Homing instincts

WHAT do women want?

Plenty, when buying a home. And how they go about finding the perfect palace often is as different from men's approach as, well, Venus is from Mars.

Women rely more heavily on their emotions and men deal with the facts, scientific research shows. And more often than not, experts say, women ultimately are the "deciders" in the choice of which home to buy and where.

"It's an old stereotype but true," said Richard Peterson, a psychiatrist who specializes in investment psychology. "Women access their emotional center," tapping into how they feel about a purchase. Men typically don't. Turns out, he added, those emotions lead to better decision-making.

Women "handle global impressions better," Peterson said.

These impressions, when home shopping, are gleaned from scouring the Internet, talking to friends, looking at photos and reading the data. Women also are more likely to consider whether the builder or agent supports a cause they believe in, such as green building or creating healthy communities.

"Women respond best to a holistic approach when buying a house," Peterson said. Men's ability to make multifaceted decisions, on the other hand, is diminished when they have to rely on "more than three to four factors," imaging studies of the brain show. When they shop -- an activity that requires dealing with an array of facts and feelings -- stress hormones increase, diminishing their focus.

Andrea Learned, co-author of the book "Don't Think Pink," describes the difference this way: "Picture men like stick-figure drawings: They prefer Excel spread sheets. Women resemble the Michelin Man: They store the same facts as men but add layers of questions and research on top as well. They like to be psyched before the purchase."

For men, size matters. They like big yards, big garages, big square footage. Women, agents and marketers say, want to know how the master bedroom "feels" and what the view is like from there and whether the floor plan flows well for entertaining or keeping an eye on children.

Generalizations? Maybe, but statistics reveal a growing trend in women's purchasing power: In the U.S., women control or influence $7 trillion in consumer spending annually and make 85% of all purchase decisions, according to a number of experts, including Martha Barletta, author of "Marketing to Women." Meanwhile, single women accounted for 22% of all home purchases during the period from July 2005 through June 2006, while single men accounted for 9%, according to a National Assn. of Realtors study. Agents have taken notice.