In 2018, over one-third of all home purchases were made by millennials, and that number is only expected to grow in the coming years. If you’re thinking about selling your home in the next few years, it’s important to keep the millennial homebuyer in mind.
Updating and staging your home with millennials in mind will give you an upper hand while selling in this competitive market.
While curb appeal is important, an overly manicured and landscaped yard could be a red flag to millennials. They’re looking for great outdoor living space without having to devote hours of their free time to yard work. If you want to make a change to your yard, consider a simple box garden that can be used to plant herbs and vegetables.
Inside, millennials could not care less about formal dining rooms – they prefer casual eating spaces close to the kitchen, like an island with barstools or a breakfast nook. If your home has a separate formal dining room, consider staging it like a home office to appeal to the millennial crowd.
Millennials tend to gravitate toward more open, flexible floor plans rather than a strict division of spaces.
Open floor plans have been the trend for homebuilding in the Triangle for a number of years, but even older homes with more divided living spaces can appeal to the younger homebuyer – the key is in the staging. Staging the formal living spaces of the past as home offices or cozy reading rooms can make the space seem more fictional in the eyes of a millennial.
Another room that is unimportant to millennials is the memorabilia or game room. Young homebuyers aren’t defined by their possessions and likely don’t have the types of collections that older generations have. To appeal to young buyers, think digital: ditch the pool table in favor of a large TV or a projector screen and a comfy couch. Remove or restage bookshelves to showcase a few decorative items.
Lastly, if you’re looking to appeal to young buyers, think twice about installing new carpet. Most millennials want to see hard flooring throughout the home. Some buyers still like carpet in the bedrooms, but most definitely want to see laminate, hardwood, or luxury vinyl plank in the living areas. The majority of millennials are pet owners, so durable, easy to clean floors are often a must-have.