Introduction
There is every reason to believe that, because of cognitive dissonance,1 homebuyers could be
inclined to say they are satisfied with their new home purchases. Studies of buyer satisfaction are known to be fraught with difficulties in measurement and interpretation. In this instance, homebuyers had lived in their homes for at least 6 months, so the “honeymoon” could have worn off. The measures of satisfaction used in this study tended to be straightforward.
Findings are discussed on whether homebuyers would purchase their homes all over again, the perceived comfort and perceived energy efficiency of the new homes, satisfaction with key aspects of the homes (such as quality of construction), and features liked best and least once buyers had lived in their homes for a time. Would Homebuyers Buy Their Homes Again?
For example, the homeowners were asked to what extent they agreed with the statement: “We would buy our same house again if we had it to do over.” The intent of this question was to distill the essence of all the pluses and minuses of home ownership. SheaHomes owners significantly more frequently than comparison owners indicate they would buy their homes again.
Table 30 summarizes the responses. Although a high percentage of both groups tend to agree or strongly agree that they would buy their homes
Chapter Highlights
C Owners of SheaHomes (77%) are significantly more likely to agree that they would buy the same house over again than are owners of comparison homes (67%).
C Both SheaHomes and comparison homebuyers find their homes to be comfortable.
C Owners of SheaHomes significantly more often rate their homes, on average, as more energy efficient than do owners of comparison homes.
C Both SheaHomes and comparison owners are satisfied with their homes’ investment potential, location, size, and layout, but SheaHomes respondents are more satisfied with lot size, builder reputation, storage space, and quality of construction.
C Non-PV owners give significantly higher mean satisfaction ratings to location, size of home, lot size, layout, and storage space than do PV owners. This bears out a pattern of findings that these characteristics were significantly more important to non-PV buyers than to PV buyers in the home purchase decision. PV owners give significantly higher mean satisfaction ratings to energy features than do non-PV owners.
C Two-thirds of PV owners have bragged to others about their utility bills compared with 26% of non-PV owners—a statistically significant difference.
C PV owners are significantly more satisfied with their utility bills than are non-PV owners.
again, the percentage is significantly higher for SheaHomes (77%) than for comparison homebuyers (76%) (
P
2=6.061; p=.048). Fifteen percent of the comparison homebuyers disagreed that they would buy their homes again, compared with 5% of SheaHomes buyers.1The basic principle of cognitive dissonance is that buyers are psychologically inclined to remain favorable to their
major purchase decisions once they are made to reduce the emotional discomfort resulting from the thought of having made the wrong decision. However, this concept fails to account for the phenomenon of regret.
Table 30. Percentage Comparison by SheaHomes and Comparison
Homeowners with Regard to Repeat Purchase of the Same Home
Responses Respondents from SheaHomes Communities (n=174) Respondents from Comparison Community (n=52) Total (n=226)
Agree or strongly agree 77% 67% 75%
Unsure/neutral 18% 17% 18%
Disagree or strongly disagree 5% 15% 7%
Totals 100% 99%* 100%
*Does not add to 100% because of rounding
The responses to this question were also analyzed by comparing the responses of SheaHomes owners with and without PV systems on their homes, but the responses are not significantly different. As the data in Table 31 show, very high percentages of both categories agree or strongly agree that they would purchase their homes again: 83% of PV owners and 73% of non- PV owners.2
Table 31. Percentage Comparison for the Two Respondent Groups with
Regard to Repeat Purchase of the Same Home
Response SheaHomes Respondents Owning PV Homes (n=71) SheaHomes Respondents Not Owning PV Homes (n=103) Total (n=174)
Agree or strongly agree 83% 73% 77%
Unsure/neutral 13% 21% 18%
Disagree or strongly disagree 4% 6% 5%
Totals 100% 100% 100%
Perceived Comfort of New Homes
Homeowners tend to rate their homes as comfortable, regardless of category. In addition,
respondents were asked to rate the overall comfort of their homes on a 1 to 10 scale, with 1 being “Not at all comfortable” and 10 being “Very comfortable.” The mean score for SheaHomes respondents is 8.31 and for the comparison respondents is 8.40. The difference is not statistically significant. This suggests that both groups believe their homes to be comfortable. Similarly, the mean score for PV owners is 8.24 and for non-PV owners is 8.36, a difference that is not statistically significant. Both PV and non-PV owners rate their homes as quite comfortable.
