A FEW KEY UPGRADES THAT
CAN REALLY PAY OFF
It’s time to stop thinking of Millennials
as totally uninterested in owning anything
just because they were early adopters
of Uber. The newly released U.S. home
ownership rate rose in 2018 for the first
time in 13 years—it now stands at 64.2
percent—driven mainly by a shift toward
owning over renting by the under-35
crowd who’d been wary of committing for
both financial and personal reasons.
“This is happening because young
households are buying homes,” Ralph
McLaughlin, chief economist at home
listings provider Trulia, told the Wall
Street Journal. They’re not the only
purchasers, of course. But if you’re
looking to sell your house now or in the
not-too-distant future, you might want to
check out this generational roadmap of
four upgrades experts say are worth it to
help attract potential buyers.
*Cross-generational: a new steel
door. The only thing that beat it on
Remodeling magazine’s annual Cost vs.
26
724.942.0940 TO ADVERTISE
❘
Value Report was loose-fill attic insulation, but this project—with a 90.7 percent return
on investment—speaks directly to the report’s main takeaway: “Curb appeal projects, by
and large, generated higher returns on investment than work done inside the home.”
Plus, as far as Millennials go, while their ideal interiors may differ from older
generations—for example, they prefer open floor plans and hardwood floors—
Architectural Digest says they’re still into “traditional” exteriors.
*Millennials: Smart-home tech. Yes, there are Boomers and Gen Xers who are
super tech-savvy, but Millennials especially crave homes that allow them to control
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