Marketing to Millennials: Identifying Trends for Future Homebuyers

It's no secret that millennials are buying homes later in life than their predecessors. The reasons are the usual suspects -- rising costs of living, housing costs, and student debt. Identifying trends and patterns with millennials can be a powerful tool when marketing to this generation's homebuyers and closing deals. Check out these trends and see how you can use them to your advantage!

Pausing on Purchasing

Millennials are waiting much longer to sign the dotted line on a house because – surprise – it's more expensive! A report by SmartAsset claims that in larger cities, it takes nearly a decade to save up for a 20% down payment for a home. Student debt, which has hit an all-time high, is another key factor in saving for this generation as well.

Because of this, millennials are renting longer – and most are doing it on their own. Milestones like marriages that are associated with home buying are happening later. When they are ready to purchase a home, most are skipping starter homes and going straight for the luxury properties.

Commuting and Suburbs

Millennials are moving to areas with strong employment and wage growth. Some of these areas, however, have too big of a ticket price for even modest homes.

To remedy this, millennials are instead becoming super-commuters: individuals who resort to commuting 90 minutes or longer each way to work in exchange to live in suburbs with lower housing costs.

Take a look at the top 10 cities millennials are migrating to. Do any of these come as a surprise?

Using Trends to Your Advantage

Some of the top areas may come as a surprise, but you can use these to your advantage. Are there any luxury condos or high rises near the companies who are drawing top talent that have the option to rent or buy? Are there suburbs that have lower costs for properties, but higher ratings for public transportation? How do the homes rate for energy efficiency?

Take some time and get to know your potential clients. Marketing towards these current trends and investing time into studying what's hot can only come as a benefit to you and your business.

To view the original article, visit the WolfNet blog.