Sometimes the best way to find out about something is to go negative. Case in point: “Is there anything you don’t want for dinner?”
“Yeah, dill pickle soup. I’m OVER it.”
See what I mean?
When it comes to Millennials buying a house (which is important since they are moving into prime home-buying years), it may be best to start with what they don’t want in a home.
#1 Big NO: No Tan. No Brown. No Dark
Oh, no. How many years did every builder select deep brown cabinets, tan walls, tan tile, tan grout, tan carpet, and tan stainless steel (well they would’ve if they could’ve)? Now Millennials walk into a dim dark house and kvetch from start to finish. Why? They want white. They want bright. They want gray. They drink lattes; they do not want Sherwin Williams Latte on their walls.
#2: Big NO: No Carpet
“You gotta be kidding me,” the homeowner protests. “This is 100% tan and Mocha alpaca/llama/angora/ handwoven, hand-loomed Uzbekistan carpet. It has a 100-year- old warranty and we just installed it last year!” Millennials don’t care. They want weathered wood, even engineered hardwood. They want 18×24 tile. They want laminate. Why they will even take linoleum over carpet.
#3 Big NO: No Game | No Media Room
Millennials don’t watch movies on a screen the size of Connecticut. A postage stamp covers their screens – from edge to edge. And forget the pool table/poker table carpeted family room. Millennials would prefer a ping pong table set up in the driveway so all their craft beer sipping neighbors can drop by and play.
#4 Big NO: No Formal Dining Room
Millennials do not buy Early American Honey Oak Fourteen Piece Dining Ensembles. They prefer Barnwood slats seamlessly fit together with organic hemp surrounded by an eclectic collection of castaway chairs and stools near their Viking 48” Dual Fuel Freestanding Range.
#5 Big NO: No Hot Tubs
Millennials have no interest in serving as a human Petri dish for alien cultures only found in eleven-year-old-never-drained fiberglass hot tubs. Millennials want fire pits – with four stand-alone sanitized hand gel dispensers trimmed with strips of faded shiplap. Backyards are for organic gardens and rescued pets, not stagnate foul water collectors fit for breeding mosquitos.
Why is this Important?
Some sellers think they should update their homes. Their idea of an “update” includes root beer cabinets and Cappuccino granite with chocolate/butterscotch veins. Forget it. Just go ahead and make coffee and cookies and save your money.
Some sellers own well-worn homes. They think replacing all the carpet is a good idea. No, it isn’t.
Some sellers make the wrong investments. A wife, while visiting a new nail salon, glanced through a House Beautiful magazine. It featured a media room with 400 movie titles. She decided to convert an upstairs library for “only” $12K. She forgot to read the publication date: 1997.
So, what do Millennials Really Want?
They want clean. They want decluttered. They want minimal distractions. When a Millennial walks into a house filled with stuff, they slip into a dazed and confused state of mind. They want a blank canvas. They are looking for a home where they can create cosmetic transformation. They love DIY projects. In other words, instead of updating your house, let them do it.
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