Grab Millennial Home Buyers with These 4 Strategies
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It's Millennials. They comprise an increasing share of home buyers, edging out older Boomers. And these Millenials have more money to spend than younger generations.
Knowing what's important to these house hunters will make your home sale go quicker and easier, keeping everyone happy!
Here are four ways you can attract and impress this important market.
Choose trending paint colors
Just like trends in clothing, jargon, music, and cars, paint colors for interior walls come in and go out of style. Interior design color schemes move in 10-year cycles. When you stage your home, be aware of the currently popular colors.
Today's most popular colors are trending away from greys and towards off-white tones like Sherwin Williams Pearly White, or Creamy, or Roman Column.
The solid advice about home staging has always been to avoid painting walls with bold colors because a neutral color theme will appeal to the greatest number of people. Soft, neutral colors are versatile, and will pair with most people's furniture.
As always, if you run out of ideas, there's always the internet. On average, 1.8 billion websites are running concurrently worldwide daily, so answers to general or specific questions about decor are just a few keystrokes away. I recommend checking my Pinterest boards for color combinations that work well for home staging. I've blogged about how to choose a paint color the easy way, staging with pastel colors, and the importance of wall color in a staged home.
Note: Looking at photos of celebrity homes and decorator showcase homes will not help you choose a color for staging. Home decorating and home staging have different aims.
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| This family room from Young House Love demonstrates how a room of neutrals and off-whites doesn't have to be boring. |
Make it move-in ready
Repairing or replacing faulty components shows potential buyers that the house is in great shape. Most Millennials don't want a fixer-upper. They are busy building careers and raising families. They want a property that shows it's been well-maintained. If you sail through your home inspection, you can sell at a higher price.
Having an inspection done before listing is a good idea. Inspectors want to find problems to prove their value. (And they are valuable!) Repair any cracks and holes in walls and ceilings, and replace loose doorknobs, cracked tiles, and faulty electrical systems the inspector lists. Replace all leaking faucets and corroded water tanks.
Millennials have a wish list that includes a home office, a smart security system, unproblematic internet, tv, and cell phone access, and useable outdoor space. So, if you have these features, use your home staging and your online specs to make them obvious.
What repairs you decide to make will cost you less than the discounts buyers will ask for. And you'll speed up the selling process.
Focus on a fabulous listing
You have just one chance to impress a buyer. The millennial buyer will form his first, important impression from your online listing. If your agent doesn't believe in the value of professional real estate photography, find another agent. If it is a question of cost, offer to pay. Yes, it is that important.
When the photographer comes, be totally ready, and then get out of the way. Do not plan on moving things from one room to another. Do in advance what it takes to make your home look uncluttered, even if it means putting wastebaskets, extra shoes, and kids' toys in your car for a few hours!
If you are ever going to pay for a professional deep cleaning or a professional organizer, do it before your home is photographed.
Make sure your agent knows all the important details about your property. Her job will be to feature what's important to today's buyers, based on her experience and training. Tell her what you love most about your home, the age and brand of things like appliances, flooring, and roofing, what the neighborhood is like, and whatever else she may not realize by a simple walk-through. Insist on reviewing the sales copy before it goes live and don't be shy about suggesting reasonable changes. Your Realtor is working for you.
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| Even if you are not needing fancy photography like drone images or this twilight shot, you should consider professional photos as essential selling tools. Photo: Hoachlander Davis Photography |
Add budget-friendly upgrades
Put money where it matters. Unless your home is a high-end property in a decidedly expensive market, making improvements like complete bath or kitchen remodels won't return your financial investment at the closing table. Averages show that revamping a major bathroom costs about $11,700. But small upgrades and repairs can put an ordinary house over the top.
You might consider replacing bath and kitchen hardware such as faucets, spigots, showerheads, mirror frames, and cabinet handles. These metals are the jewelry of the room. Latch on to the mixed metals trend to impress millennial buyers. Here is an article from The Spruce on how to mix metals the right way.
Another economical upgrade that will catch the eye of a millennial shopper is a statement lighting fixture. An oversized chandelier can replace a bedroom boob light. My go-to source for inexpensive ceiling lights is my local ReStore. I know they sell only tested appliances and fixtures. Older style lights are often easy to update with a coat of spray paint.
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| This bath, from Sunny Circle Studio, uses both matte black and shiny brass hardware for a modern, curated look. |
Get the look, get the book
Need more advice, inspiration, and DIY tips to stage your own home? Start today by building your confidence that you can do it! Download my home staging eBook, DIY Home Staging Tips to Sell Your Home Fast and For Top Dollar. Let my years in the real estate business --buying, fixing, staging, and selling homes -- help you style your home to win buyers' hearts.
