Doing More with Less: The Small-Space Phenomenon
By Doris Pearlman, MIRM

Custom touches. Hiking trails. A feeling of community. Low- to no-maintenance. And lifestyle, lifestyle, lifestyle. These attributes describe what baby boomers today want in a new home. The Coalition for Research on Baby Boomer Housing and Retirement Options predicts that at the end of this decade, 10,000 of them will turn 65 every day! This means great opportunities for builders who take the time to understand what this mega-segment desires in a new home.

Let’s start with what we know. Boomers want a custom look and feel in a production-built home. Whether it’s a move to the urban centers or downsizing in a golf course community, this poses a challenge to the architects, builders and merchandisers who want to differentiate their products and grab the attention of this market. Details in floor plans and elevations can create the custom details in homes that elevate their perceived value and give your product or community a new spin. In other words, today’s boomers want reinvented spaces and lifestyles.

The BMW Boomers
Another fact to build upon is that boomer buyers are the most brand-conscious of all generations. While their kids, Generation X and Y, are happy to shop at Target, Ikea, and REI, their parents like to say “I got it at Nordstrom.” While their kids are embracing hybrids, they drive Lexus and BMWs and may wear a Cartier. Keep this in mind when specing kitchen appliances and bathroom luxuries. This group will respond well to the most prestigious brand names in the industry. A Steamboat Springs model shows an upgraded stainless steel appliance package, including a professional-quality oven. Merchandisers chose high-end maple cabinets and solid surface countertops to demonstrate that this homeowner has arrived.

This sort of affirmation is important, as boomers have always defined themselves by their careers. In fact, they paved the way for households where both spouses choose to work full time. And when it comes to retirement, many of them have a hard time slowing down. Many become “semi-retired” or begin completely new careers. Work/live lofts and a business center in a condo community will appeal to this buyer, as will a casita in a suburban active adult or golf course community.

Merchandising a bedroom as an office, (maybe even an office for two), will pique this buyer’s business sense. And don’t forget the women. As Barbara Kleger said in the last issue of 50+ Housing, one in seven homebuyers today is a woman, and that number is growing. At Renaissance Alley in Longmont, Colo., Capital Pacific Homes shows a home office with a feminine touch in its Primrose Hill model. Merchandised with touches of toile, French Country, and a cup of tea, the woman of the house can pursue her second career in style. And in a nod to the guys, a model in Del Prado at Sonoma Ranch East, Las Cruces, N.M., provides a semi-retirement sanctuary for a man who loves golf.

Upgrades? Bring ‘em On!
When it comes to options and upgrades, boomer buyers are ready and willing to spend. Their 401Ks are well-endowed and they have a great deal of equity invested in their current home; interest rates were low and appreciation has sky-rocketed since their first home purchase. In this regard, they are the ultimate consumer—a retailer’s dream! Boomers have collected a lot of treasures, whether they are cherished gifts or souvenirs from exotic travels. Design floor plans with places to display their collectibles, and sprinkle your models with global art and accessories.

Opulent master bedrooms and spa bathrooms will turn this buyer on, and décor should be très chic, even if the square footage is small. Special spaces in which to indulge their passions will be a big hit with this buyer, such as the massage room in the Toll Brothers Sausalito model at Seacliff at Point Richmond, Calif. Merchandisers show his-and-her massage tables and a built-in to hold spa room essentials.

Don’t forget to include one floor plan with dual master bedrooms. This will appeal to some boomers, usually women, who tend to share living arrangements with another adult. At Renaissance Alley by Capital Pacific, merchandisers gave one of the master bedrooms a decidedly feminine touch in its Dartmoor model. A little touch of floral dresses up the space, while a deep red wraps the room in warmth. A Sonoma Ranch model shows another approach, dressing one master in patterns and colors that could appeal to a masculine occupant.

Show them What For!
When visiting your models, boomer buyers will be looking for segmentation of purpose and space. Show them how a second bedroom can become the definitive den or an extreme exercise space. Demonstrate how some spaces can serve double duty as a visiting college-age son’s bedroom and a hobby space. Or show how the dining room can play host to a laptop computer. That balcony or backyard space? Perhaps a martini party in progress will whet their appetites! Consider merchandising one bedroom for a visiting granddaughter as Sonoma Ranch does at Del Prado.

Living Large
Tired of mowing the lawn and painting the siding, this buyer doesn’t mind downsizing in square footage, but they want those small spaces to live large. To maximize diminutive spaces, use fewer pieces of larger furniture in your merchandising rather than lots of small pieces. Color blocking used on accent walls and built-in media cabinets and bookcases can draw the visitor’s eye toward the opposite end of the room, making it appear more spacious.

Mirrors, used judiciously, can expand a room visually, much as the one shown in the Sausalito model at Seacliff at Point Richmond and again at Sonoma Ranch’s 2A model.

The baby boomer market is easy to capture once you understand their needs and desires. Capitalizing on those desires with carefully designed and artfully merchandised smaller-space models will win their hearts and win you a big share of the boomer market.

Sidebar:
The Boomer Defined At the recent Pacific Coast Builder Conference in San Francisco, Steve Birch, vice president, Pulte Homes and James Chung, president of Reach Advisors, noted these important attributes of the boomer buyer.

• Boomers want a custom look and feel in a production-built home.
• Boomer buyers are the most brand-conscious of all generations.
• Boomers have always defined themselves by their careers.
• When it comes to options and upgrades, boomer buyers are ready and willing to spend.
• When visiting your models, boomer buyers will be looking for segmentation of purpose and space.