Internet Savvy Seniors

It's no surprise that most senior home sellers relocate less than 50 miles away from their primary residence. More surprising, however, is that nearly half the seniors use the internet in the home selling process, according to a report published by the the Senior Advantage Real Estate Council®.

According to "Moving Forward: 50 and Beyond" of those home sellers utilizing the Internet, nearly two-thirds (61 percent) did so to locate a specific real estate agent, 92 percent utilized the Internet to research comparable prices, and 20 percent went online to learn about specific neighborhoods to move to.

Younger seniors are more likely to use an online appraisal, while older seniors are more likely to use the Internet to find a real estate agent, the study said.

The survey also revealed that not only did most senior home buyers stay within their home state (82 percent), 72 percent of seniors selling their primary residence move less than 100 miles from their previous home.

Younger seniors tended to move farther away from their previous residences than did older seniors, and of those senior home buyers who did move to a new state (18 percent), the most popular choices were: Florida, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Georgia and New Mexico, the study said.