It’s a fact. Most experts think that the number of sales opportunities in 2023 is going to drop by 30-35%. Now here we are in January. We’re setting goals for ourselves and thinking “How am I going to make the real estate sales happen this year?”

Wouldn’t it be nice to know where you can find a deep source of ready, willing, and able buyers?

I’m going to share with you what that 2023 motherlode is for buyers this year: Millennials.

There are a couple of reasons for this. The first one is Millennials actually represent the single largest generation ever born in the United States, more than the Baby Boomers. They watched their parents get killed during the Great Recession, so they delayed home ownership. Their college debt has delayed them some more. They’re finally at the place where they’re ready, willing, and able to get into the game.

At our real estate sales company, we study a lot of things. We love to look at the numbers, and what we found is that in Q4 of 2022 just over 40% of our buyer transactions were actually first-time buyers. They were Millennials who were done renting and wanted to get into the home ownership game.

This is our big lead source this year. These are people that are not going to be impacted by all the changes in the real estate market.

They are ready to start their home ownership journey. So the question is “How do I find Millennials?” It’s the first generation that was ever native users of technology, which makes this a different game.

These are the top three ways to find millennials: the first one is real estate open houses.

Absolutely, native users of technology are going to start their home search online, but ultimately we are selling something that is physical. You do have to go out to look at a residence, and Millennials will go to open houses. The great news is they’re savvier, more educated, and are closer to their buyer decisioning when they go to open houses. Believe it or not open house season is only a couple weeks away.

The second way that you can find Millennials is by offering webinars. Sure, you can do seminars but Millennials prefer webinars where they can check you out from a distance. Offering first-time buyer webinars is a great way for them to learn a little bit more about the process, sniff you out, and see if they like you. They will raise their hand if they’re interested in learning more about you or the lender who you have on that webinar who has programs that might be beneficial for them. That’s the magic of the webinar.

The third place to find Millennials is apartment communities. There are a lot of really expensive apartment communities that have jacked up their rent in the last three years because they could get away with it. Those leases are going to be ending and savvy Millennial buyers will be scratching their heads going “Gosh, I’m spending two thousand dollars a month on rent…maybe I should look at home ownership.” Marketing to people that are in those apartment communities is the third best way to get in touch with Millennial first-time buyers.

So there’s the game plan. If you want to strike the motherlode, you’ve got to learn to communicate with Millennials. These are the top three ways to find them. Now let’s go find some Millennials and help empower them in becoming homeowners this year.