VIDEO DIALOGUE

I don’t know about you, but all those articles that came out a few years ago about how Millennials are ruining everything, well…that hurt a little bit.

I’m a Millennial.

Yep, that’s me: a Millennial Realtor. But who likes titles, anyway?

So, anyway, everyone was writing articles about how Millennials are killing the diamond industry, restaurants, grocery stores, fashion…and, of course, real estate. No one was buying real estate.

I mean, what’s a Millennial real estate agent to do, man?

Of course, a little bit of research into this crazy phenomenon, where Millennials were pretty much destroying life as we knew it, proved one pretty important fact. Millennials weren’t killing these things so much as they were changing them.

Uber Eats and GrubHub meant they didn’t have to go out to restaurants on nights they didn’t want to cook. Increases in healthy eating and a new interest in organic foods didn’t destroy the grocery stores—they simply shifted Millennials’ interest from the shelves of processed foods to the produce department.

Cars, movies, even clothes…everything swiftly moved to a sharing economy, where Millennials could rent their time with luxury goods for much lower prices instead of dropping their life savings on purchases they knew they wouldn’t use very often.

Except diamonds. I dunno. I guess maybe Millennials just couldn’t afford them. The same was true for real estate, as more and more Millennials “chose” to rent rather than buy.

Millennials reached adulthood at pretty much the worst possible time, leaving behind a childhood that included the terror attack on 9/11 and ended somewhere around the massive recession from late 2007 to the middle of 2009, with a couple of wars thrown in for good measure.

So, you know, if they couldn’t really afford to buy a house the moment they reached adulthood, can you really blame them?

And now, a pandemic! But it’s cool. It’s cool. See, Millennials seem to be stuck as forever 18 in some people’s minds, but we’re actually all now between the ages of 25 and 40. We’ve had some time to adjust to this life, to maybe save some money, to find jobs we really love and are passionate about.

So, why do some people still wonder if Millennials can buy real estate? 
You thought I got off topic there for a minute, didn’t you?

There do still seem to be many pervasive myths surrounding Millennials, the most notable being that we’re still just kids. We sometimes run into lending institutions that still don’t trust Millennials—not anyone that I’d recommend, of course—but it happens. They assume Millennials won’t have the savings necessary for down payments and closing costs, or that they don’t have strong enough credit to lock in competitive interest rates.

The real truth is that Millennials are a FORCE when it comes to buying real estate right now. We know what’s up, am I right? We’ve watched for years and learned the powerful benefits of owning real estate, whether as a primary residence or as an investment. We’re talking tax savings, lower monthly payments than these soaring Nashville rent prices, and the ability to just sit still and breathe for a minute instead of searching for the next place to live once the lease expires.

Of course, we also like the opportunity to make a house our home, with decorating or structural changes that just aren’t possible when we rent.

Fortunately, I do know a lot of lending professionals who are more than happy to work with Millennials—and even Generation Z. Some of you guys are adults now, too, aren’t you?

These mortgage lenders know that Millennials have had the necessary time to save a down payment and build a dad-level credit score. They’ll work with new homebuyers to find the right lending programs for your very specific financial needs, including USDA, VA, and FHA loans, which require much lower down payments than traditional mortgages.

So, who said Millennials can’t buy houses? Not me. You don’t have to “choose” renting anymore.

If you’re ready to make the leap, I’m here to help.