There is a great post by Bernice Ross over at REIBlog that talks about the upcoming wave of real estate buyers. Drop by and read the whole article.

Section #6 talks about the new generation of buyers and the tools used for communication. They will be heavy on technology and online communication. No secret and something I can validate. The highest percentage of our leads are from younger/first time buyers. This group loves communicating online and they have higher conversion rates on appointments.

Here is an excerpt of the article:

The Great Divide: the Generational Communication Gap

A major challenge that we face as an industry is that the median age of Realtors in the United States is over 50. While there are more than 79 million boomers and traditionalists (those born before 1964), our industry has been somewhat myopic in terms of meeting the needs of Gen X and Gen Y. The Gen X generation was born between 1965 and 1976, and makes up roughly 17 percent of the population, or 40 million. Gen Y, born between 1977 and 1994, makes up about 25 percent of the population, or 60 million people.

Opportunity: Boomers and traditionalists did not grow up with computers. They prefer face-to-face, telephone or e-mail communication. In contrast, Gen X and Gen Y have had computers since elementary school. Mobile access is a way of life. “E-mail is the new snail mail.” When you contact members of Gen X and Gen Y, you had better text message. When they contact you, they also expect instantaneous response. While boomers and traditionalists respond well to brand marketing, the Gen X and Gen Y crowd prefers lifestyle marketing. According to a study from California State University at Chico, “It’s more important to be interactive and to show people having fun. Gen X and Gen Y want to be marketed with a strong dose of the truth coupled with irony and humor. For them, it’s not about reaching the masses; it’s about building a community.” This is evidenced by the stellar growth experienced by such sites as SecondLife.com, YouTube.com and MySpace.com. Gen X and Gen Y want interactivity, and these sites provide it. We are already seeing brick-and-mortar stores showing up on SecondLife.com. Both agents and brokerages may want to consider moving some of their advertising dollars from traditional print advertising to these new venues. Also, since blogs are interactive, they provide the ideal way to reach Gen X and Gen Y.