Why Generations Search for Homes in different ways?

Remember when if you wanted to view a home you would go to the local Real Estate agency and talk to someone behind a desk! (Showing my age here!)  Actually it really was not that long ago. Before the digital age, homes for sale were presented on a paper listing flyer showing a quick overview of what the home had to offer, if you wanted to see the property, then you would pick up your phone, which in all probability was not a mobile one and call the Realtor to make an appointment to go and look.There were no virtual tours, no youtube to take a quick peek inside, no internet to help you with your decision, all you had to rely on was the word of the Realtor and his or her local knowledge.

Here in Naples Florida, we get a huge amount of retirees most of whom are  very capable of using the web, but there are still a few that are not, my brother in law for instance, runs a huge company but hates computers and cannot program his own mobile phone! We have Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Millennials and now Gen Z,  all are potential clients, but their needs and expectations are hugely different.  The Boomers probably remember what it was like before the arrival of personal computers, the majority of them use the internet, but there are still some that do not and others that maybe a little intimidated by technology.  Milennials more than likely grew up alongside computers and Gen Z has never known life without them. 

When you are helping customers search for real estate, it’s important to find out as much as you can about them, in that way you can make sure that you can connect with them through the media they feel most comfortable with. The different generations all have very individual Real Estate needs plus their own unique way of finding properties.  GenZ for example, wants fast paced, accurate information available at their fingertips at all times, quick responses to their questions and they love to text.  When you meet a GenZ they will probably know almost everything there is to know about the home through their own investigations. When Milennials search for homes, they also use their phones a lot, search on their laptops and reach out for information to be sent via email or take the time to talk to you on the phone.

When is comes to Traditionalists and Baby Boomers, some love technology, whilst others would rather do things the old fashioned way and spend more time physically looking at homes, driving past them for instance to get a feel for the neighborhood, rather than doing most of the research online before they venture out.

Confused?  so was I, here's a simple way to look at what technology was available when they were born.

Traditionalists were born before 1946  - Radio, some Tv probably no phone
Baby Boomers born  1946 – 1964 - TV, landline phone (sometimes shared or party lines), radio. 
Gen X born 1965 – 1976  - TV, landline, radio
Millennials or Generation Y (Gen Y) born 1977 – 1995 - Tv, Landline, radio, maybe a mobile phone, maybe a computer.
GenZ, IGen or Centennials born 1996 and later -  Internet, cell phones, laptops, computers, access to youtube, facebook, twitter, pintrest and much, much more, online networking sites were unheard of before 2004!

So you can see how someone born in 1950 may search for Real Estate in a far different way than the Centennials of today. There are of course, always exceptions to the rule so none of this is cast in iron. The population and infrastructure is growing, new communities in Naples are being built with development's stretching out into Golden Gate Estates.  New jobs being created to sustain our growing communities which in turn bring in more Milennials, together with the GenZ and their inbuilt reliance on technology to help them make decisions.   With all this diversity, it is important to remember that customers come from all walks of life, at different times in their lives.  Knowing how to give the best customer service to all the different generations is part of being successful in selling real estate especially in Naples.