Labels will hurt your chance of getting my real estate business

Labels and generalizations are often slapped onto Gen X and Gen Y real estate buyers and sellers. Internet "gurus" and coaches alike dictate the standards by which Gen X and Gen Y buyers and sellers will hop in a real estate agent's pocket. All you need to do is get plugged into social networking and become active in the Re.net and you will have the younger generation's business.

Bzzz ... wrong.

There are no slang terms or pop culture knowledge that is going to make a real estate agent become a trusted advisor. Regardless of the fact that Gen Y was born with a keyboard at their fingertips and Gen X is a "me" generation, it doesn't mean we don't want knowledgeable market professionals. It means we want high-touch, service and attention.

Is that so hard to understand?

Some real estate professionals get it. They use the Internet as a vehicle to generate business and communicate their value proposition. They get away from the lip service "I am the top producer" and prove their knowledge through actual, up-to-date local information. They also answer questions without the propaganda.

If you are selling real estate, listen to that bell that rings loud and clear. Consumers are tired of the old messaging. They are looking for specific information and they are looking to get it from a local professional. They want action-oriented results--those days of posturing are over.

Make no mistake--relationships are still important to Gen X and Gen Y buyers. Knowledge is still important. Honesty and integrity are vital. We might blog, text and get involved in forums, we might join social networks and "add friends."

But at the end of the day, we know what's real and what isn't. The relationship might begin online, but at some point in time, there is an offline engagement. We do actually hold many face-to-face conversations, and we do have true flesh and blood relationships.

If you want to win our business: engage in interesting dicussion online, gain our trust and then invite us for a personal meeting to further the relationship and start the real estate process. 

The Internet is a tool.

If you enjoyed this post, you'll want to read:

• The path to progressive real estate search is through the eyes of a consumer
• Real estate buyers and sellers hang at online water coolers
• I am a consumer, service me now

Posted by Rebecca D. Levinson

Comments

[Ruthmarie Hicks]

Hi Rebecca - I thought it would be best to post here and not on AR...but if you want a few pts - I'll also post there!

I'm starting my own "outside blog" as well.
Good points. I was born in the cusp of Boomers and Gen X - the year of the switch. So I don't consider myself truly GenX or truly a Boomer.

I "get" GenX/Y a bit more because of the teaching I do at local universities. My generation had things easier housing wise. I was 30 when I bought my house...in Westchester for $245k - you can BARELY get a 2 BR coop for that price - but if you are at all picky about condition - its a 1 BR.

Later GenX and GenY feel bigger financial pressures - they have high debt from their schooling and are under tremendous pressure to make money. The tough part for them is separating needs from wants. What happened to my group - easy money, easy equity was atypical. What is happening to them is closer to what my parents experienced. They have to take baby steps to owning a home. That's what my parents did. They don't WANT to and therein lies the problem.

The one conflict I see is that they need high touch service - and they want it, but they don't want to pay for it. I work with a lot of gen X/Y - buyers and its a big problem. They look at the bottom line and not at the service they receive. It takes time to build value - but this group is restless and loyalty is very limited. I work with them, but sometimes its uphill all the way.

It's sort of like the mentality of "free" on the internet. Nothing is free. I knew AR would monetize eventually - I didn't think they'd do it by biting the hands that have been feeding them the most content - but there it is. We have a mentality in GenX (that I'm not immune to) that we grab as much for "free" as we can and walk away when we have to put money on the table.

[Rebecca Levinson]

Hi Ruthmarie,
I look forward to reading your outside blog. Please send me a link when you have it up and running.I'm not immune to the "free" mentality of Gen X either, but I also along with many I know, will pay for something that has a value to it and is better than the free services.

I think it is that the old perceived value in real estate, like coveted listing information, is disintegrating and so other offerings have to be strong.

[Cindy]

I am a part of the Gen X, and I am also a Realtor. I can see both sides of the coin, as a 35 year old, married mother of two, I cannot purchase a house now due to the high prices in Real Estate. I want to invest also in property to rent, but it is awful. I live in Pennsylvania and the area where we rent in the suburbs the prices are crazy and the owners don't put a fit to lower the prices. Ironically, in Philadelphia where properties are way lower, still it is outrageous what you get for $30,000, a shell! So I ask myself, is it the high prices, is it the owners not caring, is it the agents for not returning emails and phone calls on time, is it the media giving us a bad name and publishing information that can affect us?

Let's face it, the more information is given for free out there online, the less clients are going to need us. I for one, look at listings on the MLS and online, and browse through pictures and read the information before going to see houses, the same is with the prospective clients out there, they are just eye shopping, and after this economic crisis and the venue of the Internet being so popular and available, who can blame them?