Real Estate 2.0 Hot Topic: Marketing Shifts to Web
Meet the new real estate customer
Originally published May 17, 2006.
This blog is ostensibly about the Web 2.0 revolution and the intersection of the Internet and real estate. But the reality is that technology is ultimately just another tool to conduct business more efficiently. This industry has been and will always be about the people. So that being said, who are the people that are going to be responsible for the future of real estate?
Meet the new real estate customer.
Ten years ago they were skateboarding, but now they’re driving minivans.
You’ve probably heard of them. Dubbed Generation X, because they grew up behind the baby boomers. But as more and more of their parents’ generation move towards retirement, Generation X is finally moving into prime time. Loosely defined, Generation Xers were born between 1964 and 1984, putting their numbers these days at roughly 77 million adult Americans.
Today, they’re first-time (even second-time) home buyers, they’re new parents, they’re confident consumers and they’re an extremely hard market to talk to. So what are some characteristics you need to know about Gen X if you’re going to reach out to them?
Tech savvy – They’ve grown up with computers and witnessed first hand the rapid development of the PC. They understand technology better than their parents and even their younger siblings. They’ve embraced the Internet and have become the de facto tech counsels for others in their lives.
Independent – Many Gen Xers were raised with little or no adult supervision as their parents struggled with two jobs. As a result they are fiercely self-sufficient and resistant to outside influence and actively seek out information for themselves.
A combination of these first two factors makes them the most likely age group to go online (87%), shop online (69%), make travel reservations and bank online (72% and 50% respectively). [Pew Internet & American Life Project]
These are the folks that are also going to be searching for their next home online.
Blunt – Another of Gen X’s traits is that they are characteristically straightforward and have little patience for deception and doubletalk. They aren’t shy about sharing their opinions of you, your company or your brand in a variety of forums either.
Skeptical – In addition to a quickly evolving technology landscape, Gen X bore witness to an equally rapid change in the media landscape. They’ve been bombarded with marketing messages since they were young and have evolved sophisticated BS radars in response.
Nostalgic – Life for many Gen Xers has become more complicated; with career demands, young families and other responsibilities stacking up daily. Many long for the simpler days of their youth and find comfort in memories of the past. This is particularly evidenced by the rise of 80s music radio stations and the popularity of remakes of old television programs such as Battlestar Galactica.
Financially Sound – Consumption has been a way of life for many Gen Xers. They’ve had easy access to credit since they entered adulthood. They’ve heard the warnings about Social Security. They no longer expect a free ride in the marketplace or from the government. Many of them have developed sophisticated investment strategies from an early age.
Generation X presents some uniquely difficult challenges for marketers. As real estate marketers therefore, how will you be targeting your efforts to these future real estate customers?
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6 Comment(s)
2 Trackback(s)
- From Maxsell Agent Tips & Tools | Apr 20, 2007
- From Real Estate 2.0 Revisited One Year Later; Real Estate 2.0 2007 Update | Real Estate Blogsites | May 24, 2007
Keith | Apr 18, 2007 | Reply
Being a giant fan of BSG, I don’t think its nostalgia that is making it a popular show. Its one of the best written shows on tv today. Nostalgia might have helped with some initial interest, but the current show is so different from that of the 70s that its apples to oranges in many ways.
The rest of the post was spot-on.
Chris Butterworth | Apr 18, 2007 | Reply
As a Gen X realtor (born in ‘69), I agree completely with your views. But you’re missing the positive side. Yes, Gen Xers are tech-savvy, and yes, Gen Xers have high expectations. But if you meet those expectations – deliver what you promise, communicate well, provide valuable service, Gen Xers will tell a lot of people about that, too.
As you’ve mentioned, they’ve become “the de facto tech counsels for others in their lives”. I think many of them have become trusted evaluators of services and information as well. When they love you, their friends and family will know about it.
- Chris
Nicole Rufuku | Apr 18, 2007 | Reply
As a Gen-Xer (‘81), I completely agree with your description of the new real estate customer. My peers and I approach real estate (and all large purchases) with a different mentality: we begin all research online and rarely trust advertising tag-lines…you’ll instead find us on discussion boards and sifting through user reviews.
But the most interesting shift of thought has been in regards to real estate decisions. A Gen-Xer does not buy a home as an end in itself. They see it as a smart investment vehicle. So, unlike our parents, we spend hours buried in spreadsheets of market data before we even contact an agent.
-Nicole
Eric | Apr 19, 2007 | Reply
Great post. You have started to peel back some of the issues faced by those in real estate, especially when it comes to marketing. It will be interesting to see which agents and brokers catch up and even get ahead of the curve. As innovative as many profess to be, there are many real estate professionals that don’t seem too motivated to change the status quo.
