Millenials Don’t Want Their Parents' Homes
Jason Dorsey
#1 Researcher and Speaker on Generations. 1,000+ standing ovations. 200+ TV interviews. 150+ research studies. At GGK, I lead custom research to fuel thought leadership for clients. Most importantly, I’m Rya’s dad.
If Millennials won’t buy their parents home, who will?
Hey Guys, It’s Jason! Check out this article from our writers at the Center for Generational Kinetics.
10-20 years ago, Baby Boomers were raising their Millennial children in large homes with closed floor plans and spacious yards. A lot has changed since then. In fact, those same Baby Boomer dream houses are struggling to attract Millennials as buyers—or even woo other Boomers as homeowners. Why? Millennials want to live closer to urban areas, want open floor plans, prefer access to outdoor activities to having a yard they need to maintain, and they are trying to stretch their dollars for a better location nearer the city center rather than in the suburbs. And it turns out Baby Boomers want the same thing.
Jason Dorsey, a Millennial and Gen Z expert whose TEDx talk on Gen Z has over 200,000 views, describes the situation candidly. He explains, “it’s more important [for Millennials] to have proximity to the lifestyle they want—their living room is actually the park outside the condo,” rather than buying the massive homes Baby Boomers are putting on the market as they downsize.
We’ve identified three features Millennials are looking for—and they are often missing from the “McMansions” Baby Boomers are trying to sell:
- Smaller spaces with open floor plans: Both Boomers and Millennials are looking for condos and other smaller dwellings—but for different reasons. Smaller housing appeals to Baby Boomers because they believe they can age at home with more ease. Millennials, on the other hand, are drawn to smaller homes because they are unwilling to pay for the cost and maintenance of larger homes.
- Locations with an urban flavor: By leaving the traditional houses and big yards behind, Millennials prefer their homes be located in a walkable area with an “urban flavor.” In non-urban areas, Millennials seek out smaller homes with walking access to coffee shops, restaurants, and stores. In addition, they want to be surrounded by the urban amenities to which they have grown accustomed—bike lanes, social events, restaurants, and shops.
- High-end amenities inside the home: Besides a smaller home and instant access to the conveniences of city life, Millennials look for interiors with high-end features. They seek current trends in luxury bathrooms, high-quality finishes, and the latest in home technology and appliances.
So who will step up and buy Baby Boomer houses? This could be a great investment opportunity for Millennials to buy their parents’ house at a discount.
From custom research to acclaimed Millennials keynote speeches, we help you solve your toughest generational challenges with new solutions and specific actions.
Contact us to see how we can help you solve your generational challenges and unlock the potential of every generation.
Be sure to grab a copy of new #GenZStudy and follow us on Twitter at @JasonDorsey or @WhatTheGen
Originally published at www.genhq.com
Experienced materials engineer and programme/project manager (UK Citizen)
7 年I can relate personally to this. Having grown up in a big house (2000 ft^2+) I don't have any desire to own one of them myself for raising my own family. We have about half that space and find it cozy and more conducive to family interactions than everyone off in her/her own room. This is probably reinforced by the millennials' (stereotypical) rejection of "stuff". If we don't want a bunch of stuff then we don't need to finance a big interior space in which to store it all. Quality over quantity.
Associate Director Audit and Inspection Management at Vertex Pharmaceuticals
7 年I think the economics are linked to the desires of Millennials. The amenities they often want are in part because they reduce costs in other ways. Bike lanes, walking access to shopping, ease of calling for a Lyft ride, all make it easier to avoid the expense of owning a car on top of owning a large, expensive home. As that continues, the cost of the urban condos and homes will continue to go up, and if nobody wants the large homes in the suburbs those prices will begin to fall. Eventually that will cause the tide to move back out - possibly tied to many of those Millennials starting families and wanting their kids to have similar space and yards to play in that they had growing up.
Director of Quality Assurance
7 年I think much of that hinges on where they grow up. I recently spoke with a gentlemen who shared a story about group of younger (late 20somethings) just moved into a rather large home nearby in central Massachusetts. Somehow they pooled their resources, secured financing for 6 of them, and went in on this home together. It would be interesting to see if it lasts..
Salesforce Marketing Cloud Developer
7 年Very good read, I think it is a interesting question. I know a lot of my friends have given up on owning a home and look for a more less is more community based sense of living. I also know some of my friends bought motor homes and just decided to travel and work remote. They wanted to live a little more than staying in a big house they can barely afford and are constantly away from.
Co-Founder & CEO @ Take Charge Learning | Passionate Soft Skills Trainer | Enthusiastic Advocate for Manager Training | People and Culture Developer | Author and International Speaker
7 年Interesting read, and may be the case for Millennials in many markets. However, in Vancouver, where I live, I think it's more that younger generations simply cannot afford to buy the homes Boomers are moving out of. Many of them would LOVE to get into one of the houses, open floor-plan or no, that they grew up in. It's just not economically feasible for them. In this market of multi-million dollar houses, my millennial daughter has pretty much given up on ever owning a house and will likely buy a condo because that's the only option for her.