Erin McShea is an agent with Related Realty in Chicago.
Every week, we ask a real estate professional for their Short List, a collection of tips and recommendations on an essential topic in real estate. This week, we talked with Erin McShea, an agent with Related Realty, on the best strategies for working with Millennial buyers and sellers.
5. I’ve found one of the most appealing home features for my Millennial clients is walkability. First-time buyers, particularly in the city, might not even own a car, so highlight a property’s proximity to public transportation as well as neighborhood amenities such as a nearby grocery store or gym.
4. Encourage Millennial clients to be future-thinking. They are at an age when many major life events often take place, such as marriage, kids and job changes, so they will value flexibility in a home. Suggest that they think ahead to where they see themselves in five years. From there, work with them to decide what they want in a home today and what they anticipate needing in a home in the future.
3. Millennials are as tech-savvy as they come. They want to be able to access listing information on their iPad or mobile device, and are likely to dive into Web-based research on their own. Make sure access to listing information is technology friendly, and also be ready to do a lot of communicating via email or text.
2. Millennials will also be eager to use the latest technology when it comes to making or accepting an offer and closing the deal. This group doesn’t have a lot of patience for shuffling paperwork, and they are very comfortable having all documents related to their transaction available via a paperless application such as DocuSign. You’ll want to utilize technology that enables offers to be signed on a tablet right at the property, and emailed out right away. Not only does that approach minimize actual paperwork – which is more environmentally friendly – it also means offers can be submitted and received as quickly as possible.
1. A great way to connect with potential Millennial clients is to get out and attend social and networking events. Just like clients of any other age, Millennials rely on referrals and word-of-mouth to find a trusted real estate professional, so the more you interact with others in your community, the more your business will grow.
Erin McShea comes from a family of real estate professionals who have been in the industry for over 25 years. As such, she is well-versed in the professionalism and business etiquette this industry expects, and applies this knowledge in every aspect of her career. A graduate in psychology and business from Indiana University, Erin spent 15 months working abroad in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany fefore transitioning to the real estate industry, and utilized her time abroad in traveling throughout Europe, Middle East and Asia, broadening her sense of the real world.