Millennials, the Generation Y, is the most indecisive, impatient, comfort seeking, easily distracted, and freeloader kind of all times, in other words, is exactly what boomers are not. Boomers the good old class of people who know what they want and are ready to take efforts and time to make it happen. These two poles apart classes frequently cross paths, mostly with the Millennials being dependent on the latter. But here are going to discuss a scenario where the boomers are entirely dependent on the millennials – Sell their house!
Works on whim. Impatient. Indecisive. Obnoxious. Easily distracted. Always online. Presumptuous. These are a few of those terms, which are usually used to describe generation Y or those segment of a human who are also known as millennials. Everyone once born in the middle of years 1984 and 1994 belongs to this category.
The world is full of citations and examples of these commonly found uncertain and strong-headed characters. From something as plain and simple as what to dress up in today to a number of more complex subjects like what to have for lunch are some of the examples of those inner wars that all millennial fight every single day. Easily attracted to luxury and media, these millennials have been cruising through for quite some time now but when it is about an industry, which demands research, patience, and stability the Gen Y gets have never been more confused. The industry in question here, the one that has started showing signs of doldrums because of the growing millennials crowd is real estate.
Selling a house to such difficult to please and an indecisive group is as tiring as it can ever be. But seeing the unoccupied stocks mounting up in the world’s property market and the oversupply of untaken units, the developers, direct sellers, and realtors are not left with an option but to chase them.
Here is what makes millennials so different from boomers.
Once done, that will be followed by a short guide to help you go through the two crucial stage – Before starting the fishing process and How to tackle them while fishing.
Here it goes –
What millennials want as opposed to what boomers wanted?
Boomers when bought houses did that to start their family life, bought not only what their pockets allowed but also were open to taking loans, and waited patiently to fix the house as their house of their dreams over time. Nothing out of this can be distant from the thoughts of the typical millennial homebuyers.
For most of the part, Millennials are only looking at the finished house with no scope of needed efforts and will only pay for what promises this, without having to take any loans to support the purchase. They only want what is in the top read magazines — no compromises there. They do not fantasize residing in some one house until their last breath, which automatically chalks out the possibility to enter into a deal that requires gradual rolled out home enhancements.
The sine qua non? – Capture the maximum selling price; embark some crucial home renovations before registering your home for sale.
Millennials, conceivably more than the boomers, have extremely specific criteria when looking for homes. Make your house fit their criterions and you will inflate the interest of this buyer’s type, which in another word also means that your house will sell sooner and possibly at a much higher price than expected.
The foremost thing to attract those magazine house thirsty millennials is work on your house. There is not really an alternative to this for what booomers wanted is poles apart from what the millennials crave for, as we just saw.
Here are the three things to consider adding or modifying:
Kitchen
Millennials pay maximum attention on Kitchen as compared to any other room, especially since MasterChef made cooking an in thing. Connect kitchen to family room. What would be better is if you combine them both into one space.
For millennials kitchens are the perfect places to spend time with everybody while making food. Even if removing a wall would lead to fewer cabinets and, you think will reduce the kitchen’s functionality, do it and raise the attractiveness of your house.
Wi-fi
Be assured that your house has easy WiFi connect throughout the home. The millennials demand an ability to be connected on tablets and smartphones from every corner of the house. So ensure that the cell signals are strong, in case they are not, use WiFi boosters. A wavering cell signal can be a major deal breaker for the Millennials.
Green house
Stock your house with eco-friendly items. In addition to being being environment-friendly, ensure that your house is human-friendly for both – the inhabitants and the visitors. The millennials are turned on by the health-focused home improvements like no-VOC paint off gassing, basements free from mold and fungus, and finally good air and water quality.
Boomers taught the Millennials that reusing was a huge “green” idea and the Millennials took this a massive step further, and now view themselves as the “members of this planet.”
Subsequently, eco-friendly lifestyle and materials choices have become a part of the Millennial DNA.
The millennials are also more partial towards wood flooring as compared to carpet and
Are also a sucker for super energy-efficient cooling and heating systems, already installed.
With the part of what your house should have to make it millennial-friendly covered, let us see the two things that you little or rather no control over but tends to affect those millennials massively.
Home Size and Location
That said, there are two other things you should know about Millennial buyers that you can’t do much about.
The one out of control issue out there is that a big house might be a huge turn-off for the Millennials. The bigger-the-better palace-sized houses used to be the status symbols for the super-prosperous boomers. But this concept is negating for the Millennials, irrespective of how efficacious they are. A number of them actually reject the size factor when it comes to the efficient use of available space.
