someone could climb onto it,” Ms. Evers says. “It’s also important to be in a safe walking neighborhood, especially if they want to walk home from a Metro station.”

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