Millennial Homebuyers? Biggest generation in U.S. History

Millennial Homebuyers? Biggest generation in U.S. History

RECBL - Real Estate News

Millennials are the biggest generation in U.S. history, even surpassing baby boomers in numbers. Already, they make up 34 percent of all homebuyers-and as they get older, make more money and start families, that figure will grow. In fact, Census Bureau data projects household formation will average about 1.5 million per year through 2020. To attract millennial homebuyers to do business with you, it’s important to understand three things: how millennials look for homes, what they want in their homes, and what they want to see on real estate websites.

How Do Millennials Find Homes?
The millennial home search begins online. According to the National Association of REALTORS(R) (NAR), some 93 percent of millennial homebuyers "frequently" use the internet when searching for homes. More than half of millennial homebuyers find the home they ultimately purchase online. NAR also reports:

• 99 percent of millennial homebuyers use online websites to look for homes;

• 86 percent of millennial homebuyers use a mobile website or app in their search process; and

• 58 percent of millennial homebuyers find their home through mobile search.

In short, get the attention of millennial homebuyers with an appealing website that’s equally attractive on desktop and mobile devices.

What Do Millennials Want in a Home?
Millennials want different things than their parents or older siblings want from a home. Here’s what a recent survey found:

Technology: New appliances are the single most important feature millennials look for in a home, cited by 75 percent of respondents. Almost half (47 percent) want solar panels or other energy-storage features, while 38 percent want smart home systems.

Space: Millennials don’t need the biggest lot on the block (less than one-fourth want one acre-plus properties); however, they do like plenty of space inside the home. Sixty-two percent want a big master bedroom, 54 percent want a two-car garage, and 41 percent want a finished basement.

Luxury: Luxury outdoor upgrades such as outdoor Jacuzzis or three-car garages aren’t high on millennials priority lists; however, almost half want a luxury kitchen and hardwood or stone flooring.

It’s important to include all details in your listings, but focus first on those that matter most to millennials. Highlighting key features in your listings and using them as keywords on your website will boost your SEO.

What Do Millennials Want to See on Real Estate Websites?
Driving millennial homebuyers to your real estate website is only the first step. You’ve also got to make sure your website contains the content they look for when searching for a home. A whopping 91 percent of millennials surveyed by NAR say photos are the most important feature on a real estate website. Accordingly, make sure your website has plenty of appealing photos of available homes from all possible angles (the more, the better).

Almost as important as photos is detailed property information, cited by 88 percent of millennials. Accordingly, your real estate website must be regularly updated with property data. Once a day is OK, once an hour is better-but having this content update in real-time is ideal.

Finally, neighborhood information is important to nearly half of millennial homebuyers. Creating landing pages for every city, county and neighborhood in your MLS can address this need, as long as the landing pages are filled with market statistics, images of the local area, and local school information. Again-having this content automatically update is key to prospect engagement.

Home, Sweet Home
Taking the time to understand what millennial homebuyers want from a home and how they search for homes can pay off big in attracting millennial home buying prospects, but how can you capitalize on this information? TORCHx is a great option-their best-in-class websites are designed to attract this group through mobile and SEO-optimized property pages that automatically update with content millennials look for.

​Jesse Friedman co-founded TORCHx in 2013 and has built the premium digital marketing platform into a leading solution for real estate brokers and agents. Friedman is a serial entrepreneur with a strong history in real estate marketing and advertising.

To learn more about TORCHx, please visit torchx.com or request a free demo of the platform.

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How to Attract Millennial Homebuyers

How to Attract Millennial Homebuyers

RECBL - Real Estate News

Millennials are getting the brunt of the blame for killing many industries that were supported by previous generations but, as it turns out, the real estate industry is alive and well.

Understanding what millennials are looking for in a potential home is imperative if you want to succeed as a real estate professional, as more millennials are starting to search for their first home. Taking certain actions can give you an edge in attracting the millennial market.

Highlight the Flexibility of Open Spaces
If millennials are one thing, its indecisive. They’ve grown up with the idea that they can go anywhere and do anything. The trouble is that they want it all and can be fickle about where to settle. They may enter the home-buying market several times before they seal the deal. What if there’s a career change? Are kids in the future or not? Maybe the contract job (and the regular income) will dry up. To close the deal with a millennial buyer, you have to show off, for example, how the spare room can be used either as an office or as a nursery. It can even be used to generate income by renting it out on space-sharing apps or to a regular renter.

