Millennials: The Next Group of Consumers Entering the Market

I recently worked with a wonderful young couple in their early 30s who were looking to buy their first house. We looked at many homes, bid on six or seven of them which we lost, but eventually found the perfect home for them.

I learned some interesting things about the millennial generation from my clients. Millennials (individuals born between 1982 and 2004) do not buy goods and services the way previous generations did. Much of their consumer research and purchasing is done online. With regard to houses, I found that they are not looking for a cookie-cutter home; they like curves, angles and oddly-shaped rooms. Like my young couple, many millennials work in high pressured jobs and have packed schedules. This may explain why they communicate differently, the preferred method being by text. Email is not as effective but if email is used, the subject line is the most important. Of course, millennials gain a lot of current information through social media. Phone calls are a last resort of communication.

The main reason it took so long to close on a house for this couple was because all they could afford was a 3.5% downpayment. Like many young people, they have great credit scores, two good incomes and stable jobs on an upward trajectory. However, having been saddled with huge student debt, they hadn’t been able to save much. But we patiently persevered and in the end, we were able to find a seller who accepted the 3.5% down payment and my clients bought a house located on a busier street, but in a very nice area with low taxes.

The buyer understood that the market was moving quickly and they did not have a strong offer position. In the end, the buyer needed to make compromises to get the house of their dreams. The seller realized that this was a good buyer in a difficult situation.

Millennials are the fastest-growing, most diverse generation of consumers and we are here for them. We are training our team to be fully ready to meet the needs of buyers of every generation.

Margaret “Peggy” Shea, Associate Real Estate Broker

Keller Willams NY Realty120 Bloomingdale Road
Suite 101
White Plains, NY

(914) 761-7878

info@leogrande.com