Group of young man and woman in colorful clothes

How to Appeal to the Millennial Homebuyer

In a world where millennials are more likely to walk into your home in search of Pokémon than to check out your kitchen remodel, home sellers may want to take a step back and assess how appealing their home is in its current state to the next generation of homebuyers. Often ignored as a generation that prefers renting, that trend has reversed course, as millennials have been the largest sub-group of homebuyers in 2013, 2014, and 2015 according to the National Association of Realtors.

Once home sellers are paying attention though, it is important to take note of the nuanced preferences of millennial homebuyers. While it may seem obvious that the home needs to be “hip”, there are a number of things sellers can both do and avoid to accomplish that goal. Here are some “Do’s and ‘Don’ts” of selling to millennials:

 

Do:
• Focus on the home’s sleekness by adding modern light fixtures and window coverings.
• Use newer flooring materials like hardwood, vinyl or patterned tile
• Stick to light colored walls with darker floors for a glamorous look
• Use high tech “smart home” features to enhance the home’s “future value”
• Stage the home with sleek furniture to give it a finished, move-in ready look

Don’t:
• Have family portraits or old-looking art cluttering up your home during showings
• Utilize old fashioned décor such as wallpaper, rocking or recliner style chairs, antiques or quilts
• Allow deferred maintenance that might appeal to the bargain hunter but not the millennial
• Too many mirrors or full length mirrors

Following these tips can get the newest (and largest) demographic of homebuyers to look more closely at your home, but you’ll still need to stay top of mind throughout the negotiation process in order to successfully open (and close) an escrow. The last thing millennials will want is to have to wait more hours or days than necessary to get a response, so you’ll want to coordinate with your real estate agent efficiently. This means that the days of waiting until all parties can physically be in the same location are over. With email, text, file sharing and cell phones, it should be fairly easy to take the next step in a negotiation within 24-48 hours, and millennials expect this. Make sure you find a realtor who can meet these demands and is familiar with negotiating in a high tech world.

From there, you’ll also want an escrow company that is as efficient as the millennials expect them to be, to minimize their frustration during the escrow. Of course, there will always need to be some documents that need to be signed in person, such as loan documents or other things that need to be notarized, but many escrow companies will allow electronic signatures, or at least provide a courier or shipping label, so busy millennials don’t have to take time out of their day to go sign documents at the escrow office.

Now that you know how to appeal most to a millennial, go out and apply your knowledge to get top dollar for your home!

About Us:
Express Cash Flow provides commission advances for real estate agents and brokers. Check us out at www.ExpressCashFlow.com or call us at 844-818-2274.

Property Value Image

Should You Get A Second Appraisal?

Another Appraisal?

It’s a nightmare scenario. After brokering an excellent deal and receiving an offer right at or slightly above purchase price, the home sellers, buyers, and agents are simply waiting for the final details to fall into place, when the unthinkable occurs: an appraisal below purchase price.

Nothing can kill a real estate deal faster than an appraisal falling short of the agreed-upon purchase price because buyers can’t get a loan for more than an appraisal says the house is worth. The National Association of Realtors reports that about 10 percent of canceled sale contracts are due to low appraisals.

So what’s a real estate agent to do when this situation occurs? First, these are times when commission advance can help agents maintain cash flow to their real estate businesses while sellers, buyers and agents attempt to salvage the deal.

What Now?

So, should you seek a second appraisal? Here are a few things to consider.

It’s important to remember that an appraisal is simply the opinion of one appraiser. This means two different appraisers can conclude two different values for the same home. As a real estate agent, you have certain tools at your disposal to determine whether an appraiser’s opinion is accurate.

Most lenders have a process for challenging an appraisal, so savvy agents often start by pulling comparable properties that have recently sold and making a case to the buyer’s potential mortgage lender. Appraisers typically pull comparable sales information from multiple listing services, so if sales occurred outside of the listing service, point those out. Also, check if the comparables used by the appraiser were short sales or foreclosures. Short sales and homes in foreclosure usually sell for less than homes sold by owners in good financial standing with their lenders.

Find out the lender’s appraisal challenge process. Appraisals cost the buyer or the lender, so be prepared to give specifics about what the appraiser missed in valuing the property. In addition to providing comparable property sales, be prepared to show improvements to the home that an appraiser may have overlooked. If the appraisal shows two bathrooms when there are actually three, ensure that the lender or appraiser on a second pass knows the correct number of bathrooms and bedrooms and the correct square footage of the home.

Many times, these contracts that fall apart due to low appraisals can be salvaged, but it takes research and effort to get the job done. An express commission advance can keep the bills paid until a delayed deal closes.

How to Prevent Property Tax Pile-ups

If you have large or even out of control property taxes, there are a lot of options available to you, like looking into commission advance companies. They can help you get a little extra cash when you need it. In the meantime, here are a few of our top tips to help you keep your property taxes down in the first place.