Millennials are changing the housing market. When we look at the 2018 buyer and seller trends report published by the National Association of Realtors, we find the 18-to-35-year-old demographic was the largest group of homebuyers, making up 36% of the market over the last few years.
For 65% of this group, it was their first home purchase. It means that more than a third of those millennials were already buying their second home. When you consider that the average younger homebuyer will likely be selling in less than 10 years, it is clear that to be a successful real estate agent, your future depends on knowing these customers and how to best appeal to them.
Making The Millennial Connection
Right from the onset, you want to build trust and confidence as you would with other generational consumers. Millennials will have a mountain of information, but they need someone they trust to help them sort through it as a guide to accompany them on the home buying journey.
Find a way to make a genuine connection. Be honest and sincere, authentic, original and empathetic. Demonstrate to your potential clients that you stand for something greater than yourself. It’s important to help them maximize their time, efficiency and money while minimizing their risk. Create winning scenarios.
Millennials And Technology
More than Gen-Xers or baby boomers, millennials rely on and love their electronic gadgets. They use the internet and love to research. Know the websites popular with homebuyers and the information they are promoting.
When millennials find a home that interests them, they look at both the street and aerial view on Google Maps. They pore over any photos or 3D virtual tours. It is not unusual if they check the wetlands map, registered sex offenders in the neighborhood, the crime rate, the assessment of the home and perhaps even the assessment of all the properties on the block.
Younger consumers will also use the internet to research their agent. Consequently, they demand an agent who is demonstrably smart and resourceful. Reviews matter to them, as do referrals from their peer group. Using those reviews, they will decide if you are worth their consideration.
Communicating With Millennials
Millennials tend to be less patient than other generations. They expect quick response time to their questions and concerns. Being attentive to their communication preferences is vital: Find out if they prefer to text or phone and act accordingly.
Additionally, your website should contain up-to-date and comprehensive information where they can learn more about the local market as well as the buying and selling process. You need a state-of-the-art search engine that will provide them the ability to look for their dream house by every parameter imaginable. An active blog lets them know that you are authoritative and are on top of changes that affect local housing.
Expect many questions, especially if your clients are buying their first home. Build trust and inspire confidence with your in-depth knowledge of the local market. Be the expert they want and need. Back up your answers with resource information they can access for themselves if they want more.
As we move into the future, younger generations of homebuyers will share millennial characteristics. Insight into the way millennials maneuver through the housing market is mandatory if an agent wants to remain relevant in the coming years. Like it or not, millennials will be the dominate generational force in the housing market. You can wrestle with that fact, or you can embrace it and figure out a way to keep up with this cohort of homebuyers.
Source: Forbes