...And so it has happened...when you wake up and realize Generation X is ...well, getting older...I really feel like a 30 year old...but I am quickly reminded I am the next decade up now...so it is no surprise that we as agents need to be "hip with technology"...
It has never been so important to know all the bells & whistles...and guess what...when you finally feel comfortable with it...it's going to change again...and so are the Millenial Buyers...it seems so foreign because they like doing leg work...but don't really care to speak on th ephone...they will go and view all the houses before they make us go into them with US...but rely more on us to help them with conditions of the home, to point out ways they would be making a smart choice...and then again...back to technology...twitter, snap chat, facebook(which is for old people I was told), zillow, trulia...yadda, yadda...and all the phone apps...SLOW DOWN...I was finally faced with loading Skype yesterday...seems they like that also....
If you aren't gearing your marketing in a direction that caters to the "younger folk that are buying"...you must be getting ready to retire...for me...I am trying...still younger than most Real Estate agents...I just wish they had a Face to Face class on "what the New Buyers will want next"...and a book with pictures of how to load it all onto my laptop & phone...because I still don't have an i-pad.
For decades, the telephone has been the real estate agent’s tool of the trade. But a new wave ofyounger homebuyers is changing the way agents use those phones. Millennials, those born between 1980 and the late '90s don’t want to talk. They want texts.
“We’re on our phones all the time, and this generation does not like to pick up the phone,” says Player Murray, managing broker at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices York Simpson Underwood Realty in Raleigh, North Carolina. “They don’t want to bother with a conversation if it can be texted.”
As the millennial generation, also known as Generation Y, takes a greater role in the housing market, young people’s preferences are starting to shape the way real estate business is done. The real estate portal Zillow predicts that millennials will overtake baby boomers as the generation purchasing thelargest number of homes this year, making their preferences even more important.
“Because of their size, whatever they decide to do will have an impact on the housing market,” says Nela Richardson, chief economist for the real estate company Redfin.
It goes without saying that this group relies on technology. More than 50 percent of millennials search for homes on their phones and, among those, 26 percent end up buying a home they found that way, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.
“Mobile traffic to our app has outpaced traffic to our desktop site dramatically,” says Paul Reid, a Redfin agent in Southern California’s Inland Empire region. “Folks first go to their iPhones and their iPads.”
Dealing with these tech-savvy buyers has posed a challenge for the nation’s real estate agents, who are considerably older than the homebuying population they serve. A NAR survey of its members in 2012 found that only 3 percent of agents were under 30 and 81 percent were older than 45, with 25 percent over 65.
“We’re seeing a population on the consumer side that is not being served by its own age group,” Murray says. “It’s causing a lot of change in the way experienced agents are having to communicate.”
Murray is a member of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices’ REthink Council, a group of 15 young agents nationwide formed in 2013 to help the company meet the needs of younger customers and recruit young agents.
“Millennials are driving a lot of change in a lot of industries,” Reid says. “They’re making a lot of industries revisit some traditional practices.”
Redfin is an example of company that has changed some of the traditional ways real estate is bought and sold, with technology taking a key role. Redfin agents are paid based partly on customer satisfaction ratings. Customers can ask for home tours online or via the company’s app, as well as sign up for alerts about new listings and use their phones to search for open houses near them. The Redfin Deal Room lets customers keep tabs on the process of their transactions 24/7.
“We find that our buyers, and particularly millennials, like having that information at their fingertips,” Reid says.
Yet Redfin has found that customers still value face-to-face contact with an agent, and predictions that technology would make agents obsolete have proved unfounded.
“Agents are needed because they are that trusted resource when it comes to signing a contract,” Reid says. “If you were on your own, it can be overwhelming. It would be a second job.”
Here are 10 ways millennials are changing real estate:
Don’t call us, and we won’t call you. Many millennials prefer to communicate by text, but some prefer email. It’s important for agents and customers to clarify upfront how they will communicate and how often, as well as how quickly they can expect a response.
We’ve done our homework. Millennials rarely need agents to find homes for them to see. They usually have their own list, and they’ve already researched comparable sales and chosen a neighborhood. “With millennials, we do not control information,” Murray says. “What they need is for us to interpret the information.” At times, that can mean demonstrating that the information is not accurate, but this generation may not simply take the agent’s word without proof and visuals.
We don’t like surprises. Younger buyers want to know what to expect and when. “I see them wanting to understand what’s going on at any time in the process more than any other generation,” Reid says. They like timelines, checklists and charts. “If they don’t know what’s coming around the corner, it could cause paralysis when they get there,” Murray says.
We want customer service, and we want it now. Millennials expect to be partners in the home search, and they want quick answers to questions. “They want information, and they want valid information, and they want it right now,” Reid says. “They’re the generation of Google at your fingertips.”
Is there an app for that? Younger buyers live on their smartphones and use them as a key tool in their home searches. Apps are often their preferred method to check listings and collect other information.
Comments(0)