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Responses:
Women vs. Men
How do single women compare to their male counterparts when it comes
to home repair? Find out now. Following each question is the percentage
of homeowners who answered YES:
 |
Do you consider
yourself handy? |
| |
women: 64%
men: 88% |
|
Can you fix a leaky
faucet? |
| |
women: 56% men:
82% |
|
Can you change an
electrical outlet or hanging fixture? |
| |
women: 48% men: 86% |
|
Can you wallpaper
a room? |
| |
women: 57% men: 71% |
|
Are you confident
about taking care of a home-repair emergency? |
| |
women: 57% men: 71% |
Think you’re above average at home repair? Take our Ultimate
Home Quiz and see.
Would you like to learn more about home repair? Start now. Explore
our Maintenance Calendar, choose a task that suits your skill level
and go for it.
Who do you trust?
Our research shows that 37% of single female homeowners say they always or often
use outside professionals for home repair, compared to 17% of single male homeowners.
However, 94% of these women are also concerned they’re not getting a fair
price; 63% believe that they’re charged more than men for the same work
or service.
What should you do? Learn more about hiring the right repair or service pro by
exploring our Choose a Repair Professional page.
|
 |
I'd rather do it myself.
Despite busy schedules, an increasing number of single-women
homeowners are interested in handling maintenance
tasks on their own. Here’s what our research
tells us about women homeowners:
|
83% say working with
tools makes them feel independent |
|
87% admire other women who can
handle home repairs themselves |
|
43% would rather get a home-maintenance
class than a cooking class as a gift |
Home owning is better
for the whole
family.
Research done by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard
University has uncovered some interesting social advantages of homeownership:
Children of homeowners have
|
better home environments |
|
higher cognitive test scores |
|
fewer behavior problems |
|
math scores up to 9% higher |
|
reading scores up to 7% higher |
than children of those who rent.
Strong and consistent evidence indicates that homeowners
are more likely to
|
be satisfied with
their homes and neighborhoods |
|
participate in voluntary and political
activities |
|
stay in their homes longer, contributing
to neighborhood stability |
Sears’ 2003 and 2004 studies on American homeownership show
that:
|
57% of women homeowners say they
take more pride in their home than in their career; among lower-income
women (household income below $35,000), that number
increases to 69%. |
|
41% say the equity in their home is worth
more than all their other financial assets, including investments, bank
accounts, and retirement accounts. |
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