2These analyses remain to be done for main CNAs. Non-PV owners include all categories of SheaHomes
Perceived Energy Efficiency of New Homes
Perceived energy efficiency of the new homes varies by homeowner category. Respondents were also asked to rate the overall energy efficiency of their new homes on a 1 to 10 scale, with 1 being “Not at all energy efficient” and 10 being “Very energy efficient.” The mean score for SheaHomes respondents is 7.35 and for the comparison respondents is 6.31, a statistically significant difference (t=3.787, p
#
.000). The mean score for PV owners is 7.48 and for non-PV owners is 7.26, a difference that is not significant. The mean score for owners of home with PV systems is 7.48 and for non-PV owners is 7.26, a difference that also is not significant.A significantly higher percentage of SheaHomes owners rate their homes as energy efficient (77%) than comparison homeowners (50%) (
P
2=19.763; p=.001). In addition, a significantly higher percentage of PV owners rate their homes as energy efficient (84%) than do non-PV owners (65%) (P
2=17.644; p=.001).Satisfaction with Key Aspects of the New Homes
Overall, based on the following data, the owners of SheaHomes are more satisfied with their homes than the comparison owners are with theirs. Respondents in both communities were asked to rate nine key aspects of their homes: “Please rate your satisfaction with each of the following now that you have lived in your home for a while,” with 1 being “Not at all satisfied” and 5 being “Very satisfied.” The aspects listed were location, investment potential, reputation of builder, size/square footage, layout/floor plan, storage space, lot size/yard, quality of construction, and number of thermostats. Table 32 summarizes the responses to this question by categories of homeowners.
In rating these aspects, the SheaHomes owners tend to give significantly higher average ratings than the comparison homeowners do on four of the nine features. Their average ratings of another four aspects are also more favorable than those of comparison community owners, but not significantly so. With one dimension of the homes—“Layout/floor plan”—the two groups of homeowners are equally satisfied, on average.
Investment potential is the highest rated aspect among SheaHomes respondents, whereas location is the aspect rated most highly by comparison respondents. “Lot size/yard,” “Builder reputation,” “Storage space,” and “Quality of construction” are aspects with which owners of SheaHomes are significantly more satisfied than are their comparison counterparts.
The satisfaction ratings were also analyzed by PV ownership. In addition to the key aspects listed in Table 32, owners of SheaHomes with PV systems, main homeowners, and ineligible/early homeowners were asked about the package of energy features. Owners of homes with PV systems were also asked about their satisfaction with net metering. Table 33 summarizes the findings. The non-PV owners (main, ineligible, and early homeowners) tend to be more satisfied than the PV owners on nine of the 10 features asked about; their average ratings are significantly higher than PV owners for four of these nine features. On a fifth of these nine features, their
higher average rating nears statistical significance. On only one feature—the package of energy features of the home—do PV owners give a higher average rating (mean=4.06) than do the non- PV owners (3.83), yet this difference is not statistically significant.
Table 32. Satisfaction with Key Aspects of the Home by
SheaHomes and Comparison Homeowners**
Aspect of Home Mean Score, SheaHomes Respondents Mean Score, Comparison Respondents % Very Satisfied SheaHomes Respondents % Very Satisfied Comparison Respondents Investment potential 4.67 4.55 71 66 Location 4.62 4.74 66 76 Size/square footage 4.38 4.23 51 43 Layout/floor plan 4.09 4.11 36 36 *Lot size/yard (t=2.479; p=.015) (P2=10.296; p=.036) 4.08 3.70 34 23 *Builder reputation (t=4.627; p#.000) (P2=22.008; p#.000) 3.90 3.13 31 9 *Storage space (t=2.472; p=.014) (P2=9.316; p=.054) 3.84 3.47 27 15 *Quality of construction (t=5.009; p#,000) (P2=23.645; p#.000) 3.73 2.94 19 2 Number of thermostats 3.51 3.17 21 11
*Statistically significant difference
**Ordered by the mean scores of the SheaHomes respondents
It is difficult to interpret why the non-PV owners give significantly higher mean satisfaction ratings to so many more home features than do PV owners. However, the findings bear out a pattern that these characteristics and features were significantly more important to non-PV buyers than PV buyers in the home purchase decision. Thus, they may contribute more to non-PV
owners satisfaction than they do to PV owner satisfaction with their homes. Answers to these conjectures must await further research. However, it is fair to say that PV owners rate their satisfaction with their package of energy features, on average, higher than do the non-PV owners; 77% of them, compared with 67% of the non-PV owners, indicate they are satisfied or very satisfied with the package of energy features on their homes. Again, this is consistent with PV owners rating the package of energy features and the PV systems as more important in their purchase decision than did the non-PV owners.
