Primary Research
1:1 Interviews
Initial Interviews for Existing Products
While both renters and home buyers /sellers started with shopping for potential new homes using applications like Zillow, Redfin, Apartments.com, or Trulia- the majority of interviewees used or relied on word-of-mouth recommendations to find their current homes. Home buyers / sellers, in particular, relied heavily on the knowledge and resources that their realtor brought with them and, in some cases, the relationships that the realtors had with mortgage brokers.
Additionally, the websites of the realtor or property manager helped convince the home buyer or renter that this property manager/realtor was worth using. The renter or home buyer/seller usually checked the websites to substantiate the claims made by the realtor/property manager under consideration. It also helped solidify the business’s priorities.
Other Noteworthy Insights
- One of the main points of frustration for renters was related to misleading or just incorrect information in the initial search process; in essence, if a website is just organized, up-to-date, has easy to understand user content, and is minimally responsive it is already helping the business or realtor more than they know.
- Not one renter or home buyer found their apartment on a rental application like Zillow, Trulia, etc. Not one. The only thing that these did was give an idea of price or what to expect from homes in a particular area to the renter or home buyer.
Why 1:1 User Interviews?
1:1 remote interviews allowed for the opportunity to gain important insight from interviewees that had recently rented and bought / sold a new home.
Interview Participants
Each participant confirmed that they had moved recently to a new apartment or participated in purchasing a new home. The participant groups belonged to two specific user groups: renters or home buyers.
Five Remote Interviews
- Renters: Participants ages spanned from 38-42, were female, have had moved multiple times in the past for various reasons and socioeconomic backgrounds, educations, locations, and professions. Some renters have also already bought and sold homes in the past.
- Home buyer ages spanned from 31-32, male and female, and are first time home buyers. Home buyers were from different socioeconomic backgrounds, educations, locations, and professions.
Motivations
For Renters
- Moving due to change in job, location, budget, changing rental policies, condition of home, or amenities; budget and moving for work were the top reasons people had to move.
- When determining where to move they often had to balance amenities, location, and rental policies (pets) within their budget.
For Home Buyers & Sellers
- Home buyers moved due to large life changes (starting a family) and having saved “enough” money: they would not have considered the move as readily without both of these conditions being met. It is important to note that this is not always the case; these home buyers were big on planning ahead.
Goals & Expectations
For Renters
- Want to be able to easily select a home, go through a screening and application process, and move in
- Expect the homes to be truthfully represented with info and images and also available
- Want quick responses from the property managers.
For Home Buyers & Sellers
- The home buyers interviewed were first time home buyers.
- Want to find a home using a realtor to help them make a good choice
- Expect to get resources and guidance (not be told what to do) from their realtor
- Expect to get truthful advice, feedback to form realistic expectations, budgets, and timetables, and a home to move into
Common Processes
For Renters
- Figure out that they need to move (strangely this is not immediate evident)
- Make a budget and location and amenities wish list (repeat and edit as necessary)
- Search and inquiry (repeat as necessary) – app search, online search, and word-of-mouth recommendations
- View or tour if possible, apply and screen, and pay background checking fee (repeat as necessary)
- Sign paperwork/pay other fees and deposits
- Pack, clean, and move- settle in
For Home Buyers & Sellers
- Figure out that they can move and are ready (saving and/or large life event)
- Make a budget & location and amenities wish list (repeat and edit as necessary)
- Search and inquiry for realtor, mortgage, and/or homes (repeat as necessary)
- Pre-approval for mortgage (this can be before doing any of the other steps)
- Meet with chosen realtor/mortgage broker to assess budget, location, wish list and view/tour homes online (this happens often multiple times)
- View/tour homes in person (this is repeated multiple times usually)
- Put in offers/ work out contracts/inspections (this is repeated multiple times often)
- Sign paperwork/pay other fees and make payments to home sellers, realtors, mortgage brokers
- Pack, clean, and move- settle in
Frustrations & Fears
For Renters
- Felt misled or frustrated at the lack of correct information presented on sites and lack of response from property managers
- The rental applications usually did not usually produce anything fruitful- no response after spending time to fill these in
- Word-of-mouth recommendations were a mixed bag because generally due to the info being too old/not exactly accurate/ unrealistic for what the renter is needing
For Home Buyers & Sellers
- Buyers were often frustrated by their budget and what was available in their area
- It took multiple interviews to find a realtor that worked best for them
- Realtors that did not listen or were not a good fit where prevalent-home buyers only got a good idea of their resources for shopping and mortgage brokers after they found their realtor
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