Sears American Homeowner Study Finds Differences in Views on Home Ownership, Repair and Maintenance

Sears, Roebuck and Company, in conjunction with the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation and the NeighborWorks network, today announced survey results detailing American's attitudes toward home ownership, maintenance and repair. (Access complete survey results at http://www.searsmedia.com/homesurvey.htm )

  Highlights of the survey include:
  --  Eighty percent of homeowners give themselves a "B" or better in home
      maintenance; 83 percent say they or their spouse/partner are handy.
  --  However, home maintenance skills, knowledge, and effectiveness vary
      by income level.
  --  Before buying their homes, half of all Americans never estimated cost
      of maintenance.
  --  Nearly 9 in 10 women have been, are, or expect to be solely
      responsible for a house, but are they prepared?
  --  Eighty-five percent of minority homeowners with children say it's
      very important for their children to own a home.
  --  Three-quarters of minority homeowners call home maintenance a major
      concern; almost one-third give themselves a "C" or less in home
      maintenance.
  --  Thirty-two percent of minority homeowners: enjoy home care a great
      deal -- almost twice the rate of non-minorities.
  --  While minorities value their homes and enjoy maintaining them, survey
      results indicate they don't always have the experience or financial
      resources to ensure timely home maintenance.

The homeowner survey was designed to measure how well Americans care for their homes, probe attitudes about homeownership, ascertain what Americans know about home care, and pinpoint areas where they could use assistance.

The nationwide random telephone poll of 1,002 adult homeowners was conducted between July 11 and July 27 by the national research firm of Mathew Greenwald & Associates. The margin of error for the total sample is +/- 3.1%.

About Sears

Sears, Roebuck and Co. is a broadline retailer with significant service businesses. In 2002, the company's revenue was more than $41 billion. The company offers its wide range of apparel, home and automotive products and services to families in the U.S. through Sears stores nationwide, including approximately 870 full-line stores. Sears also offers a variety of merchandise and services through its Web sites, sears.com and landsend.com, and a variety of specialty catalogs.

Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, which was established by Congress in 1978, founded and supports the NeighborWorks network. Today, more than 230 NeighborWorks organizations serve more than 2,400 urban, suburban and rural communities throughout America. In the past decade, these organizations have helped more than 70,000 lower-income families purchase their first homes, helped tens of thousands of homeowner families access funding needed for necessary repairs, provided more than 30,000 decent, affordable rental homes and generated nearly $10 billion in local investments. Additional information about Neighborhood Reinvestment corporation and the NeighborWorks network is available online at www.nw.org .

SOURCE: Sears, Roebuck and Company

CONTACT: News Media, Bill Masterson of Sears, +1-847-286-2304

Web site: http://www.sears.com/
http://www.searsmedia.com/homesurvey.htm
http://www.nw.org/