When it comes to working with young buyers, there are some definite dos and donts to make the process smoother and better connect with them.
Understand their communication styles.
Typically, more communication is better than less, and your millennial clients may want to hear from you more than once a week. They often prefer to receive updates by text rather than by phone or in person, but responsiveness is essential, says Mario Dominguez, CRS, who heads the Dominguez Realty Group at ERA Herman Group Real Estate in Aventura, Florida.
Use social media.
Millennial buyers expect to be able to find you online, especially on social media. And if you havent updated your blog, Facebook page or Twitter account in six months, theyre going to notice, says real estate sales coach Travis Robertson, founder of Robertson Coaching International in Newport Beach, California.
The reality is if youre not on social media today and youre not engaging with this audience on a social platform, its very likely youre not going to be the REALTOR® they choose, because 10 of their other friends who are also REALTORS® have been doing that, he says.
Learn about debt programs.
Charles Chip Morrison, Jr. a millennial REALTOR® with Team Realty Group in Atlanta, suggests that REALTORS® get familiar with student loan repayment and forgiveness programs such as those on www.studentaid.ed.gov, so they can counsel young buyers. Having contact information for your local nonprofit credit counseling service is also a good idea.
Manage expectations upfront.
Its essential to have an upfront meeting where you assess their debt load and get a sense of their budget. Dominguez has a flow chart that reflects each step in the buying process, and he prefers to involve a mortgage broker early on to get a true sense of what the buyer can comfortably afford. He also tries to get his team to stop thinking in a gatekeeper capacity and realize that millennials are doing a great deal of research online. Instead of choosing properties for clients to look at, agents should facilitate their clients efforts to find the property that fits for them.
