If you have an older home (built before 2005), in order to entice tech-savvy buyers, most of whom are millennials, you may need to focus on upgrading features that would make your home “smart.” These young (36 and under) buyers want the ability to use all their digital gadgets simultaneously without lag time or crashes. The top features this tech-savvy crowd are looking for are climate control, lighting, security and safety, and voice activation and control. They want to be able to use their energy-efficient, smart appliances and control things like temperature, locks, and lighting from their mobile devices.
They are a fairly large part of the buyer pool right now (34% of all home buyers), so accommodating some of these desires in a home will only increase your chances of attracting them to your door.
Here are a few renovation ideas that may help draw in a larger audience of buyers:
Let’s Talk Infrastructure
How old is the wiring in your house? Millennials are looking for a home that is wired to accommodate all of the digital tools necessary for their lives to run smoothly. If you home has wiring that is not capable of handling large loads of digital traffic without dropping the ball, perhaps you should consider upgrading to Cat5e and Cat6 Ethernet cables capable of handling large amounts of data quickly.
Does Your Wireless Need a Boost?
Boosting your wireless capability could also make your home more marketable. Anything you can do to amplify the signal throughout the house could create a better digital environment.
Are You Outage Ready?
Redundancy is the key. Do you have a battery back-up system to make sure key devices and appliances will still function during an outage? Having LAN cables throughout the home can create a level of redundancy that covers inconvenience issues because of wireless router failures. If you are planning a digital home-improvement upgrade anyway, it may be a good thing to address.
Kitchens and Bathrooms are a Good Place to Start
Millennials don’t have a lot of funds to put into the renovations of these areas, nor do they want to fit extensive renovations into their lives. They are looking for new kitchens with granite countertops and “smart” appliances and also bathrooms with stone tile. The good news is that most of these costs, if not all, will be recouped through the selling price. Plus it will initially attract more buyers to the property.
Open Up That Floor Plan
Young buyers want an open floor plan. They want space to entertain and rooms that are multi-functional so if they need to work at home, they have a comfortable place to get projects done with plenty of horsepower to drive their digital activities. They don’t like the idea of being sectioned off from family members. So open up that kitchen to extend into the living and dining rooms.
Low-Maintenance Lifestyles
Younger buyers tend to be very active and don’t want to spend all their time working on their home. They want maintenance-free and low-maintenance materials, so keep that in mind when remodeling. Materials that go into a home should be made to last and easy to maintain. They also don’t want big, high maintenance yards and gardens.
Lifestyle Features
Many of these millennials are very attracted to homes with high “walkable” scores. What??? It just means they like to be housed close to where they work, play, and live; near grocery stores, restaurants, local businesses, public transportation, and entertainment. If your home has some or all of these things within walking distance, be sure to talk about it when marketing the property. A high “walkability score” can increase the selling price of your home on average $3000.
Hire an Agent Who Truly Understands the Needs of This Market?
If you are considering selling your home, we would love to help. At Linda Craft & Team, REALTORS®, we have over 30 years of experience developing our method of selling homes in the Greater Raleigh area providing sellers with exceptional guidance when placing their homes on the market. As the #1 real estate team in the Triangle, we can analyze your homes features and, if necessary, help you make a plan for improving your property’s marketability.