The real estate industry itself is changing like never before. Real estate teams are seeing that they need to adapt to the new trend of being digital and making the process easier than ever before. What is different from years past is that buyers and sellers have access to similar data that agents do, making them more informed clients. What begs to be asked: Are buyers and sellers still using real estate agents to their advantage?
Luckily, during this new digital era, all generations of consumers continue to utilize a real estate agent as their top resource to help them buy and sell their home. While the internet is increasingly used as an important tool in the home-buying and selling process, buyers still need the help of a real estate professional to help them find the right home, negotiate terms of sale and help with price negotiations. Sellers use professionals to help market their home to potential buyers, sell within a specific timeframe and price their home competitively, according to the 2020 Generational Trends Report conducted by the National Association of REALTORS® Research Group.
Also included in the report was helpful statistics about the different age groups.
– Eighty-four percent of homebuyers used the internet to search for homes and most often walked through the home that they viewed online.
– Nearly nine out of 10 buyers under the age of 55 wanted to see photos of the home while searching online.
– Details and information about the property for sale was also very important to all age groups (generations).
– Buyers of all generations were overall very satisfied with their home buying process.
However, when it came to choosing an agent to work with, working with an agent that was honest and trustworthy was the most important factor for buyers. As one might expect, an agent’s reputation was more important to older generations than to the younger generations. Additionally, three-fourths of all buyers interviewed only one real estate agent during their home search and referrals were the primary method most buyers found their real estate agent. This is a good indication to agents to try and make a great first impression since they will more than likely go with the first agent they speak to.
When it comes to financing a home, millennial aged buyers were more likely to get an FHA for their chosen financing due to potentially lower credit scores and higher debt to income ratio as compared to older generations. Interestingly, the Bureau of Census reports that the average price of a new home in January 2000 was $194,800. The same report places the average sale price for January 2020 at $402,400. This just goes to show that even when housing prices are higher, there are still consumers interested in purchasing and selling real estate.
Verl Workman is the founder and CEO of Workman Success Systems (385-282-7112), an international speaking, consulting, and coaching company that specializes in performance coaching and building successful power agents and teams. Contact him at Verl@WorkmanSuccessSystems.com. For more information, please visit www.WorkmanSuccess.com.
