Millennial Buyers - What Are They Looking For?
Millennial buyers are expected to make up more than 20 million new households in the year 2023. As a homeowner, and potential seller, that means looking at your home from a fresh perspective. Any updates you plan on making before selling should be done with the potential buyer pool in mind. Millennials aren’t going to be looking for the same upgrades and options that may have sold your home quickly ten years ago.
According to recent polls, millennial buyers are looking for several key features or upgrades in their home.
Efficiency - Both in space, and in function
Homes that don’t optimize the layout don’t make the cut for most millennials. Consider how a small family will be using the space, and how the flow of the home will work with their everyday needs.
Millennials are concerned with their environmental impact, as well as their energy bills. Energy efficient upgrades and carbon neutral living improvements add a lot of value to your home for this demographic.
Room for a home office
With so many millennial buyers working remotely or working from home, it’s a huge priority to be able to have a space specifically for work. A room they can dedicate to zoom meetings and team calls that they can shut the door and forget about at the end of the day.
Room for the fur babies
42% of first time millennial home buyers say that their pet will play a significant role in determining which home they buy. Since so many members of this generation are now proud pet and/or plant parents, having a great outdoor space is an absolute must.
Smart Home capabilities
While this one isn’t a deal breaker, if you’re making improvements to your home, consider adding in smart elements. This appeals to the technologically savvy nature of millennial buyers. Convenience is a huge selling point, and things as simple as smart lights, thermostat, and locks make a big impact on how smart the home feels.
Move-in Ready
On average, this group isn’t looking for a home that they need to gut and redo themselves. They value to hard work put in by previous owners, and are willing to pay a little bit more for the convenience of not having to built the sweat equity themselves.
If you’re looking to sell your home in the next year or two, this can serve as an excellent guideline on what to give your attention to. Remember, not all upgrades are created equal! Talk with your favorite real estate agent to see what they recommend for the demographic in your area. At the end of the day, your agent is looking to net you the biggest win they can! Sometimes, that means putting in a little bit of an investment to yield you the best results.
What do you think? Are these features important to you?