Despite popular belief, a new study by Apartment List shows that 80% of millennials would love to buy a home. So what’s holding them back? It’s not their personal preferences or lack of desire to “grow up”, it’s actually economic factors that are delayed the process, sometimes by as much as two decades!
For those millennials that do end up looking for a home once they’re able to save the appropriate down payment, the process is going to be very different than what their parents and grandparents experienced. One big reason for the shift is the introduction of Virtual Reality into the real estate market. Open houses are a fun way to explore a property and use your imagination when it comes to what furniture might go where and how it’ll all look pulled together. You might instantly know that the space is good for your needs but the current furniture (or empty rooms) might make it difficult to picture what it’ll look like and how it’ll function when you’re all moved in. Virtual reality is now filling this gap by providing a new way for buyers and sellers to experience a property. Whether it’s a 3D walk through or taking a tour via virtual reality without even visiting the property itself, the future holds a lot of promise for innovation when it comes to buying and selling houses.
VR has a major potential to cause disruption within the real estate market for the millennial demographic and beyond. 95% of people use the internet to search for homes and 51% end up buying homes they found online so VR is a natural next step. Not only will millennial home buyers expect this type of experience, they’ll likely demand an increasingly higher quality experience overall when it comes to the real estate market.
Since millennials aren’t able to purchase homes as quickly as generations before them, they’re having a big impact on the single family and apartment rental industry. Rather than taking the time to show properties individually to each interested renter, rental managers can host live VR sessions where they can showcase properties and answer questions with much more efficiency. As more and more buyers turn to virtual reality for house and apartment showings, there will be much fewer dropping by at open houses and private viewings with real estate agents making the process of finding a home/apartment more cost and time efficient as well. Plus agents don’t have to worry about wasting time on “tire kickers” who simply aren’t suited for the properties or ready to make any decisions financially.
Studies have shown that 71% of millennials express very positive feelings towards VR and the generation is much more likely to embrace it before others. While older generations will require convincing, millennials will dive right in and look forward to a more streamlined experience overall. In the near future, millennials may even be courted by agents since their adaption of technology could make the agent’s job much easier in the long run. What’s important to remember is that millennials ARE interested in owning homes and although the current economic conditions are causing a delay, when they’re ready to invest in a home or rent a property, they’ll likely find that VR is a big part of the process.
Would you use Virtual Reality to explore a property from the comfort of your own home?
