Getting Started with Boomer's in Real Estate

OK, this is a first for me, started a new year, started a new company, and now starting a new blog. 2007 is going to be so interesting.

I'm Tracee Lutes, founder of Avenues Realty Group, LLC. After 12 years in real estate and 10 of those with F.C. Tucker/OBR Realtors, I have decided to venture out of my comfort zone (and believe me, comfy it was) and go out on my own. F.C. Tucker has been very good to me and I am leaving a company where I have many friends, many people who I respect and care about and many leaders for whom I have great respect. This was difficult for me, but I felt the need to do my own thing. It's been a terrific experience so far and I didn't realize how many loyal clients, friends and family I had out there. I hope they all know how much I appreciate them.

Well, to real estate. I thought I would share on a few topics that are of interest to many. Let's talk about Baby Boomers and Real Estate, what the scene looks like today and what it may look like tomorrow and beyond. This was something I investigated in depth when I was writing my business plan. Much of the information was published from research conducted by the National Association of Realtors. It is obvious to most that Boomer's have great interest in Real Estate.

What do they think?
96% think that owning a home is a good financial investment.
78% own their personal residence
25% own other real estate in addition to their personal residence

The US Census Bureau figures show that even in the lowest income percentile, half of all households owned their home.

The NAR surveys show that for boomer households of middle income, ($50k to $100k) the equity in their home constitutes 50% of their net worth.

OK ladies, while 2/3's are married couples, stats show that the next category is households headed by women and this makes up 20%...over the next decade, women are expected to be the largest growing category.

The NAR surveys show that half of all boomers will fund their retirement from equity in their home.

And so, what do you think those bursting bubbles will do for retirement plans? OK, so we don't want to go there.

Guess what? They almost all said that when they were ready to buy, they searched the web first.

Now, Avenues is all about service. Of course, everyone says they are about service. In 2006, 94% of my business was from my previous clients or from referrals from my previous clients. I guess that shows that we do what we say we do. It seems easy to do what you say you will do, but for some reason, many don't agree with that.

The foundation of this business is about education and services to our clients and the following information makes me feel as if we are set up perfectly for the future client.

NAR studies show that Boomers are willing to pay for professional service and guidance from Realtors even though they can get so much market data on-line. What they are willing to pay for is service in the form of representation of their interests in complex transactions. They appreciate help in the process of sorting through the vastness of the information available to distill what will apply to their home and how to interpret the data to best price their home, to best prepare the home for market, to make the entire process as easy as possible for them so that it takes very little of their time. In essence, they need to trust their Realtor and know that they will get the best service possible.

There is much more to offer and if you are interested in it, let me know. I'll stop on this subject for now because the rest of the information may bore you completely unless you are some sort of numbers geek.

For next time... How do legislative affairs affect us locally? How does it impact home ownership? What should we be concerned about?