The three L’s of real estate

Where do you want to live?  For as long as I can remember, the statement in Real Estate has always been “location, location, location!” And for the most part, I think that holds true today.  However there maybe a variation to the 3 “L” words-  Location, Latitude, and Lifestyle.  And If you think about it, you could probably manipulate that back to Location, Location, Location. Either way, home buying criteria depend on who is buying!

So why do I think that these three words in Real Estate are slowly changing?  We as a society continually evolve.  Our desires change as well as our wallets.  When we are young and carefree, the opportunities are limitless.  The older we get the more protective we are of the assets we have accumulated.  And the assets are not always monetary, they range from our children, to accomplishments, and experiences in life.  Here is the way I see it:

Lifestyle

Lifestyle is just that, a certain way of living.  What is it you desire in the community you live?  Is it high society, or a laid back relaxed atmosphere, or somewhere in between.  The home buying criteria of different generations is constantly changing. The new generation of millennial’s desire walk-ability, in town living with restaurants and shops and outside activities they can access by foot or bike. The baby boomers are looking for maintenance free homes with amenities on the property grounds.  Generation X is working to support their lifestyle of children and vacations.  They require accessibility to activities and transportation hubs and a variety of employment options.

Lattitude

I am writing this from Latitude 27 in sunny Bradenton Florida, actually 27.4833 deg to be exact (according to a google search).  Why Latitude and not Longitude?  If you remember from your school days in geography, latitude lines are horizontal around the earth and longitude lines are vertical (north pole to south pole).  The climate along the latitude lines are usually similar in nature and the climate along the longitude lines change with their proximity to the poles.  In short, Latitude 27 has a similar climate around the globe.  What does this mean to you?  Well if you are in a colder climate and want warm weather, check out areas along Latitude 27.

Location

Location is the key word in any prospects home buying criteria: “Where do you want to be,” or “what part of town do you want to live.” This supersedes any requirements of property type: condo, single family, villa, town-home.  If you found the home of your dreams but it was in Alaska and your desired lifestyle is in the Latitude 27 region,  you would discard it from your choices.  Once you settle on the desired location, other factors come into play: size, style, age, price.

The next time you hear those three words together: Location, Location, Location you can think, yes but, Location, Latitude and Lifestyle are equally important as well. Sometimes home buying criteria is about more than just the location that we desire. People care about a lot of different things these days, and what might be gold for some is coal for another. Good thing Bradenton has all three of these great things! Let me know what you think about it.

Mark Boehmig