Table 33. Satisfaction with Key Aspects of the Home by PV System Ownership*** Aspect of Home Mean Score, PV Owners (n=70) Mean Score, Non-PV Owners (n=103) % Satisfied/ Very Satisfied PV Owners % Satisfied/ Very Satisfied Non-PV Owners Investment potential 4.63 4.70 31/66 22/74 *Location (t= !2.146; p=.034) (P2 nears statistical significance;
P2 =7.518; p=.057) 4.50 4.70 39/56 24/74
**Size/square footage (t= !3.098; p=.002) (P2 =9.52; p=.009)
4.19 4.51 44/37 31/60
Package of energy features 4.06 3.83 44/33 44/23
**Lot size/yard (t= !2.165; p=.032) (P2 n.s.) 3.91 4.18 47/24 42/40 **Layout/floor plan (t= !3.575; p=.000) P2 =14.017; p=.007) 3.81 4.28 48/22 40/46 PV owners only: Net metering 3.76 – 32/27 – Builder reputation 3.73 4.02 41/24 41/36 Quality of construction 3.61 3.81 46/15 52/21 **Storage space (t= !3.084; p=.002) (P2=13.083; p=.011) 3.59 4.02 43/13 37/36 Number of thermostats 3.46 3.54 32/20 36/22
*P2 test nears statistically significance; t-test is statistically significant **Statistically significant difference
Features Liked Best
Each of the four types of questionnaires asked respondents: “What three or four things do you like best about your new home?” with an open-ended item. The written responses were coded into seven categories; a total of 530 comments were received. The comments focused on (1) layout of the house, (2) location, (3) energy efficiency and solar energy features, (4) outdoor aesthetics, (5) quality of construction, (6) a safe and secure neighborhood, and (7) financial investment. Table 34 summarizes the distribution of the three responses mentioned first in order of frequency of mention, comparing the responses of the SheaHomes respondents with those of the comparison respondents and, within the SheaHomes buyers, the PV owners with the non-PV owners.
Table 34. Home Features Liked Best (open-ended)
Features Liked Best
Percentage of First Three Comments Mentioned SheaHomes Owners % (n=390) Comparison Owners % (n=140) SheaHomes PV Owners % (n=157) SheaHomes Non-PV Owners % (n=225)
Layout and features (kitchen layout, size, one-story, 5th bedroom,
hook-ups, ceiling, doors, light)
44 41 39 48
Location (view, proximity to important places, neighborhood, close to freeway, schools, area, weather, community)
32 41 32 31
Energy efficiency/solar features
(low utility bill, windows) 8 0 15 5
Outdoor aesthetics (exterior design, landscaping, modern, yard space)
4 6 4 4
Construction quality (appliances, kitchen features, engineering, new, low maintenance)
5 1 3 7
Safe/secure feeling (comfort, quiet,
privacy, neighbors, clean) 3 5 3 3
Financial aspects (value; no Mello
Roos; investment) 3 6 4 1
Totals 99* 100 100 99*
The distribution of responses is very similar between the SheaHomes and comparison
homebuyers, with a few differences. The home layout is most frequently cited as a reason for liking the home (44% of the top three reasons given by SheaHomes respondents and 41% by the comparison respondents). The comparison responses (41%) more frequently concern the
desirable location as a source of satisfaction than the SheaHomes responses (32%). However, the SheaHomes responses included mention of liking energy efficiency and solar features (8%), whereas none of the comparison responses reference energy features. Quality of construction is a more frequently cited source of satisfaction (5%) in the SheaHomes responses than in the
comparison responses.
Among PV and non-PV responses (all SheaHomes owners), 48% of the non-PV responses mentioned an aspect of the home’s layout, compared with 39% of the PV responses. As might be expected, the positive responses of PV owners more frequently dealt with energy features (15%) than did the positive responses of non-PV owners (5%).
Features Liked Least
Following the question about the three or four things respondents like best about their new homes, each of the four types of questionnaires asked an open-ended question: “Is there anything you are unhappy about? What do you like least?” A total of 299 comments were received,
markedly fewer than the number of comments on features liked best. The volunteered responses were coded into eight categories. The comments focused on (1) quality of construction, (2) floor plan/layout, (3) outdoor aesthetics, (4) neighborhood issues, (5) customer service, (6) comfort, (7) energy efficiency and solar energy features, and (8) other complaints. Table 35 summarizes the distribution of the three responses listed first in order of frequency of mention, comparing the responses of the SheaHomes buyers with those of the comparison buyers and, within the
SheaHomes buyers, the owners of PV systems with the non-PV system owners.
The pattern of response was similar by SheaHomes and comparison homeowners regarding complaints about construction quality, comfort, and other issues. Differences in response occurred among five of the complaint types, about half more concerning to SheaHomes owners and the other half more concerning to comparison owners.
More frequently mentioned among SheaHomes owners (19% of comments) are complaints that rooms and closets are too small, compared with 10% of comparison owner comments. Fifteen percent of SheaHomes comments, compared with 10% of comparison comments, mention complaints about lack of views, driveway layouts, and small backyards. More than one in five of comparison comments (22%) complain about noise, traffic, and unfriendly neighbors, compared with 9% of SheaHomes comments. Comparison comments also complain about poor customer service on the part of their builder (13%), compared with 5% of SheaHomes comments.
