The Baby Boomers are Selling But Who Will Buy?

[Franky Aikens]

We're at the beginning of an interesting time in real estate. The nation's largest generation is starting to downsize which means they are selling their homes to capture the years of equity from mortgage pay downs and appreciation so they can move into a more manageable living situation. An unbelievable 50% of all homes in America are owned by the over 55s They are a motivated group of sellers as many of them will be using the profits from the sale of their home pay for assistant living/smaller apartments.

This could be a huge opportunity for those who are prepared to take advantage of the windfall of inventory but who will be buying them and will there be enough buyers to avoid devaluation due to the surplus of inventory? With Millennials being strapped for cash and preferring to be renters and Gen X'er that are still feeling the effects for the 2008 crash, who else can handle that much inventory? Wall Street?

How does one tap into this market to find deals before they are listed? Has anyone else found this to be a point of interest/opportunity?