Fun with statistics...........

Mathew Ferrara recently posted some statistics to help us
Realtors learn about, and understand, our customers.  Our
company does not sell houses, but still...........useful stuff.  
The full post is here. 

Three things stood out for this reader.  First, it is happily noted
that agents are more useful than the Internet, although I am sort
of curious about how that question was worded.  Second, if only
1 in 10 U.S. adults owns a tablet computer  and yet 40% of
iPad owners earned more than $100,000 last year, then why
wouldn't our fearless government be helping more people own
iPads?  Just wondering.

The final thing, and maybe the most important lesson contained
in these stats, deals with the "generational" communication styles.

44% of Gen Y’ers prefer texting to face-to-face meetings
The typical Gen Y’er sends 3,000 text messages a month.

I can't fathom sending or receiving 100 text messages per day. 
Of course, the statistics don't show how many of those texts go
to the same person.  Maybe it takes 10 texts to convey the
same information as one face-to-face or one phone call.  But
still, if as a salesperson, I am seeking a client relationship, it is
incumbent upon me to be flexible enough to communicate in
the style best suited for each client.

Except twittering.  I draw the line at twittering.

Anyway, here are Mathews 33 stats us Realtors should know:
----------------------------------------------------------

Buyers:

-37% of recent buyers were “first time” buyers – a drop from
      50% in 2010
-They typical buyer was 45 years old – up from 39 a year ago
-37% of buyers were under the age of 31; 32% were over 55
-While all buyers use the Internet to search for homes, for 35%
         of them, it was the first step in the process; 21% started
         by contacting an agent
-21% of buyers were single females; 12% single males
-64% of all buyers had no children under 18 at home
-Buyers found real estate agents (83%) slightly more useful
         than the Internet (81%)
-92% said open houses were very- to somewhat-useful sources
         of real estate information
-Buyers found the home they purchased in the newspaper 5%
          of the time
-58% of buyers wanted to see videos when looking at property
          online
--------------------------------------------------------------
Sellers:

-The average seller was a Baby Boomer (45-65 years old)
-The typical real estate consumer moved 18 miles from their
           previous home in 2011
-66% of sellers remained in the same state; 67% in the same
           county
-46% bought a larger home, 31% purchased the same size;
           23% downsized
-25% of sellers sold their home within two weeks of entering the
           market
-63% of sellers had no children under the age of 18 at home
-Job relocation and the need for more space were the primary
           reasons people sold their home.
-Most sellers had been in their current home for 9 years.
-61% of sellers were repeat clients or referrals from friends
           and family
-66% of sellers only interviewed 1 real estate agent
-Sellers found their agent through the Internet 3% of the time;
          direct mail 2%; newspaper 1%.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Technology

-Gen X’ers (35-45) have doubled their use of social media since
         2008
-1 in 6 minutes spent online is on Facebook
-$50,000-75,000 is the typical income range of a Facebook user
-Single women use social media more than single men
-200 million consumers access social media on their smartphones
-After Google, consumers search YouTube the most (2 billion
         streams daily)
-Consumers spend 1 in 3 minutes watching video on their mobile
         devices
-1 in 10 U.S. adults owns a tablet computer
-40% of iPad owners earned more than $100,000 last year
-44% of Gen Y’ers prefer texting to face-to-face meetings
-The typical Gen Y’er sends 3,000 text messages a month
-Gen X and Gen Y used web-based email 20% less last year