How Home Builders Can Meet the Needs of Today’s Tech-Savvy Customers

Today’s homebuyers are more educated than ever—thanks to the fact that they can find any information they need at their fingertips. As a result, their expectations of the homebuying process have risen significantly, and home builders must adjust.

Building and selling a home in 2024 is nothing like it was 20 or even 10 years ago. Today’s tech-savvy customers expect 24/7 access to information, personalized communication, and knowledge on topics such as smart home technology and energy efficiency. Builders and trade contractors must have both the expertise and technology integration abilities to deliver on these demands.

Get it right, and you’ll be well-prepared for the new generation of homebuyers. Get it wrong, and you risk falling into a competitive disadvantage while others deliver better, more relevant home and marketing solutions.

A new home agent gives a virtual tour to potential homebuyers.

The Tech-Savvy Nature of Today’s Home Market Customers

Amidst a wealth of relevant research, the 2024 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends report by the National Association of Realtors included one crucial fact: the combined share of older and younger millennials, aged 25 to 43, now makes up 38% of the homebuying market. That’s more than any other demographic audience segment, surpassing baby boomers.

This generational trend brings with it a fundamental change in how homebuyers consider their purchases. They’re literally changing the housing market by relying on technology, including:

Online research on independent websites and mobile apps like Zillow
A preference for virtual tours as an initial indicator of whether an in-person tour is worth it
Virtual calculations of potential mortgages to determine affordability long before they apply for a loan
And more

That’s not just hypothetical. According to one survey, 85% of millennials would at least consider buying a home online—without ever having toured it. That’s especially true for new home construction, which the survey found to be the #2 reason millennials would be comfortable making that buying decision.

At the same time, the move to a technology-first home research and purchase approach is not just limited to millennials. Baby boomers may be the furthest homebuying generation away from digital natives, but 75% of them still go online to search for potential homes to buy.

What Expectations Do Today’s Homebuyers Have?

Amid that environment, moving to a technology-first approach is no longer optional. From digital communication and availability to smart home technology, it is an absolute must to meet and exceed the expectations of today’s customers.

24/7 Access to Information

Gone are the days when home builders and contractors could get away with a limited amount of business hours and contact options. Today’s customers expect instant answers to questions, which can range anywhere from touring abilities to the energy efficiency of the new construction or the number of units available at any given time.

This need for information is especially relevant for younger homebuyers, who will both have more questions because they are new to the process and higher expectations because of their experience in other areas. Chatbots have become the norm in industries like e-commerce, while social media has long instilled a more instant need for information.

In fact, nearly 40% of social media users expect brands to respond to direct messages within 1-2 hours or even sooner.

Against that backdrop, a hotline that is only open during business hours, an online contact form, or an email address will not be enough. Instead, customers will need answers quickly even if they are searching for a home in the evenings or on the weekends. Without that information access, they might look elsewhere.

Personalized Communication

Merely responding quickly to your potential homebuyers is not enough. They’re also looking for communication that’s tailored specifically for them. Whether it’s an answer to their question or proactive outreach during their research and purchase process, they do not want to feel like they’re just part of a mass of potential customers with no individual needs.

Again, the research backs up the increasing need for customization. Across industries, 86% of marketers believe that personalization has a strong impact on their business outcomes, with the most important channels being:

Email marketing (95%)
Mobile apps (89%)
Websites (30%)

Just as important is the opportunity that a desire for more personalized communication can unlock. According to Deloitte, 60% of millennials say that they would not hesitate to give up their personal information if that meant offers and messages would be more tailored to their interest.

This is an immensely important piece of research for new home builders. Due to a long sales cycle, getting the contact and personal information of your potential buyers is essential to building comprehensive and lasting marketing campaigns. A promise of personalized and customized communication can help to achieve those marketing goals.

Smart Home Technology and Sustainability

Finally, and going beyond communication, homebuyers looking for new construction are increasingly looking for two variables to help make their purchasing decision:

The existence and availability of smart home technology
The energy efficiency of the new home they’re considering

Perhaps surprisingly, the demand for smart home technology in new construction is true regardless of age or demographics. For example, 77% of baby boomers currently own smart home technology, lagging behind younger generations like Gen Z (87%) but still accounting for a significant majority of homeowners.

Meanwhile, sustainability and energy efficiency are becoming major decision factors, as well. One survey found that 68% of potential home buyers are concerned about the environmental impact of their potential home, and 52% would pay more for a home that is sustainable. Projected rising energy prices in future years certainly won’t do anything to change this trend.

In many ways, these two points are intimately connected. After all, smart home technology tends to play a significant role in improving energy efficiency, with options like smart lighting and thermostat options proving to reduce waste in this arena. With an increasing comfort level of smart technology in the home, customers are looking for tangible payoffs as they consider their purchase.

Finding Solutions to Prepare for the Future of Homebuying

Against this backdrop and shifting market, the status quo will no longer be enough. Instead, home builders and trade contractors need to build capabilities in both the technology and its integration into marketing efforts to satisfy an increasingly tech-savvy and demanding audience.

There is no “magic bullet” solution that solves this need. Instead, it requires a comprehensive strategy designed to account for new audience demands, including:

A digital presence for both desktop and mobile devices that can provide instant answers and knowledge, like a comprehensive website and mobile app with a knowledgebase or a virtual digital assistant that is available for all manner of questions and at any time or day of the week.
Advanced customer relationship management software and processes that not only capture homebuyer information but also offer communication abilities—like email and website personalization—that can be dynamically customized for each contact in the database.
An in-depth understanding of the home features today’s customers expect when looking for newly constructed homes, focusing specifically on smart home technology and sustainability from the moment new blueprints are conceptualized and implemented.

At its best, a combination of these tools can be under the umbrella or a larger, overarching strategy that prioritizes the needs and expectations of today’s tech-savvy customers. But of course, you still need the tools in place to successfully implement that strategy, and deliver on those expectations.

The Power of AI-Enabled Digital Assistants in Delivering Instant, Personalized Communication

Among the tools tailor-made for the modern new home market are digital assistants—specifically, AI-enabled digital assistants that can provide instant, relevant, and personalized answers to potential homeowners with questions or concerns.

The right digital assistant begins with a database of potential answers but doesn’t stop there. It learns and expands its database with each conversation, while still being able to push questions to which it has no answer to real-life agents or company representatives. It’s also available for questions 24/7 and across communications channels, from websites to text messaging.

Crucially, AI-enabled digital assistants can also connect to customer databases, offering the opportunity for more personalized answers and interactions in the process. As a result, home builders and trade contractors save valuable time by not answering repetitive questions. Instead, they can spend time on more strategic, high-value interactions with potential homebuyers.

Digital assistants can even play a role in the smart home technology your customers are increasingly looking for. After all, they often form the backbone of voice-controlled devices, with the most famous examples like Amazon’s Alexa only representing the tip of the iceberg.

Make no mistake: digital assistants are far from the magic bullet that can enable home builders to accommodate the needs of today’s tech-savvy (and tech-needy) audience. They still require a comprehensive strategy and intentionality behind them. At the same time, they may just be the tool you need to execute that strategy, helping to secure a successful future as you look to successfully sell your new homes both now and in the future.

Learn how to optimize the customer journey and gain a competitive edge using an AI-enabled digital assistant. Try a demo from AtlasRTX today.