Perhaps the Millennials aren’t a generation of slackers after all.
In this week’s issue, Banker & Tradesman staff member Jess Pitocco unearths an interesting claim from the real estate industry – namely, that Millennials are not buying houses not because they don’t want to, or can’t, but because they don’t understand how to do it.
On the surface, it’s a bold statement about one of the most highly educated generations in the nation’s history – but it’s a scary world out there. Tossed from college into one of the worst job markets in history and witness to a startling real estate and stock market crash, the Millennials perhaps can be forgiven for not entirely buying into the American Dream.
And you can only find the answer if you know the question; if you don’t even know you have a problem, how can you find the solution? That’s the challenge facing lenders and agents – the Millennials don’t know what homeownership solutions are available, so they aren’t trying to find them. They don’t know that these programs even exist.
The solution, of course, is to reach that target market and make sure they do know that homeownership can be financially rewarding and personally satisfying – and, most importantly, that they are a viable part of the first-time homebuyer market. If only it could be so easy!
These are the digital natives. Their Internet browsers automatically block ads; they delete emails without opening them; they barely even answer phone calls. Short of dropping money from the sky, how can one get their attention?
Credit unions have the right idea – sign them up early. Many are eyeing the student lending market or have already taken the leap, while others have launched slightly more off-beat products for the youngest generation, like Somerville-based Naveo Credit Union’s bicycle loan. When members join a credit union, the financial institutions are fond of saying, they join for life. A bike loan leads to a car loan, which leads to a home loan and then a HELOC.
The financial education programs operated by many community banks and credit unions are another important component for Generation Z, but the Millennials need help now.
And so nothing changes, and nothing stays the same. The best way to attract the attention of a Millennial is the same as it ever was: through referrals. Relationships are still the most vital method of information delivery. The channels change – a Millennial may trust the word of a person they follow on Twitter whom they have never met – and the mediums change, as social media is now the primary method of reaching this audience.
Millennials also have a deep distrust of the banking industry and, to a lesser degree, the real estate industry. To hear from a peer that Loan Officer Maria or Realtor Joe has been a helpful resource and a great partner in the journey towards homeownership is – still – worth more than any advertisement.