Table 35. Home Features Liked Least (open-ended)
Features Liked Least
Percentage of First Three Comments Mentioned Shea Homes Respondents % (n=219) Comparison Respondents % (n=80) Shea Homes PV Owners % (n=95) Shea Homes Non-PV Owners % (n=117)
Construction quality (bad products, quality of plumbing, windows, low flow cheap toilet, cheap equipment, bathtubs, drawers broke, hot water takes too long reaching faucets, wanted vaulted ceilings, walls rough)
33 35 29 39
Floor plan/layout (closets, room
sizes, garage too small) 19 10 23 13
Outdoor aesthetics (no view, sandy ground, garage layout/driveway layout, houses too close, can’t expand, backyard too small)
15 10 18 13
Neighborhood issues (noise, traffic,
unfriendly neighbors) 9 22 8 9
Customer service 5 13 7 3
Comfort (too cool only one thermostat, location of thermostats,
rooms cold in winter) 9 4 7 11
Energy efficiency/solar features (not enough insulation, house did not come with energy-efficient
appliances, light fixtures didn’t come with CFLs, we don’t have solar packages, solar unit didn’t work for 6 months, want to monitor each panel, high electric bill)
9 4 5 9
Other (CFLs, lots of options, wind at
night, schools, costs, taxes) 2 3 1 3
Totals 101* 101* 98* 100
Interestingly, 9% of SheaHomes complaints concern energy features, including complaints that not enough was done with energy efficiency, compared with 4% of comparison comments. Comments show that some homeowners wanted, but did not receive, compact flourescent lights (CFLs) in their lighting fixtures, solar packages, sufficient insulation, and energy-efficient appliances. Other comments involved complaints about high electricity bills (which came from both groups) and a non-working PV system (obviously a SheaHomes owner comment).
When comments are contrasted between PV and non-PV owners within the SheaHomes communities, 39% of the non-PV owner complaints deal with construction quality, compared with 29% of the PV owner comments. Nearly a quarter of PV owner complaints deal with floor plan or layout issues, compared with 13% of non-PV owner complaints. More non-PV owner complaints (11%) address comfort issues than do PV owner complaints (7%). Finally, more non- PV owner comments (9%) concern energy issues than do PV owner complaints (5%). These differences, however, are not statistically significant.
Bragging about Energy Features of the Homes
During the qualitative interviews, owners of SheaHomes had mentioned that they bragged to friends and family about various energy features in their new homes. Therefore, as another measure of satisfaction with the energy features of their new homes, the following survey
question was included: “Have you ever bragged about your home’s energy features to friends and acquaintances or shown them to visitors to your home?” Results are summarized in Table 36.
Table 36. Bragging about Energy Features by PV Ownership
Bragged about ... Percentages of PV Owners (n=68) Percentages of Non-PV Owners (n=94) Totals %
Solar PV system (PV owners only) 84% – –
Solar water heating 71% 64% 67%
*Lower utility bills
(P2=29.218; p#.000) 69% 26% 45%
Home’s comfort 62% 62% 62%
Digital readout for solar PV
(PV owners only) 56% – –
*Low-e glass in windows
(P2=4.317; p=.038) 33% 50% 43%
The data indicate that a significantly higher percentage (69%) of owners of homes with solar PV systems have bragged about their utility bills. Only 26% of owners of homes without solar PV systems have done so. One PV homeowner commented: “I pay less than my friends. I have a bigger home by at least 1,000 square feet and a large family of six. They have a family of four.” On the other hand, a significantly higher percentage (50%) of owners of homes without solar PV systems report that they have bragged about their spectrally selective windows, suggesting that non-PV owners are concerned about energy efficiency. Only 33% of owners of homes with solar PV have done so. With regard to other related characteristics, the difference is less clear cut. There appears to be no significant difference in the percentages of PV and non-PV homeowners who say they have bragged about solar water heating or the overall comfort of the home.
Based on reported “bragging rights,” homeowners with solar PV systems seem to be enthusiastic about them. Of those responding, 84% report having bragged about their PV systems and more than half (56%) say they have bragged about the digital readout that shows their kWh
consumption and production in real time.
Role of Energy Efficiency and Solar Features in Future Home Purchase Decisions Another way that satisfaction with the new home purchase was measured was to ask about the role that energy features would play in a hypothetical future home purchase decision. All respondents were asked: “To what extent do you agree with each of the following statements?” and presented with a 5-point Likert scale from “Strongly disagree” to “Strongly agree” for each statement:
• If we buy another new home, it will be a very energy-efficient home. • If we buy another new home, it will have solar water heating.
• If we buy another new home, it will have solar PV.