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Cracking the Code
Pollsters, architects figuring out housing wants of aging Baby Boomers
The 78 million post-World War II baby boomers who are approaching their retirement years will be opening up a range of opportunities for home builders and remodelers who understand the unique and changing dynamics of this group, according to panelists at PCBC in San Francisco during a June 18 presentation on where today's consumers want to live.
Baby boomers are taking the concept of retirement where it has never gone before, according to J. Walker Smith, president of Yankelovich, and they will have more wealth and more income than previous generations to achieve their housing goals.
Consumer research by Smith’s company suggests that baby boomers will be looking for much more than square footage and are in the mood for adventure, fun and something new.
"In the last seven to eight years, there has been a shift away from a priority in tangibles and a move to intangibles," he said, as boomers look at the years ahead as "a time to have better and better experiences, not accumulating more and more."
Smith cited a poll by AARP finding that 80 percent of boomers expect to work in retirement, and he said that research by Yankelovich has found that 53 percent of the aging members in this demographic like the idea of starting a new job or career if, and when, they "retire."
Three-fourths of those polled in February said they expect to live in their current town or community, and 50 percent expect to continue living in their current home, Smith said.
In that same poll, 27 percent said they would be doing some major remodeling over the next 10-15 years; 21 percent said they would be moving to a larger home and 15 percent said they would be downsizing.
At the top of the list of features considered as important were: lots of storage (96 percent), a home that's easy to care for and maintain (95 percent), a big kitchen (95 percent), a master bedroom with attached suite (89 percent) and a large living room (88 percent).
Households in this group are not always empty-nesters, because they have had children later in life and their parents are living longer. Eighteen percent reported that they currently help take care of a parent or elderly relative, and for 17 percent of those respondents the elderly person is living in their home.
When looking for a neighborhood, 41 percent of the boomers polled in February want a location where all the houses don't look alike, and 14 percent are in the market for a prestigious community.
Research from 2001 found that 63 percent of boomers feel the need to satisfy their hunger for new experiences and 44 percent said they often felt something was missing from their lives.
Rich experiences
"The American Dream is no longer suburban and people are looking for experiences that are rich and want to live in places that are special," according to Barry Berkus of B3 Design Studio.
Berkus offered a number of insights into how to gear new housing to the proclivities of baby boomers:
"The dining room is becoming the center of the home again," he said, as a place for family members to congregate and for bringing people into the house. Even in relatively small spaces—2000 square feet—buyers are looking for areas with special functions, such as a wine room, places to exhibit art collections and store books and offices at home.
Master bedrooms on either side of the house cater to the desire for togetherness but privacy.
"Make the yards part of the square footage," Berkus advised. "It’s as important outside as it is in."
Boomers want to be able to accommodate their grandchildren. A "kid's cabin" in the community can provide a special place where children can make things with their hands.
Active resort living—"a neighborhood for a week or a month"—provides a different experience. "When you arrive, you know you’re there to relax."
Affluent home owners will be in the market for warehousing their belongings so that they can have more than one house for different times of the year.
Affluent communities of the future will feature spa amenities and be places "where everybody wants to be special and told they’re special by the architecture."
Back in style
Rebelling against trends that "have stripped every sense of style out of housing," boomers are looking for a new sense of artisanship in their housing, said Brent Harrington of DMB Associates.
While significant numbers of boomers are expected to downsize, there are many more who are aspiring to build their best house ever, Harrington said. Boomers are not "simplifying," he said, and they are emphasizing quality over size.
Features that Harrington said will attract baby boomers at the time in their lives when they hope to realize "long-awaited pleasures" include:
Boomers are looking for amenities that will tantalize their children and grandchildren. They also want to be able to use their home to "reunite the far-flung family once or twice a year."
Boomers love things that are hand-made; they are interested in craftsmanship and associate mass production with toxicity.
"The boomers are not going down without a fight," said Harrington, "They feel young and they want to look it." They are interested in organized activities, but want to be involved in shaping and organizing them. Social events don’t have to be grandiose to make them memorable if they are well-conceived and executed well. 'Think about something to put them over the top," he suggested.
Intimate, furnished outdoor spaces are a draw. Production homes can be customized outside with shutters, windows, flower boxes, etc.
Branding is taking on new meaning in housing and its importance is "breaking like a wave," Harrington said. Consumers used to talk about cars as appliances, but now they talk about them as clothing—"What does it say about me? That mentality has come to real estate. You need to think about the self-expressive benefits of the brand."
"Simplification is not a lifestyle option these days," Harrington said. "But people do feel over-burdened and that life is more complicated and there is not enough time," so they are looking for features in their housing that will help them have some control over their lives.