A recent survey finds that although millennials homebuyers appear to be following in their predecessors' footsteps in buying a home, they have very different values, expectations and methods.
Clever Real Estate, a network that connects home buyers and sellers with agents, commissioned Pollfish to conduct an online survey on Dec. 28 of 1,000 Americans who indicated that they intended to buy a home within the next year, 51% of whom were millennials.
Eight in 10 millennials in the survey were first-time homebuyers, and the vast majority favored online listing services, such as Zillow, Redfin and Trulia. At the same time, 82% wanted help from a real estate agent early in the buying process, and their most important criterion in selecting one was trustworthiness.
In doing their research, 63% of millennials said their phone was their main tool, compared with 55% of Gen Xers and 24% of baby boomers.
For millennials respondents, safe neighborhoods and good schools were key location considerations, much more so than for older buyers — not surprising, given that many were starting families. Of much less concern to younger buyers was commute time, walking distance to bars and restaurants, and proximity to family and friends.
Two-thirds of millennials said they would be willing to put in an offer on a fixer-upper in need of major repairs.
