7 Ways to Make Your Home More Marketable to Millennials

Millennials are at the prime homebuying age, and they have outpaced baby boomers as the most populous generation in America. They are currently buying more homes than other demographics, but there are caveats. In fact, there’s something of a millennial housing crisis. Forbes reports that only 47.9 percent of millennials own homes. A solid 69 percent of Gen-Xers own homes, while 77.8 percent of baby boomers own homes.

Boomers: Real Estate and Not Letting Go

Economic pressures have made homeownership a challenge for millennials, yet they still make up the highest percentage of people actually looking to buy a home. Part of the crunch comes because boomers aren’t interested in selling their homes and new homes are not going up fast enough.

Furthermore, A good 64 percent of millennials who have purchased a home regret the decision. In such a tight housing market, many millennials plunked down too much money on homes that needed a lot of maintenance and remodeling to make them feel worth the investment. And this seems true between older millennials vs younger millennials.

Selling to Millennials: What do Millennial Home Buyers Want?

They want something hard to find on the market right now: an affordable home that has already had important maintenance updates and fits their growing needs for family convenience, good neighborhoods, and suits their lifestyle. Specifically:

1. Low-Maintenance Homes

“Fixer-uppers” are right out. This isn’t because millennials are lazy, it’s because they work hard and have limited time and money. They want a home they can comfortably move into and live in right away. Most aspects of the home should be easy to care for and work well at move-in. Secure, low-maintenance windows, stone countertops that don’t need constant fuss, and durable, engineered floors.

2. Green & Energy Efficient Homes

Millennials have a lot of income pressures as it is, so an energy-efficient home that doesn’t kill their heating, cooling, or lighting expenses is a big plus. But it's more than the money. Millennials care deeply about the environment and seek homes with green benefits. Sustainable materials and a lower carbon footprint are preferable. If you want to make your home more attractive to this generation, replacing older windows and doors with more energy-efficient designs, and updating the insulation are smart moves.

3. Open Floor Plans

Millennials are multi-taskers to the core. They don’t like compartmental spaces like enclosed kitchens. They like airy, wide-open spaces that they can configure for their own needs. Furniture and focal points can separate areas. That way, parents can keep an eye on what the kids are doing in the living room while they prepare meals or take business calls.

4. Dedicated Home Office Space: #WFH

That said, millennials often do look for a designated home office space that may be tucked away in a quieter area of the home without being totally isolated. Even as the pandemic wanes and people can return to work in traditional offices, many of them, millennials included, have decided not to, and employers generally accept this trend so long as productivity doesn’t suffer. If all you currently have for home office space is a dark corner, consider adding windows or window dividers that flood that area with natural light. It will be a lot more inviting as a #WFH space.

5. Updated Kitchens and Bathrooms

Millennials love a big, updated kitchen where they can cook, work, let the kids do science experiments, have family game night, and entertain. They also love energy-efficient, “smart” appliances here too, especially if there’s an app for them. And they love a relaxing spa bathroom with water-saving fixtures.

6. Low Maintenance Exteriors

As previously mentioned, most millennials don’t have a lot of time. Landscaping, cleaning out gutters or washing windows are activities that drain their resources. They want it to look nice, of course, but they want it to be easy to take care of and not take hours away from their hard-earned weekends. So, if you’re preparing to put your house on the market, and that market is largely millennial, don’t revamp the landscaping with hard-to-maintain plants or water-hungry shrubs that have to be trimmed. Go for easy maintenance. You can always dress up the exterior with a great new front door or some new windows as well.

7. Yes to More Storage Space

You can literally never go wrong with adding more convenient storage space. Ever. Millennials love a way to stash things so that their open floor plan homes look clean and tidy without a lot of hassle.

How to Sell to Millennials: Start with Windows and Doors

If you’re doing some home improvements to market your home to millennials, windows and doors are an excellent place to start because they address so many of the things they want: low maintenance, energy savings, and effortless style. Schedule a consultation with the Window and Door Showplace in Northern Virginia today.