The key phrase of marketing real estate is knowing where demand outstrips supply; this is the "Emerging" real estate market strategy, and is one of the keys to successful residential real estate sales. One of the largest trends right now as an emergent market is the Echo Boomers, (also called "Generation Y").
Echo boomers are the children of baby boomers, and they range in age from 28 or so to, well, pre-schoolers. The first edge of this demographic trend is hitting the real estate housing market now, and is starting to make the "big ticket" purchases of homes, cars, and insurance packages. They're making up about a third of the US population now, and bring in about 300 billion in income nationwide, with their income potential growing.
Fiscally and financially, echo boomers are much more resistant to conventional marketing techniques. Generation Y watched how their parents dealt with marketing, they've been media saturated, and they're much likelier to play a video game than watch a TV. For many of them, there has never been a time where you had to schedule a chunk out of the day to watch a TV program, or had a TV program that couldn't be paused. As a result, they're pretty self aware in terms of what they want and where and when they want it . and are a bit harder to reach by conventional methodologies.
Echo boomers have had credit pushed at them since they were teenagers; most of them have, through underemployment, had credit problems, but the leading edge has gotten past the early 20s malaise and are looking at managing their credit and assets, and going into real estate is a useful way to do so. Furthermore, because they're just starting out, most Generation Y home buyers are likely to retain a sense of loyalty to a sales agent or a financial institution, much more so than their parents were. Selling homes to echo boomers can be more than just a one-time transaction; it's an opportunity to set up a relationship with repeat sales potential.
So, what do Generation Y buyers look for in real estate? Well, for the most part, they want location and convenience. More so than their parents, they want properties that have been redeveloped in urban cores; they want properties that are in mixed use areas, with retail establishments close at hand, and public transit available to their job sites. This isn't that different from selling property to most mid-20s buyers for the last fifteen years, but it does put a premium on certain markets.
Echo boomers are likelier to turn down a job that takes them away from their family, and they're much likelier to put a premium on "green" properties and low carbon footprint acquisitions. If you've got a property that has lots of "green" features, in a southern or southwestern urban area, you've got something to sell to an echo boomer; if this is a real estate market you want to tap, this may be one of the better trend lines to spot.
Other marketing points for Generation Y buyers are amenities. While their parents are often looking for second homes close to activities, Generation Y buyers are looking for affordable housing with amenities that are important to them. Believe it or not, one of the most important amenities is cell phone signal strength. When assessing a property to sell, look at how many signal bars you're getting as you walk through the house; most Generation Y buyers don't have land lines any more and not being able to take calls on the cell can scotch the real estate deal.
While they want amenities, they're also busy with jobs and starting families. Convenience is a byword here. Being close to schools and being close to banks and jobs are important, as is being close to either covered parking or mass transit. Echo boomers, unlike their parents, are much likelier to consider mass transit and train stops to be an essential part of life. Generation Y real estate buyers are also looking for proximity to the things they want to do for fun; movie theaters, restaurants, and parks are important to them.
Lastly, echo boomers want a home with some individual charm and appeal; their parents were the original consumers of mass marketing; echo boomers tastes in what they buy have been shaped by what their parents got and did; their parents went for the Beatles and Elvis. The Echo Boomers went for Green Day and Nirvana. Their home will be an expression of this independent streak, and they will want homes with features that other homes don't have split-level loft condominiums are an example, as are apartments built out of old warehouse or office space. Always look for unique features in a real estate property to bring up to an echo boomer; you're likelier to get a sale if it's not "one of several homes built on an existing floor plan."
Tony Seruga, Yolanda Seruga and Yolanda Bishop of www.maverickrei.com specialize in commercial and investment real estate. As of May, 2006, they and their partners are managing over $600 million dollars worth of new projects.
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