After the crash of 2008, it seemed like millennials might not get the home owning opportunities their parents and grandparents did.
Fortunately, this demographic saw a huge upturn financially over the last decade, and are now one of the most active markets in luxury real estate.
Not so fortunately, though, it’s easy to put these tech-savvy buyers and sellers in an “off limits” box and exclude them from your real estate marketing strategy.
In fact, there are a few myths about millennial clients that could be limiting you in your luxury real estate practice and their experience with you as their agent.
Myth #1: Millennial Clients Aren’t Loyal
There’s an idea circulating that millennial clients don’t value their relationships with luxury real estate professionals the way their predecessors did and still do.
Why? Technology.
Some luxury real estate professionals assume that since millennial clients are tech savvy, they feel more empowered to burn through agents according to who’s top of mind at the moment.
The truth? Technology hasn’t made millennials less loyal, it’s only made them more discerning.
That means they’re looking for luxury professionals who clearly demonstrate their value and expertise in the online space and have the social proof to back it up.
At the same time, just like most luxury buyers and sellers, millennial clients appreciate referrals and do give them out when they’ve had a referral-worthy experience.
Speaker and luxury real estate coach Matthew Ferrara told the Institute, “We have to make sure we don’t have a half-truth in our heads…Young people are good with technology, but they don’t program technology — they’re good at using it. Just like I might be more savvy about my health, but I don’t conduct surgery on myself. I may understand more things, but I still rely on experts.”
Myth #2: Millennial Clients Only Want to Look for a Home Online
Again, millennials’ avid use of technology is responsible for another myth: they want to do everything on their own, and they want to do it online.
While it’s true that most millennial clients do start their home buying or selling journey online (98% of them do, according to NAR), they don’t necessarily want to go through the entire process alone.
Matthew adds, “This comes from an idea that just because people could self serve, they would… But real estate isn’t really about the property. Real estate is about people standing at the corner of life and change.”
“Nobody buys real estate because they need more bathrooms — they buy it because life is about to change. So if I’m at the corner of life and change, at any price point, nobody hires a ‘vending machine’ to help them through life changes. They hire a hand, a hug, someone to walk them across that street.”
He goes on to say, “Frankly, at a higher price point, the risk is higher so they want even more expertise, they want even more comfort of knowledge and experience and a network behind them.”
Myth #3: Millennial Clients Don’t Look at Direct Mail
Think the only way to reach millennial buyers and sellers is online?
According to the USPS, 90% of millennials think direct mail marketing messages are reliable, and 92% are influenced by direct mail to make purchase decisions.
Doesn’t quite fit the stereotype, does it?
So while you might be skipping over the younger, more urban luxury markets with your direct mail efforts, the data shows you could be leaving a lot of money on the table.
In fact, compared to older generations, millennials are more open to exchanging personal information for something in return. So, it’s not that they don’t want your direct mail marketing — it’s that they want something valuable in return for the solicitation.
That means giving them educational resources, like the Luxury Market Report or real community news, will be better received than pure promotional marketing.
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