There’s always something to howl about.

The Youth Myth: Why It’s Hip To Be Square in Real Estate Brokerage

You’re just back from Inman Connect?  Forget everything you heard there.  Chasing the hip, young 18-34 market is great if you’re selling sneakers but could be detrimental to the health of YOUR business for the next 7 years.  Here’s why:

Five reasons why you should avoid the 18-34 year old market for the next 7 years:

1- They ain’t got no money.

2- They don’t trust real estate as an investment.  This demographic believes that real estate is either perpetually overpriced or that it is dangerous.  Some eschewed the asset class, some leveraged it irresponsibly and lost.  It’s not that they don’t trust you because you’re a shady REALTOR, they don’t trust your product.

3- They view you as a functionary.  Your value hasn’t been established to them because they haven’t had good experiences with real estate.  They see you as an over-priced clerk because they watched you make “easy money’ while they chased the overpriced asset.

4- They need a lot of education…lots of it.  Since old is now new (in lending), the young are basically dinosaurs.

5- They really don’t have any “pain”.  They’ll be focusing on mitigating losses rather than maximizing wealth.  Their “pain” is best served by loss mitigation specialists and not wealth maximizers.

So…if that’s true, why the hell are you screwing around on Facebook and Twitter? Because the fastest growing user groups on those two social networks are the cheese, baby…the 45-65 age group.  If you want to sell or finance a lot of homes in the next 7-10 years, look for the baby boomers. Here’s why:

Five reasons the 45-65 market is the ticket to “real estate riches” until 2015:

1- They have the money and they’re getting a truckload more .  Baby boomers are in their peak earning years and are inheriting the largest transference of wealth, in history, as their WW2 generation parents pass away.

2- Boomers LOVE and trust real estate as an investment.  They’ve had great experiences with real estate as an asset class want to own 2 or 3 homes in retirement (this is a group that could buy twice as many properties as their children in the next 7 years).

3- They value you as a fiduciary, not a functionary.  They recognize, respect and want your expertise.  While they’re smart enough to figure it out on their own, they’re too busy going to concerts, visiting grandchildren, and staying in shape to pore over spreadsheets.

4- They’re already educated.  They understand the formula to real estate riches; buy, leverage responsibly, repeat.

5- They got pain…lots of it.  They think they’re going to live forever and don’t think they have enough money to do it.  They see real estate as an asset class to ease that pain.

The RE.net and the blogging Babbits are buying into the biggest lie ever foisted upon us by tech vendors; worship at the fountain of youth.  Follow the money, not the crowd.  You might not become famous but you certainly will get rich.

NEXT:  I’ll be talking about effective ways to market to Boomers online.  Think Bawld Guy; while he appears to be hip, he’s really square..which makes him..successful.

PS:  I’m generalizing when I categorize the demographic groups.  There are a lot of successful and responsible 18-34 year-olds but your odds are better with their parents until 2015.  The cool part is that 80% of your competition will buy into the Youth Myth while you clean up on the Boomers.

PPS:  You don’t have to be a Boomer to serve them.  Cher and Demi don’t practice age discrimination.