Millennials and the Housing Market: 4 Key Takeaways

Our real estate internet marketing professionals share 4 major takeaways every REALTOR® can learn from when marketing their services to the millennial generation.

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The millennials is the generation born between 1981 and 1999. By 2025, it will comprise of 75% of the workforce in Canada and the United States.  They will also make up the majority of home buyers in the coming decades as more and more of the generation gets married, settles down, and look to buy a home to house their growing family.

Information about millennial interests and preferences is valuable to real estate companies as they market their services to a population entering the job force and taking over the housing market. Some of the traditional methods of marketing that worked for the older population may not necessarily apply for this generation. The millennials do things different, as you will see in this post, which means that your method of contact will have to differ.  

Realizing the importance of millennial preferences and finding the right internet marketing approach, our online marketing pros have done some digging and major research on the topic. We came up with 4 major takeaways every real estate company can learn from when marketing their services to this generation.

1.      Transit and Commuting  

Millennial are driving less than previous generations and are therefore shifting commuting trends in cities across North America. Properties that offer multi-modal transportation options, such as public transportation, walking, and biking, are attention grabbers.  Commuting time/reliability of transportation as well as the level traffic congestions are ranked second and third in importance when purchasing real estate property.

Why public transportation? Time is of the essence for millennials.  They use the time in transit to catch up on emails, texts, and paperwork. Every moment counts and when you are driving yourself to work, you cannot multitask as you would when traveling on the public transit system.

Why biking? Millennials make up the largest number of the cyclists on the roads. The reason being, bicycling is an inexpensive means to get from point A to B. In big, traffic congested cities, it is also the most convenient and fastest route. Some cities and neighbourhoods are already accommodating this trend by allotting space for bike lanes, so that cyclists will not have to drive on the road.

2.      Digital and Real Time Communication

Millennials place major emphasis on transparency and crave openness, convenience, and dialogue with companies they do business with. To accommodate this preference, REALTORS®  are encouraged to take their interactive communication to the next level - beyond a phone call or a scheduled open house.  

One way REALTORS®  are embracing millennial preferences is by using livestream platforms for social media marketing, such as Facebook and Snapchat, to live stream open houses and to host question and answer periods with interested buyers/sellers. Many platforms also give REALTORS® the option to save the live stream video and add it to their listing. If someone missed the virtual open house, they still have the chance to view it at their earliest convenience.

3.      Mobile Marketing 

It is said that millennials engage with their smartphones more than they do actual humans. For millennials, their mobile phones are not just a way to talk to people when there isn't a landline handy, they are an essential feature of their social lives.  You can take advantage of this statistic by creating an app that allows users to receive highly-contextual information as soon as they are in proximity to one of the listings. As they get closer to the property, the app will guide them by letting them discover more details about the property and the neighborhood.

 The main idea is that this technology initiates contact with the home buyer instead of requiring the buyer to perform an action first.

4.      Focus Less on Promotions and More on Engagement

Millennials are digital natives. They are the first generation to grow up with smart phones, tablets, laptops and with access to social media and the internet.

They also communicate with each other more often than they view advertisements and promotions. When attempting to figure out whether or not there is value in a product or service, they will go to their friends or social networks for a more accurate review. They also use these sources to sort out research and other word-of-mouth style information.

As such, REALTORS®  are spending less on advertising and promotions and more on engagement. They are providing useful and engaging information that builds trust and wins business. They take everything they enjoy about their city, neighbourhood, or community and package it in a way that millennials will click the contact us button.  They also welcome them to a new life experience, using informative blogs, interactive videos, and free estimates. Millennials love hearing the word free.