Which Generation of Home Buyers You Belong To ?

Younger home buyers tend to view their home as a strong investment, more so than older buyers who tend to view their homes as a match to their lifestyle. There are vast generational differences among recent home buyers and sellers. 87 percent of buyers age 33 and younger consider their home purchase a good financial investment compared to 74 percent of buyers 68 and older.

Home buyers can be categorized into four different generations:

1. Traditional home buyers fall under the age group of 67 – 90 years

2. Baby Boomers home buyers fall under the age group of 48 – 66 years

3. Generation X home buyers fall under the age group of 35 – 47 years

4. Generation Y home buyers fall under the age group of 17 – 34 years

Let us analyze the behavior of these generations of home buyers based on certain criteria.

Familiarity with Technology

Traditional home buyers are less familiar with technology, thus, they don’t use email facility much compared to the baby boomers that are more comfortable using emails, answering machines and phones for communication. Generation X home buyers are considered technically proficient while home buyers from generation Y have a knack for media.

Preferred Way of Communication

Rather than conversing face to face, traditional generation home buyers want mailed letters as a mode of communication, while the baby boomers normally prefer answering machine, phones and email. Generation X communicates via cell phones and email whereas home buyers of generation Y prefer the instant messaging options.

Personality Traits

Traditional generation home buyer can’t deal comfortably with home buyers from generation X or Y, while the baby boomers matured with prosperity. Generation X home buyers go through lots of resources before purchasing, they double check everything using technology. Generations Y is the impatient category, and is not get impressed by traditional marketing approaches.

Sales Process Guidelines

The Traditional Generation is more visual, detailed and rational in concluding sales process decisions. Baby boomers always want to actively participate in the decision making and prefer a personalized service. They set their expectations very high and also are highly committed to the quality. To Generation X time is the soul. For them a website is must on the side of the agent while quality is valued over quantity. The Generation Y simply wants to be valued.

Financial Planning Stage

While the traditional generations are retired, the baby boomers are close to the financial planning and retirement stage. Generation X home buyer works to live and they tend to place higher importance on commuting costs while generation Y is a total newcomer in the property market and requires financial guidance.