Monday, February 13, 2017

Why Millennials Love to Rent


Why DO Millennials love to rent? We’re going to take a look at the top four reasons below. . Millennials now fall between the ages of 20 to 35, just about the time people would start buying homes. But, they aren’t doing that as much as they’re renting. Millennials are either about to or have already begun starting a family, and some have just hit the prime rental age.

Yardi Matrix Report issued its economic outlook report for the year and reported that the number of Millennials expected to hit the prime renting ages of 20 to 34 will exceed 2 million this year. Think that’s a lot?! That’s nothing in comparison to the 70 million expected to peak in 2024. What does that tell us? That the multifamily sector can expect a good solid demand from Millennials for at least the next seven years.

Let us not forget to mention that there is an expected unemployment rate from Millennials of more than 8% and $1 trillion in student loan debt. Both of these factors are reasons why the Millennials are renting instead of buying homes. However, these are not the only reasons Millennials see a need or have a want to rent. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons below.

1.              Community
Millennials love supporting their local communities and the fact that they can walk right down the street from their house or apartment and frequent their favorite coffee shop or boutique. They love knowing their money is going to a locally-owned business rather than some of these greedy corporations.

In a recent Edelman Digital Study we found out that a whopping 40 percent of Millennial participants prefer to shop locally, even knowing that they will have to pay more for their goods. Millennials want their money to stay close to home, exactly like the places they shop at. Close to home.

2.              Flexibility
Renting leaves an open window of escape from that noisy neighbor, when buying could get you stuck there living next to that annoying neighbor for 30 years or until that long mortgage is paid off.

Millennials are more apt to change jobs at least three times more than their older counterparts and they actually only stay with the same employer for a max of three years on average, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Renting provides much more flexibility to them when it’s time to move cross-country to their new job. Actually, it is so common that a lot of apartment complexes now have a special clause in the lease for early termination due to job transfers more than 50 miles away.

3.              Convenience
This is a huge reason for Millennials choosing to rent over home buying. Have you ever had a large appliance break like a fridge or a stove? Your refrigerator just went kaput and what do you do? If you’re a Millennial, easy! You call your landlord who sends someone out to look at it and upon inspection decides you need a new fridge. That is convenience. You didn’t have to call the handyman or shell out money to buy a new fridge. What about landscaping? That is usually covered by the landlord. If you own your own home, that is definitely another responsibility of the homeowner. For Millennials busy lifestyles, it makes more sense to have fewer items of home maintenance on their to-do list and also on their budget.

4.              Amenities
This is an obvious no-brainer if you ask me! Let’s think of some of the perks of living in an apartment complex and the amenities that come along with it. Pools, hot tubs, electric car charging ports, gyms, movie screening rooms, concierge services, underground garages, and that is just to name a few. These types of amenities would cost a pretty penny for homeowners.