For the millennials, well-designed, open concept and connected floor plans and compact layout, are a thing of the last century, maybe even millennium.
Another no control over factor is that the millennials need to be in the walking distance or just some minutes away from the town. Living in the boonies and being on the road, driving for half the waking hour is not something that appeals to the millennials. If your home does not share the boundaries of any city, it is the time you have a conversation with your broker on how to best counterbalance this negative.
Unlike the boomers, who habitually went for more property in return of slightly more remote areas, Millennials will happily accept smaller built-up areas only if that means to be closer to the city.
These are some of the factors, which boomers can do something about and some they have no control over. Either way, every boomer holds the potential to create his/her personal stash of “Good Luck” only if they are open to adjusting a little here and a tiny bit there to the whims of the determined and adamant millennial property buyers.
Now that you know it all, let us see how to fish those indecisive but fast growing set of prospective buyers –
Before starting to fish
- Be digital
Wired is the one and only place where you will find the millennial generation or the Generation Y. They commonly take all their decisions after finishing with their homework on the net, so for a seller or developer to make a mark in the minds of these virtual preferring beings it is very significant to have a strong and affirmative web presence.
- Be True
Sellers should never advertise what they do not have and likewise, the developers should never talk about or boast projects, which they have not completed with. The millennials always have an access to the leading real estate portals, which have verified property descriptions of every seller’s property, buyer, and every project. Stressing on this point, it is of the greatest importance that the data mentioned on these leading websites matches what it is mentioned there on the builder’s official site or is really there in the house.
At this point, the seller or builder should only promote those location features or amenities, which actually exists!
- Be insightful
When we talk about the complexities of what is happening in the property or the whole real estate market in general, this generation Y is clueless to a great extent. This factor can be exploited by the developers and direct sellers, alike, to get an edge. What they only need to do is- give statistics and figures about the locality – connectivity routes, the upcoming infrastructures, price trends etc. as opposed to in addition to only their project details.
Following this practice will rise the chances of turning the loyalty ball in their court.
While Fishing
The points cited above will make sure that the seller or developers’ name gets fixated in the buyers’ minds. However, the heightened visibility or a greater brand identification does not necessarily guarantees the sale of houses. The old-style ways of poaching the prospective homebuyer change significantly when the millennials come into the picture. Here are a few tips that will come in handy while preparing to hook on a Gen Y:
- Show the many ways neighboring areas will quench their hunger of socializing
As a realtor or developer, the person should realize that the Generation Y is poles apart different from the Generation X. Where the latter remained limited to their closed shell or the restricted group of family and immediate friends, the millennials seek recreation and entertainment. Given an option, they will only opt for a house that possibilities of entertainment hubs in the vicinity.
- Prove them how hassle free the life will turn out
The millennial generation is closed to the idea of taking an effort to get things done. The whole list of chores, which the Gen X effortlessly did, every day is now conveniently being subcontracted by around 40% of this generation. So concentrate on the amenities like swimming pool, laundromat, gym, reserved car parking lift, etc. to get their investment.
- Give them the interiors that tumble straight out of some magazine cover
For the Generation Y, everything is about chic and luxury. The one sure shot method to hold all the eyes is by stocking the house with all the modern designs, equipment and fittings, which are ‘in’ such as modular kitchen, automatic room temperature control, hot and cold bathtub, etc. It is nearly impossible for the millennial buyers to refuse an offer to a house, which resembles everything that they saw in some luxury segment magazine or those late night fashion shows aired on the television.
- Lose it up
When nothing else seems to work, this definitely will. The millennials are gulls for freebies. One of the most easiest ways to grab their attention is by offering free elements that can be everything from semi equipped house to an automobile or something even as small as the part payment facilities.
The cynics might say that it is not this difficult to sell your house to the Gen Y for in the end all that the Millennials want is a house that both developers and direct sellers are offering them. But believe this coming straight from a Gen Y being; we would fairly live with parents or on rent than resolve for anything fewer than perfect. Anyway, it is high time that boomers get at ease with the on-the-toes drill because the crowd of Gen Y property buyers have just entered the market and are only increasing and before you even realize the, even more, vicious Baby Boomers generation will announce their arrival.
About the author: Tripti Rai, a keen observer who writes for 99acres.com and swears on fiction readings. Professionally working with a concentrated focus on real estate sector, she keeps her readers informed about latest developments in real time through her writing. When found not writing or reading, she is busy thinking about the next book or writing inspiration. You can find her on G+ and LinkedIn