Millennials Willing to Blow Budgets, Buy ‘Sight Unseen’

A graphic of a house on a white background with a For-Sale sign and a person in the foreground.

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In the competitive housing market, millennials are willing to take chances for a shot at homeownership. Ninety percent of millennials recently surveyed by Clever Real Estate say they’d be willing to buy a home “sight unseen.” Eighty-two percent would be willing to buy a fixer-upper that needs major repair, while 80% are willing to offer over asking price.

Millennials are getting the message that they need to act fast to get a house in today’s competitive housing market, where bidding wars have become common. They say they’re willing to max out their budget entirely to buy a home. One in six millennials say they’d even offer $100,000 or more above the asking price for their dream home.

“A wave of first-time millennial home buyers entered this explosive market eager to own homes and raise their families,” the report notes.

 

 

The competitive market also has prompted millennial buyers to expand their search locations, make sacrifices to afford homeownership, and decrease their desired square footage, the survey shows.

 

Considering “Sight Unseen” Buying

Homes for sale are getting snapped up. Nearly 80% of properties sold in less than a month in December 2021 and properties stayed on the market for just 19 days, the National Association of REALTORS® reports.

Millennial respondents would consider purchasing a home without touring it only under certain circumstances, such as a great price or the opportunity to be the first owner of a new-construction home.

 

 

Willingness to Pay More

Millennials also said they’d be willing to empty out their piggy bank to stretch their homebuying budgets and offer above asking price to win in a bidding war.

 

 

 

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