Who Is the Yardwork Guerrilla?

The typical yardwork guerrilla is a first-time home and yard owner in a city or a town. His median age is 31; most first-time home and yard owners are between 25 and 35 years of age.

In 2007, about one half of first-time home and yard buyers were married couples and 11% were unmarried couples; in 2011 two thirds of first-time home and yard buyers made the home purchase as a couple. The rest of the first-timers are single: one in four is a single female and 11% are single males. The yardwork guerrilla fights with support from a spouse or partner.

The median income of a first-time home and yard buyer in 2011 was $62,400. First-timers purchase smaller and less expensive homes and yards than repeat buyers: on average, a 1,570 square-foot home costing $155,000. The vanguard of the yardvolution is a medium-income American who fights on a small territory.

The G.Y. is a middle-class individual, with a college degree, and some post-college job experience. He likely believes in the long-term value of home and yard ownership or, like 60% of all first-time buyers, wishes to purchase a home out of a simple desire to own a home of his own—attitudes that signify the maturity and values of adulthood.

Illustration credit: Jen McClure

* Excerpted from the book. Buy Guerrilla Yardwork: The First-Time Home Owner’s Handbook now on Amazon or CreateSpace.