What Realtors® need to know about Millennials

Millennials choose experiences over things, right? Not so fast. Not if that “thing” is a home.

Recent insights from the experts at Realtor.com indicate that Millennials, despite a reputation for being too casual about finances, are increasingly seeking the life experiences that only home ownership can provide. In fact, Millennials have represented the largest share of the home buying market for the past five years in a row. (36% of market share in 2018.)

In environmentally oriented, socially centered, top-selling communities like Starkey Ranch, Realtors®are seeing more and more qualified Millennials to whom they are selling home after home. It’s important to know what home features you’ll want to showcase, or shun, when your buyers are 20 to 30 somethings.

Millennial home buyers know what they want

Lawn, yes. Fancy landscaping, no

• A high percentage of Millennial home buyers are couples who have or want kids. They are pet people. They want a lawn for kids and dogs, maybe a small garden for veggies and outdoor space for entertaining. As for high-maintenance, overdone landscaping?  They just say “no.”

Move-in ready matters

• DYI is fun, but just for cosmetic fixes. Millennials are busy people. The seek a home in good condition that is fairly turn-key and ready to quickly accommodate the active work/life balance they aim for. 

Customization counts

• Options for making this major financial commitment “their own” without too much hassle can sell Millennials a home. Many new home builders, like those in Starkey Ranch, are capitalizing on this trend by offering a variety of packages for personalizing interiors and exteriors.

Nix the formal dining room—a kitchen for cooking and entertaining

• Millennials love the relaxing creative and social aspects of a great meal. But the experiences they seek in combined kitchen/dining spaces go far beyond food and drink. From homework to game nights to family holiday events, they want spacious sight-line togetherness, not the closed off separation of the erstwhile formal dining room.

Open floor plans—and easy floors

• Don’t box them in. Millennials are drawn to open floor plans that let them choose the use of a space and floor coverings that give a smooth visual flow. Floors need to look awesome yet be pet and kid friendly a la laminates, tile and hardwoods. Carpet? In bedrooms, if at all. Staging a home, one might consider a quiet corner dedicated to yoga or mediation and a space for kids to romp.

Digital entertainment rules

• Media rooms set up for surround sound, comfortable binge watching and digital gaming are a popular use of flex space with today’s tech-forward buyers. See great examples in beautiful model homes at Starkey Ranch.

Community is where the heart is

While this growing force in home buying is definite about what they are looking for in their actual house, where that house is, matters the most. Millennials are socially and environmentally conscious. They look for energy conservation, open spaces, walking trails and sustainability. If not urban, urban access, like a location just north of Tampa, is key. 

Realtors® in the know say that Starkey Ranch checks all the boxes for their Millennials home buyers: A variety of builders and neighborhoods, miles of trails, great amenities, having the J.B. Starkey Nature Preserve next door, abundant opportunities for social connections. And every Starkey Ranch home meets or exceeds national Green Building Standards. No wonder Starkey Ranch is the top selling master-plan community in Tampa Bay.

Bring your Millennial home buyers to the Welcome Center at Starkey Ranch. More than 21 model homes open daily. Visit https://starkeyranch.com/new-homes/ for details.