How Realtors Can Maximize their Appeal to Millennial Homebuyers in 2019

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In 2019, millennials are changing the housing market as we know it. Defined as individuals born in the early 1980s through the mid-1990s, the demographics of millennials is slowly emerging as a powerful force of potential buyers and sellers. As a whole, this technology-focused demographic has striking differences from the older generations of today, including baby boomers and Gen X. With this in mind, realtors should aim to understand the millennial mindset in order to better market their services to them. Like almost any age demographic, millennials who can connect with their potential agent are more likely to close a deal. Continue reading and discover a few ways realtors can market to millennial homebuyers in 2019.

Be a credible source of information

A vast majority of millennials are first-time homebuyers at the moment. As such, realtors should be prepared to answer basic questions surrounding each stage of the homebuying process. In many ways, a realtor serves as a guide for millennials navigating their home buying journey. For this reason, many millennials seek reassurance from their realtors that they are on the right track throughout the process.

Keep a portfolio of reviews

With 24/7 online access, millennials are incredibly well-researched. Since the majority of them have aged alongside the evolution of the internet, this demographic relies heavily on online reviews for many everyday decisions, from trying a restaurant to buying a new home. Before choosing a realtor to represent them in their home buying process, many millennials will check out online reviews and testimonials. With this, realtors should seek out testimonials from satisfied customers. These testimonials can then be shared on their professional website and social media pages.

Make it easy for prospects to contact you

Millennials are all about efficiency. As a result, this generation refuses to wait too long for their questions to be answered. With this, it imperative that realtors respond to client inquiries in a timely manner. With this, it is also crucial to have your contact information readily available online. Be sure to provide open lines of communication on your website and social media channels at all times.

HUD Foreclosures

HUD foreclosures and VA Foreclosures are some of the best homes to buy when price is part of the equation. As with most Americans, price is always a concern. If not buying the same house for less, why not buy more house for the same dollar invested? When looking for a good deal it is hard to do better than the VA or HUD foreclosures market. The simple truth is that there are just more VA and HUD homes on the market, as they represent such a large number of mortgages that are generated each year. This translates into more foreclosures just by the magnitude of difference between all others comparing to the two largest.

The two largest also being government owned and operated means that they have less time to wait to make money back on the home. The FHA is especially known for selling HUD homes for less than the average sales price in a given area. FHA foreclosures represent a fraction of HUD but they are still a significant number of homes and both should be considered.

VA (Veterans Administration) and HUD (Housing and Urban Development) have different and unique opportunities for the buyer. Both are often forgiven for the local taxes normally associated with the purchase of a home (this is on a county by county basis). Be sure to ask the local title company or escrow company to look into it for you before closing as this is often missed due to their are not used to dealing with the 2 to 3 percent of the market that VA and HUD foreclosures represent.

Foreclosure Listings Increasing

As the market settled after the mortgage meltdown foreclosure listings also settled and fewer homes were on the market with a placard reading “Bank Foreclosure” in big red lettering. This was a good thing for the entire real estate market. Having an abundance of foreclosures brings the entire market down and it makes it harder for home owners, who would like to move, to get the appropriate price for their home as a similar home down the same street was sold for substantially less and the appraiser is using the foreclosure as a comparable sale.

This is just one of the problems when there are too many foreclosure listings in any area. Another issue is the television set that sits in everyone’s living room harping about the price of homes based on the number of foreclosures and this constant barrage of negative information makes most people sit on the sidelines waiting for the market to either implode completely or to correct itself. Meanwhile while they wait, others are buying foreclosure listings and making great investments.

Whatever the reason, a market can only handle so many foreclosure listings at any given time. The more foreclosures, the lower the market gets and this is a lesson the banks that were foreclosing and selling off realized too late. The market and their investments would have been better off if there had not been a rush to divest themselves of the toxic assets made more toxic by their own actions.