The Forces Behind Homebuying Decisions

Buying a home isn’t just a numbers game; buyers weigh values like security, independence, and comfort as heavily as cost, and marketing should reflect both.

Homebuyers make decisions using both rational analysis and emotional judgment. COGNITION Smart Data suggests these drivers can be grouped into two distinct but equally important categories: Value and Values.

Values reflect emotional and lifestyle motivations, including comfort and daily livability, peace of mind and safety, health and indoor air quality, carbon reduction and environmental stewardship, and independence through renewable energy systems.

Value, on the other hand, includes financial considerations such as the first and full cost of the home, resale value, payback periods for energy or efficiency investments, and return on investment (ROI).

COGNITION Smart Data shows a clear imbalance in what buyers prioritize. When asked which word best describes what they want from a home, the top responses were security (37%) and independence (20%), followed by savings (16%). In other words, two-thirds of buyer priorities are values-driven, while only one-third are purely financial.

And when you zoom out to evaluate all of the responses, savings was the only purely financial criterion in the top tier. Every other leading response reflected emotional or lifestyle motivations.

Yet much of today’s housing marketing remains disproportionately focused on price, monthly costs, and payback calculations.

This disconnect creates a messaging gap.

If two-thirds of buyer priorities are values-based, then marketing strategies that emphasize only financial performance, especially when that message is largely tied to first cost or price per square foot, are underleveraging what actually motivates demand.

Next steps for builders:

• Lead with outcomes, not features. Instead of opening with HERS scores or efficiency percentages, frame messaging around security, independence, health, and comfort. Translate technical performance into lived experience.
  
  
• Pair emotion with evidence. Emotional drivers should be supported with data. For example, position energy storage as independence first, then reinforce with outage statistics or utility savings.
  
  
• Train sales teams to sell values and value. Sales conversations should move fluidly between lifestyle benefits and financial justification. Buyers want both reassurance and rational validation.
  
  
• Audit your messaging mix. Review websites, spec sheets, and model home signage. Is the emphasis disproportionately financial? If so, rebalance to reflect what buyers say they actually want.
  

The opportunity is not to replace value messaging, but to integrate it with values-based storytelling. Builders who align their communication with how buyers actually make decisions are more likely to convert interest into action.

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