By Carole Hawkins, [email protected]
Today’s tech savvy 30-somethings do not want to Facebook “friend” their Realtor when buying a home.
This and other advice was delivered, sometimes with a dose of blunt humor, by millennial homebuyers at a Hear it Direct discussion at the Florida Realtors 2014 Conference in Orlando.
Millennials, the largest generation and today’s most sought-after market segment, often confuse Realtors.
Born from 1980 to 2000, the average millennial is about 30 years old. The average Realtor is 55.
The panel surprised the Realtor audience the most when they talked about how they used technology to assist them in home buying.
Given their reputation as social media techno-wizards, the panel’s starting point in their home search was simple.
Liz: “I went to Google and said “I want to buy a house.” That’s how I got Zillow. After that, I only used Zillow.”
Asked why she didn’t move on to other tools like Realtor.com or the MLS app, she said.
Alex: “I searched on Google, and Zillow had the coolest logo. Its interface was easy to use. I’m not looking to buy a house off of Zillow. I’m looking to see what prices of houses are in a particular area.”
Later, after hiring a Realtor, some panel members also used the MLS portals sent by their agents.
The millennials initially screened homes on their desktop computers. As they got closer to buying, they used mobile phone apps more.
Lisa: “We would see how aggressive the market was, sometimes a listing would come on the market and there would be bids on it right away. That’s when we’d use our phone, because if we weren’t fast enough, we were going to miss out on the opportunity.”
Despite all the efforts Realtors make to brand themselves, none of the panel members found Realtors through print ads. Nobody responded to the “May I help you?” ads that popped up on Zillow, either.
Some in the group saw reviews of Realtors on Yelp, but they didn’t lend much weight to them. Several called agents who were listing homes they were interested in seeing.
Karen: “And everyone I called was like, ‘Do you have an agent?’ They were very aggressive on the phone, saying ‘I can meet you tomorrow.’ I was getting phone calls from all of them.”
In the end, almost everyone worked with a Realtor they met on referral.
Liz: “We asked our friends on Facebook, and did you know this? Like one in two people is a Realtor. We worked with someone who was the dad of a member of our church. He was an established Realtor, not one of these people who just happen to have a license.”
The panel gave low marks to Realtors who used high-pressure tactics or who were too casual with them.
Liz: “She was one of these people where every house she showed us we had to make an offer on that house before the end of business that day, because something terrible would happen if we didn’t.”
Curtis: “It was ‘Oh look at this home. It’s perfect.’ And I said, ‘It has a hole in the wall.’”
Karen: “I called one agent when he was walking his dog. He dropped the phone and (started cursing). When I call, I don’t want to hear a screaming child in the background or you buying stuff at Walmart. Otherwise, I don’t feel you take me seriously.”
The most helpful Realtors screened listings and stayed updated when their client’s search criteria changed.
Alex: “He would follow up and let me know, based hobbies of mine — that there were these gyms in the area. Publix was this distance away, your commute would be this far. It was helpful … a touch point without being pushy.”
Karen: “She wasn’t tech savvy, but she knew how to do her email and how to work the MLS and that was the most important thing. She taught me how to find photos on the MLS from when the house sold years before, so I could see what had been done to it. She taught me some tricks and it made me trust her.”
Trainers usually tell Realtors all kinds of ways to stay in touch after a sale.
The millennials, on the other hand, said they don’t expect a follow-up. They wouldn’t mind, but don’t be too intrusive.
Karen: “My Realtor came by because she was showing a property in the area. She wanted to see if I had already moved in and I thought that was nice.”
Curtis: “A card is enough. I don’t want you to be like, ‘Hey, how is your week going?’ But a card, like ‘Happy Birthday,’ I mean, Geico does that, right?”
Most of the panel members expected their Realtors to have both a professional website and a Facebook page. Be careful, though, with friend requests — and use a separate business Facebook page, not a personal page.
Alex: “I’ll friend your real estate page because we did business together, but you liking a picture of me on the beach with my girlfriend? That’s just weird.”
Alex: Works in health care analytics. Has been home shopping in the Orlando area since graduating from college.
Curtis: Information technology student at the University of Central Florida, he’s searching for a home in East Orlando.
Lisa: A mental health professional, she and her husband recently purchased a foreclosure without using an agent in Windermere, southeast of Orlando. They have bought home once before that belonged to a family member.
Liz: Sign language interpreter for Orange County public high school, she and her husband recently purchased their first home in Davenport, southwest of Orlando.
Karen: District manager for Omega luxury watches, she recently bought her first house in Lake Mary to be close to work, family and a good school district.