Big Brother is watching. Isn't it amazing how demographics firms gather data and supply marketing firms with fodder for slick "niche" marketing campaigns?

Most of us realize this type of new-age brainwashing has a lot to do with what we purchase, but we just don't want to admit that a Gap Khaki commercial, replete with emaciated 16-year olds dancing to swing music, would ever send us sleepwalking to a Gap Store to buy that garb at our age.

New homebuilders are definitely not immune to this type of approach in presenting their product, as demonstrated by the way architects plan floor plans to lure a particular clientele, model merchandisers gimmick the houses to death, and advertisers create the dream of home ownership to some predetermined markets. Would any one else but the buyers they are targeting consider living there? That's the whole point.

If this is starting to sound like an obscure rant, let's take a look at market "segments" that new homebuilders and their cohorts are currently targeting. Take the hottest target of the 90's for builders: empty nesters and retirees. To appeal to these Grecian Formula salt-of-the-earth types, the lure is to depict incredibly young-looking tow-heads playing cards in a country club type setting, riding through the green expanses of golf-coursed surroundings on a cart, or playing tennis with others their "age". (How do those women have such gorgeous thighs in tennis skirts at 65?) Of course, all the homes are single level, since going up and down stairs with a walker isn't exactly everybody's idea of fun. (Okay, that was cold) The truly "adult" builders' communities won't permit them to sell to anyone under the age of 55, while others cleverly get around it by calling theirs "an alternative to an age-restricted community." Isn't any community an alternative? And how often do 55-year olds really want to be considered retirees?

Another prime target would be the "DINKs" (dual income no kids). Kind of the "Mad about You" group. They're involved, exhausted, thinking about parenthood, computer-crazed both at home and at work, and are just out to "make it simple, (but individualist) stupid." Neo-traditional concepts seem to be the ticket. They are dialed in, but not without the desire for warm, family-fuzzy zones in their new homes. They'll mix anything from grandpa's Seth Thomas to terra-cotta stucco vases from Pier One to make their statement. Builders who market to this niche must be green, lean, "retro-chic" design machines. They may merchandise with travel themes, country French blister-painted shutters (on the inside), and color their victims' model home tour with audible renditions of Marlene Dietrich.

X'ers crave flexibility. They may not be high on down payment ability and don't seem to have a real vision for the future. Careers may change like underwear, as this group is trying to "find" themselves. Builders find themselves appealing to a variety of hobbies that run the gamut for this group. Generation X'ers also want home offices, great rooms, no dining rooms (didn't we know the formal dinner would someday disappear from American life?) and a great re-sale potential for their new home to accommodate their ever-changing personal landscape.

Last but not least are the Ph.D. cerebral types with more money than time. These are the "Z-Lot" prime timers with a need for sense; common sense and no-nonsense relaxation zones. Time is sacred, and a builder's understanding of this is the key to marketing to them. They'll gladly pay for any upgrade that saves them time and provides convenience. Sabbaticals force them to find properties that they can turn the key on and forget about. Savvy builders will give them a reason to come home by keeping it modest in size, upscale, but elegantly simple.

So, next time your emotions run high while touring a model home complex, and you can't quite understand why the "Serengeti" plan tickles your homebuying fancy in just the right way, don't discount the gargantuan power of "niche" marketing. Those clever builders just might have you right where they want you.

Additional New Home News

Published: June 9, 1999

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A veteran of the real estate and homebuilding industries since 1986, Dena Kouremetis first joined Realty Times as a new homes writer in 1998. Since then, she has authored four books, written consumer columns on new homes issues for websites and newspapers all across the country, contributed to builder trade magazines, appeared as a guest expert on several radio shows and even created a ten-chapter podcast for LendingTree.com’s homebuilder website, iNest.com, now available on iTunes, entitled Uncharted Waters; Navigating the Purchase of a New Production Home. Kouremetis recently joined her local Folsom, CA Coldwell Banker office as a broker associate while continuing to write for the real estate industry. For the past three years, she has been training real estate agents for both the resale and new homes industries, putting her experience, research expertise and gift of expression to work to help others entering the business.