Selling Your Home to Gen Y

You may have noticed significant changes in your neighborhood. Younger couples and young professionals have been moving in around you. Along with them, you see a few new restaurants, coffee shops, or co-work spaces have popped up in the area. As you become aware of the increased attraction of your community to younger buyers, you might consider selling your home under a potentially upgraded resale value. So, how do you know what attracted these young folks to the homes in your neighborhood? You purchased yours some years ago and are trying to compare the value you saw to the new perception. If this seems to fit your situation, these tips below and a consultation with your local real estate agent can help you properly determine what these new buyers’ value in a home and what you can do to most appeal to them if you want to resell. 

The first thing to remember is you can't put Millennials into any specific box. This generation spans two decades of people with entirely different upbringings, social circumstances, technology, and more! Take a look at your home and neighborhood with your agent and find what features to highlight or improve before you sell. 

Low Maintenance.

Many young buyers want to own their own home but have active lifestyles or work-life and not much time to take care of the house. Some are well-adapted to technology but may not have learned the skills to care for property or a home. When considering upgrades to your home, consider replacing wooden siding with a fiber cement-style or sturdy new exterior technology that mimics wood but won’t need repainting. Think about replacing your lawn with a low maintenance xeriscape and extend your backyard patio to allow for more outdoor living space and less lawn care. Make sure your roof is up to par and won't need attention in the near future. Look for ways to minimize the work necessary to make the home easily maintained. 

Functionality. 

Consider the vast array of lifestyles pursued by Millennials today. With so many interests, endeavors, and hobbies young buyers are not necessarily looking for a traditional home set up—though they aren’t not-looking for it either. Open floor plans and easily changeable spaces are essential to your potential buyers. They may have aspirations of a home business or hobby or host different clubs and activities that require more than the standard living or dining spaces. Find ways to open up the home and allow for easy furniture changes. Look for opportunities to improve built-in storage to require less standing furniture in each room—hallway cabinets, built-in shelving, etc. If you can make your home appeal to the different living space needs of this eclectic buyer group, you can improve your sale prospects. 

Entertaining. 

One desire of new home buyers that hasn't changed much from generation to generation. Many new home buyers have high aspirations in the realm of entertainment. Depending on your home's layout and style you won't be able to appeal to all entertainment goals, but you should look for ways to highlight and improve some key areas of the home — first, the kitchen. Young buyers no longer use formal dining rooms for entertaining guests. Many want an open kitchen with plenty of seating and counter space, and an ability for the host to entertain while cooking. Look for ways to upgrade your kitchen, add an island and wet bar area and move the party into the kitchen space. A great patio is another way to attract buyers. Extend your back patio to allow for more seating area or install a great built-in grill to be the center of entertaining. Take a look at your space to find how you can upgrade different parts to show your buyers the possibilities: sitting area, grill area, possible hot tub area, space built for outdoor games and more!

If you hope to sell your home soon, and you think you see a new market in younger buyers, get with your local real estate agent to make a plan to attract these buyers to your home’s value.