In our ongoing effort to keep our fingers on the pulse of the real estate market, we sent out a request to recent buyers of foothills homes asking what the most important feature of their home was. While we specifically asked about features of their homes, we received more responses about the VIEWS and/or the SETTING than the homes themselves. Although we received many replies about the large windows, garage/storage space, special rooms and updated floorplans, nearly everyone either solely replied that the VIEW and/or the SETTING were most important or they added those in addition to the features of their homes. Some people even said they didn’t realize how important these amenities were until they moved into their homes and fell in love.

Interestingly, because we are familiar with the properties these clients bought, some views were more remarkable than others and some settings were more private or more secluded than others. Yet nearly all the respondents appreciated WHERE they lived as much as the homes they lived in. We’ve always known that people who live in the foothills make their rural lifestyle a priority and this survey underscored that fact.

It goes without saying that deep cleaning and staging a home’s interior are keys to buyer appeal. The takeaway from this (unofficial) survey is that even in winter it is important for home sellers to make their windows sparkle, to trim bushes, trees & groundcover and to demonstrate how appealing living/entertaining outdoors can be because the surroundings were a big part of the decision when these buyers selected their homes.