How to sell real estate to millennials

Every millennial real estate buyer wants to be in charge of their transaction from start to finish. We want to do as much research as possible before speaking to a real estate salesperson.

5 dos and 5 don’ts for marketing properties to first home buyers.

Please don’t!

1. Don’t limit the number of photos on trademe to ‘make the phone ring’.

If we can’t see a photo of the outside of the property we will presume there is something seriously wrong and we will move on to the next house.

2. Don’t keep your advert short because you think people don’t like to read that much.

Are you serious? We are about to spend $500k on a house, we’ll read Leo Tolstoy’s ‘War and Peace’ if we think it will help us make a better decision.

3. Don’t publish a property video if it is just a rolling slideshow of the still photos.

Please don’t waste my time like this. If I click on a video link and see nothing but a rolling picture show, I will be annoyed.

4. Don’t fill your advert with empty adjectives.

The following words have been used so often in real estate advertising that they no longer mean anything to me: Really, very, beautiful, big, spacious or any phrase ending in the word ‘dream’.

5. Don’t hold information back.

“Builders report available to serious buyers who visit the property” is not good enough. What if I am a cashed-up out of town investor ready to buy site-unseen? Will you send me the report? Of course, you will. So why treat local buyers differently?

Please do!

1. Provide a floor plan.

This will help me plan renovations and explain the layout of the house to my advisers. If you don’t provide one I will have to try and draw one myself when describing the property to others and I really suck at drawing.

2. Please add a 3D virtual tour.

Why not? Seriously, they don’t cost that much (a few hundred dollars) and they are so much more useful than a property video with pumped up music and a nervous salesperson.

3. Provide as many photos as you can (including drone shots).

Trademe allows up to 20 photos, so why are you only showing 6? Are you hiding something? Am I going to be surprised when I visit the house to find that it is up a massive path or that the outside is covered in rust and moss?

4. Please provide a price guide if you can.

I know it’s hard and this isn’t always possible. But if you can’t provide a price guide, why not provide easy access to download a list of recent comparable sales that can give me some guide to what this home might sell for?

5. Let buyers download useful information whenever they want.

Don’t just put a sale and purchase agreement on there. There is so much information you can provide and if you don’t provide it, I’ll have to hustle around getting it for myself. Every other interested buyer will have to go through the same process. Doesn’t that sound like an inefficient use of time?

Why not provide the following info up front and save everyone some time:

– Copy of the title
– Builders report
– LIM
– Rental appraisal
– REA guide to buying and selling
– Insurance info for the property
– Recent sales in the area
– School zoning info
– Floor plans
– Encroachment details
– Asbestos test results (if applicable)
– Disclosure statement

Summary…

The benefits of following these steps can be immense. Chances are you will receive offers you didn’t even expect from buyers who are serious about your home but wanted to be in charge of their buying process from start to finish.

Millenial buyers love doing things right and we love being independent. Please don’t take that away from us. Give us the information we need and we might just try to buy your home!

Do you have your own ideas you would like to add to this list? Let me know in the comments below…