Charles Turner | Apr 20, 2007 | Reply
Another Gen X Realtor here. It amazes me when we work with a Realtor on the other side of the transaction that can’t open PDF files or as recently heard at a convention, “I’m getting pretty good at this Outlook thing but I still can’t do attachments.” Good grief. Scary thing is that it happens more often than you’d think. These Realtors probably don’t have to evolve to earn a living. They sell a few high dollar homes a year to past clients. No marketing involved in gaining the client.
We (my wife and I work together) have the ability to complete a real estate transaction without handing the client a single piece of paper or pen. Its never actually happened but we could easily do it with our tablet PCs. Our incoming faxes become emails and our emails go to our phones. We are rarely out of communication unless we want to be. We conducted one of our most recent transaction mostly via text message.
That client has also become a good referral source and now we are using their services (architecture) for our needs.
Rick Macosky | Apr 24, 2007 | Reply
I too am a gen “X” er (1966). I agree with just about everything you said. I loved Battlestar Galactica when I was a kid, Tour of Duty after that.
As an X-er and an active real estate broker, I am all about marketing on the Internet. Print advertisement is almost a waste unless you have an established farm area. Other than that, I say don’t bother. I can’t remember the last time I used a phone book. When my kids ask me a question that I think warrants further research on their part, I tell them to Google it. Remember the old encyclopedia’s?
A consumer has access to a wealth of information on the Internet. I would say much more so than one agent could ever provide.
Agents will never be replaced in my opinion, as they bring the human element and experience to the table. In the efforts to increase agents Internet skills, I am including my most recent article on the subject.
Real Estate Training – Learn to Capture Internet Prospects
All real estate training is not created equal. Having a healthy skepticism about what types of real estate training courses you take can be a good thing. Nowadays, online real estate training is absolutely essential to your career. One of the best things you can do to leverage your online real estate prospecting is to acquire the knowledge and techniques used by the successful companies and agents that are already getting results. Getting qualified online prospects is big business. Many lead generation companies have mastered these lead harvesting techniques and sell those leads on a per lead basis or on a monthly or yearly subscription. You can buy your leads or you can learn how to get your own.
Some websites offer innovative and cutting edge online real estate training that is free to you with no-strings attached. These online real estate training websites show you how to market for these leads effectively and inexpensively. Free online real estate training is available for everyone from the beginner to the experienced professional. Online real estate training is for every agent who wants to create a highly successful business from their online marketing strategies. Ongoing real estate training is one of the most important aspects to make you a successful agent. Real estate training is a huge industry and most companies only offer basic information for free and charge for more details.
I discovered the problem with traditional real estate training is that most courses taught in the classroom are not taught by Internet savvy instructors. It’s hard to devote sufficient time to learn the Internet when you are teaching classes and possibly selling real estate at the same time. Learning how to harness the power of the Internet is not a required course to get licensed and therefore is not typically taught. If you want to learn how to market for Internet prospects online you should seek out a course that is taught by an active REALTOR that is actively prospecting online. The obvious advantage here is you are being instructed by an experienced industry professional that knows the industry lingo, tricks of the trade and is actively marketing on the Internet.
The primary goal of real estate training-marketing is to increase your income via more listings and sales, as well as improving the efficiency of your prospecting and marketing. Close to 90% of all home buyers start their information gathering process online. As the market and technology changes, REALTORS should take full advantage of any free courses on the Internet teaching these modern strategies. As most agents are independent Contractors, I encourage you to learn these powerful strategies and implement as much automation into your system as possible. Internet savvy agents will have an unfair advantage in almost all cases over non established agents that are doing traditional marketing.
Online real estate training is convenient because you can work the course around your schedule when time and study hours are limited. In order to gain your market share of Internet prospects you must learn and implement these modern techniques. Marketing on the Internet can be very cost efficient and easy to learn with the right tutelage. How else can you market to the world 24/7/365 for next to nothing? The only way to get these results is to learn it and implement it. I recommend implementing as you go. Remember, applied knowledge is power and repetition is the key to success. Your real estate training is essential, take a free online training course today.
Rick Macosky is a Real Estate Broker in Phoenix Arizona. Rick obtained his real estate license in 1994 and also started working in the mortgage industry in 1995. Prior to his real estate career Rick was in the construction industry and built primarily custom homes and tract homes. Having built, sold and financed homes over the last 23+ years, Mr. Macosky is well rounded in the residential real estate arena. Ricks wife and partner Fiona is also a licensed REALTOR. They have a family of 7 that includes 5 wonderful sons. Besides selling real estate and raising a family, Rick now devotes much of his free time teaching REALTORS how to market for prospects on the Internet. All of Ricks courses are free to agents and to the public. For more information about building, optimizing and automating your own website(s) see http://www.realestatetraininginfo.com