Generation Y Real Estate Habits

To follow on in this series so far with talking on the Baby Boomers and then Generation X, now I want to talk about generatio
Y. Born between 1980 and 1999 Generation Y are now entering the workforce and stamping their personality all over it. Generation Y represents about 20 – 30% of the total world population. This is the generation that will dominate in the next 2 decades unlike their parents the Generation X who didn’t get to have any major presence Generation Y will change the way the world communicates.

People of this generation develop a strong need for independence at an early age which has been driven by the fact that many come from single parent families. They are also shaping up as the highest achievers of any generation we’ve seen so far and represent enormous market potential for those in the housing, retail and entertainment development industry who understand their needs and desires. They tend to buy disposable items rather than those that can be repaired.

So how will they influence the real estate industry? To fully appreciate that, we have to look at the common traits of a Generation Y person. The Gen Y’s are consumed by entertainment, technology. They are ambitious, hardworking, accomplished multi-taskers, highly transitional and very open to sexuality and race. This means that a generatio
Y buyer will not be as fussy as a Generation X and when seeing what they want act on it faster. But they want more and they want it faster.

The housing needs of Generation Y are proving to be far different than those of their parents. Unlike many baby boomers, who tended to marry and have children in their 20’s, Gen Y’s generally want to postpone marriage and parenthood far longer than their parents. Because their social interaction focuses on night life, rather than entertaining at home, they are satisfied with small housing units or houses on small easy care blocks of land.

The type of property this generation like is easy care and has nice glass and metal features, aluminium joinery, bold colours, lofts, lots of light, and open floor plans are very popular. High-speed Internet access is critical. They also like living close to work, recreation, shopping and entertainment. Convenience is the key for this generation.

Since Generation Y’s are the most sophisticated media generation ever, creating their own web sites and making their own CDs and DVDs, real estate agents need to ensure they’re proficient in the use of developing technologies.

Generation Y are tomorrow’s home buyers. Real estate professionals who realise this and do not rely on the same communication channels used to reach their parents will be the winners.

Marketing concepts for this generations is to put the ads out there and let them stumble across them. If they feel pressured, they immediately back away. Internet and email marketing are critical to reaching this group. They are “always connected” to the Internet in one form or another. Over 95% use websites for their real estate search.

I am a person of this generation and I could go on forever about how people of this generation like to be marketed to, (I will write a new post on it) but I want to give a few tips here.

1. Let them have control. They want control and have the power to get it. The internet has not only allowed the tech savvy to gather a mountain of information without the salesperson but it has allowed them to do it with anonymity.

2. Respect their privacy. Explain that their privacy will be respected and then do nothing to abuse this promise, we are very aware of spamming and marketing calls these days.

3. Give them space. 95% of online enquires are ‘soft’ and for information only. Be prepared to nurture the relationship for long term results. This just means that talking to people of this generation without the assumption of getting anything from it will work more than pressuring.

In short generatio
Y is the next wave of home buyers. As their grandparents enter retirement the people who fill their gap will be this age group. Generation Y people like to do things at their own pace, which is quite often fast. But don’t like pressure. They like to have things done their way and expect others to do it their way. This generation are probably not going to be as fussy as previous generations in terms of real estate as they are very diverse with acceptance. But properties that display the characteristics mentioned above will be more entertained.

This generation is very motivated and ambitious. They have the financial backing of both their parents and grandparents which show in the average age of a gen Y person owning a home is 27. I think that the market will become very exciting with more and more gen Y buyers coming to the market. As an agent I will have to keep up with ever changing media that we can advertise and market on. But being of this generatio
I have a slight advantage of being in the material as well.

I will do a blog post soon on marketing to People of Generation Y and list a whole host of social media that people use including gotaccess which will be released on Friday. A revolution to how we can possibly run our business and for people to gather information.