Sell the Potential of Genuine Fixer-Uppers
Saddled with debt and settled in lower-paying jobs, most millennials can’t afford much more than a small, basic house. They understand that there is a potential value in a bigger home in questionable condition, though. Armed with confidence and education (and home-flipping reruns on TV), they are often open to investing in fixer-uppers. In a market where another agent is a text message away from a skeptical millennial, don’t lose the trust of a potential buyer by trying to sell a lemon.

Balance Eco-Friendly Features With Home Automation
If you want to catch the attention of the growing millennial market, showcase how eco-friendly and smart the property is (or can be)! Be sure that a high-speed internet connection is available; if not, research an alternative. Exchange appliances that are not energy-efficient for ones with smart features. Being green is just as important, so consider advising the seller to invest in solar panels. Also, be ready to show off the outdoor living and gardening space.

Voice-recognized smart home devices from major tech companies are taking over home features. Demonstrate ways that the home can be fully automated with the right products and efforts. Consider featuring safety devices like security cameras or doorbell cameras that are tied into a smartphone app. Smart thermostats are becoming the norm as well, even in rented spaces.

Focus on the Convenience of the Location
The character of the home and neighborhood matters to millennials, so point them to quaint communities, local small businesses, and art districts. They tend to work outside of the formerly typical nine-to-five, so routine meals go by the wayside. Proximity to restaurants and delivery options is important. Also, many millennials enjoy non-motor transportation, as well, so distance from work hubs matters.

Since they also need to be able to afford it, a home in the suburbs may be necessary. If a home is located where a commute would be a necessity, be ready to provide travel times, fastest routes, and multitasking ideas like listening to podcasts or staying current on the latest news on NPR.

Assure the Simplicity of It All
Millennials pride themselves in not wanting to "adult." Growing up, they weren’t involved in home projects outside of routine chores and many are often not concerned with home skills that were once considered common. Draw millennials in with properties that come with amenities such as lawn maintenance or consolidated billing, but do avoid demanding homeowners associations. Update exterior features that require regular maintenance (a shingle roof to a metal roof, for example).

Prepare your buyers with the knowledge that will give them the confidence to close. Have a website or print-out of information that will let them know what to expect in terms of processes and costs of services related to purchasing a home. Millennials will close much more readily when they understand the system.

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7 Millennial First Home Essentials

7 Millennial First Home Essentials

RECBL - Real Estate News

More and more millennials are buying homes, representing around 45 percent of all purchase loans, and most first-time millennial homebuyers are on a limited budget.

While you may not be able to find the perfect home that checks every box on your dream home list, you can find a home you can improve on or add to over time.

As you hunt for your first home and make the big purchasing decision, make sure your checklist of new home essentials includes the following seven musts.

1. Energy-Efficient Features
Not only is energy efficiency trendy, but it also saves you money on your power bill and reduces your carbon footprint. When viewing homes on the market, look for energy-efficient features like double-paned windows, solar panels, attic insulation, LED lighting, and ENERGY STAR appliances. When you move in to your new domicile, invest in the Nest Learning Thermostat, which helps save you money on your energy bill and allows you to control your houses temperature from your phone.

2. An Entertainment Center
Moving from an apartment to a home means more room, so celebrate with an entertainment space. Equip a portion of your living room with a comfy couch, a big screen TV, and a stereo system. Don't forget a TV package and a streaming stick to access your favorite channels, such as HBO and Starz, and streaming services, including Netflix and Hulu. Trust us-your friends will thank you, and your home will be everyone’s favorite hangout.

3. Smoke Alarms and Carbon Monoxide Detectors
A smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector should be on every level of a house, especially near bedrooms. While walking through homes, check to see if a property has up-to-date smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. You may want to install smart versions, like the Nest Protect, a smoke and carbon monoxide alarm. The system checks its batteries and performs silent tests on a regular basis so you don’t have to.

4. A Home Security System
Burglary rates have been steadily increasing over time, but installing a security system can help you feel safer and protect your new home. If you buy a house that doesn’t have a home security system, you can easily install the necessary equipment with options such as the Scout Home Security System. You can connect a door panel, access sensor, motion sensor, video camera and more, depending on your needs.

