Millennial Home Buyers: Who They Are and What They Want

Sell more real estate to millennial home buyers by learning who they are and what they really want. While millennials may seem like a mystery to some, recent guest Leura Fine, CEO and founder of a groundbreaking interior design company, has them figured out. Below, we explore some of the information Leura shared on who millennial home buyers are so agents are better able to give them what they want. For more details and additional tips on working with millennial home buyers, listen to the podcast below.

Millennial Home Buyers Consider Themselves Creative

Millennials grew up during a time period that did, in many ways, foster creativity. While there certainly are plenty of unimaginative millennials, the majority of millennials think of themselves as creative people, which does influence how they make home purchases.

When millennials look at a potential home purchase, they don’t just see it for what it is; they see it for what it could be. They consider how easy it would be to make the improvements they want. For this reason, clean, coordinated homes are appealing to millennial home buyers as they require less work to alter as needed. When marketing homes to millennials, these types of homes are always a safe bet.

Millennial Home Buyers Follow Design Trends

While the average millennial may be willing to take on home-improvement projects, this doesn’t mean that they’re all looking for fixer-upper homes. Millennials tend to follow the latest design trends, and the homes that already feature trending design choices are especially appealing to millennial buyers.

If you’re working with a seller who wants to make some improvements the average millennial will appreciate, there are a couple suggestions you can make. Firstly, have them consider new countertops. To millennials, granite and wood shades are far less appealing than natural stone in a light shade. Secondly, if their walls are painted an unusual color, have them repainted white or light gray for more mass appeal.

Millennial Home Buyers Don’t Care About Formality

To the average millennial, formality is far less important than functionality. As recent home-buying trends suggest, millennials are looking to do more with less, and formal areas simply aren’t in demand, especially when they’re associated with drastically higher prices.

To find the homes that millennial home buyers are likely to consider seriously, focus on functionality, not formality. The homes that feature sitting rooms, dining rooms, and other formal areas are likely to fall flat with millennials. Extra rooms, on the other hand, like a spare bedroom that could be used as a hobby room, are appealing to some millennials as they allow for creative activities to be explored at home more freely.

Ultimately, when you’re working with millennials, listening to what they want is key. When working with millennial home buyers, or any type of client for that matter, understanding the specifics of what they’re looking for will save both parties time and help make the entire experience more positive.

If you want to learn more about working with millennial home buyers, including how to market to millennials more effectively, be sure to listen to the complete podcast interview with Leura Fine.

Pat Hiban is the author of NYT best selling book “6 steps to 7 figures — A Real Estate Professional’s Guide to Building Wealth and Creating Your Destiny”, founder of Rebus University and the host of Pat Hiban Interviews Real Estate Rockstars an Agent to Agent Real Estate Radio Podcast with Hiban Digital in Baltimore, Maryland. Follow him on Facebook or Twitter.