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The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) recently released its Real Estate in a Digital Age report where it looked at the use of technology by REALTORS® and how homebuyers are looking for properties in a digital age. What has changed over the years from a buyer’s perspective? What are the challenges for real estate agents looking forward? Real estate firms cited that keeping up with technology was one of the biggest challenges facing them in the coming years (46 percent), and that number jumps up for commercial firms (53 percent). REALTORS® said that they would like to see the amount of technology firms offered to expand in the following ways:

• More tech support and training
• A more professional website
• Cutting-edge technology
• Keeping agents up-to-date on tech trends
• A better customer relationship management (CRM) database
• Reliable, faster internet
• Easy-to-use technology 

While the use of social media is a must in today’s world, it is not always so easy to figure out. Females out-perform men when it comes to taking charge on social media platforms, 70 percent to 58 percent, respectively. Nevertheless, out of the members surveyed, only 26 percent were extremely comfortable using social media and 18 percent were either uncomfortable or did not use any social media.

While Facebook and LinkedIn were the most used sites, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram were vastly under-utilized platforms. The logical next step seems to be, how can REALTORS® better use social media and digital platforms to, first, maintain relationships over time for repeat business and, second, generate new clients? Here are a few insights that the report uncovered to help real estate agents understand what homebuyers are looking for.























First, let’s define what the typical buyer looks like and extrapolate how buyers of different ages go about their home search.

• The typical buyer used a mobile device to search for properties online. He or she looked at websites with photos, home listings, and information about the home-buying process. He or she then contacted an agent and visited a median of 10 homes over 10 weeks in 2014 before purchasing a home.
• The typical homebuyer is a millennial 25-35 years old, married without children living at home, and has a median income of $84,500. 

Millennials: 94 percent looked online as the first step in their home-buying process and 58 percent, who used a mobile device to search, used an iPhone, whereas only 5 percent used a windows-based mobile device. Photos of homes and information about properties were the two most important aspects on REALTOR® websites that led to millennials contacting a real estate agent. Nevertheless, millennials searched the longest before purchasing a home at 11 weeks. Fifty-one percent of millennials also cited that they found their home by looking online and visited a median of 10 homes. Understanding the home-buying process and the paperwork was cited as more difficult for millennials than any other generation. All generations cited that finding the right home was the most difficult step in the process. This is possibly because millennials make up the largest group of first-time homebuyers at 68 percent.
 
Older Boomers: 10 percent of older boomers and the silent generation indicated they drove by homes and neighborhoods to find a home. Eighty-four percent of older boomers used websites to search for a home predominantly on desktop computers. They used mobile devices half as often as millennials. This generation used online videos more frequently than any other group. Only 35 percent search for homes with an iPhone, if they searched on a mobile device. This generation prefers to use virtual tours as a means to find a home before contacting a real estate agent. For buyers that did not search online, the median age was 62 and they visited only four homes over four weeks before making a purchase. Twenty-four percent of this group noted that there were no difficult steps in home buying.

Silent Generation: 28 percent contacted a real estate agent as their first step in the home-buying process and only 65 percent looked online first for properties. Only 18 percent used an iPhone and 15 percent used a windows-based mobile device, among those who searched via mobile. The silent generation searched for eight weeks and found their homes more frequently through a real estate agent or open house. This group was the most satisfied with the home-buying process above other generations.







Amanda Riggs is a research survey analyst with the National Association of Realtors® .

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