5. A Home Improvement Magazine Subscription
Whether you like it or not, owning a home comes with a lot more responsibility than renting. You’ll occasionally spend weekends and afternoon’s fixing something or working on a home project. Even though just about every project type is available on the internet, subscribing to a home improvement magazine, like Better Homes & Gardens, serves as a homeowners initiation to all house-centric projects. Along with tips for home maintenance, you can also find inspiration for your next project in the leaves of these handy prints.

6. Wallpaper
No, were not back in the 1960s. Wallpaper is back and trendier than ever. If you find a home with wallpaper, don’t leave screaming. Depending on the style, you may be able to make it look modern, or, if a room is boring and you aren’t sure how to spruce it up without breaking the bank, try a modern wallpaper trend, such as a marble pattern. If you aren’t sold on the idea, try temporary wallpapers that are easy to remove.

7. Plants
Greenery is one of the biggest home decor trends, so bring the outdoors inside with houseplants. Not only do they clean the air, but they’re also inexpensive ways to decorate a room and brighten up even the darkest of spaces. For a small room, decorate with a tall cactus or fiddle leaf fig tree to make the area look bigger. Don’t have a green thumb? Try a faux plant, which only requires occasional dusting.

These must-haves are just a few to add to your checklist for an ideal dwelling. Think we missed something? Share what other essentials you think should be on every millennials new home list.

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Time to Close for Millennials Swings From State to State

Time to Close for Millennials Swings From State to State

RECBL - Real Estate News

The average time it took millennial mortgage borrowers to close a loan was 44 days in July, but swung from state to state, according to Ellie Mae(R)’s recently released Millennial Tracker, a measure of millennial mortgage applications. Closing a purchase loan took 42 days, while closing a refinance loan took 46 days. The amount of time it takes to close, varied by state.

Borrowers in California are looking at a 37-day window and borrowers in New York are looking at a 60-day window.

"Between the competitive housing market with limited inventory and the 30-year note rate at a 2017 low, some millennial homeowners may be deciding to stay put and take advantage of the opportunity to refinance," said Joe Tyrrell, executive vice president of Corporate Strategy for Ellie Mae, in a statement. "With many more millennials interested in becoming homeowners for the first time, however, the purchase market is still very strong."

The average time it took for millennial borrowers to close an FHA loan-one of the more popular types of loans for millennials-was 44 days, up by one day from June, according to the Tracker. The average time it took to close a VA loan was 50 days, up by five days from June.

Millennial borrowers’ average FICO score rose in July, to 724 from 723 in June.

Source: Ellie Mae

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The Yin and Yang of the Millennial Market

The Yin and Yang of the Millennial Market

In a recent release from apartmentlist.com, it’s very interesting to learn while millennials are starting to buy homes, there are not enough homes in their price range on the market - and even if there were, many could not come up with a down payment.

In his latest Apartmentlist Rentonomics report, Andrew Woo writes that during the Great Recession, investors bought countless foreclosed properties, most of which were starter homes.

And rather than selling when prices recovered, investors turned them into profitable single-family rentals. And as a result, Woo says there are very few existing starter homes on the market.

Woo points to Megan McGrath of MKM Partners, who says the housing recovery was primarily at the middle end of the market which drove up home prices and land prices followed. With higher land prices, it is harder for home builders to make a good profit at lower home prices.

During the housing recovery, the price spread between new and existing homes increased because builders were focused on the move-up buyer. But Woo says now middle-end sales are starting to slow down, and builders need to target new buyers to sustain growth.

He says big builders are starting to introduce new product lines at lower price points, and these starter homes are selling well. But the only way for builders to lower prices and take a hit to their margins is if they see big growth in new orders, and he is not seeing that happening anytime soon.

Woo says the demand is clearly growing but is not as strong as demographics would suggest. Single-family construction still stands at 18% below its 25-year average, and he warns about a developing affordability gap.

Aparetmentlist.com recently surveyed 24,000 millennial renters and found that 80 percent want to purchase a home, but face a huge obstacle in affording one. Woo says its because millennials vastly underestimate the savings needed for a down payment.

Woo fears based on current saving rates most millennials will need at least a decade to save enough - and that a lack of savings, combined with the shortage of affordable starter homes, will leave a large share of millennials renting for years to come.





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