ICFF in 2024 with GROHE forecast YOLO with future home buyers

No, I Don’t Want A Colonial

ICFF/ WantedDesign capped off day 2 today here in New York City with a live panel with GROHE luxury bathroom fixtures on what the home buyer looks like. DANIEL PLUS LAUREN learned about 2 types of home buyers, this actually happens twice. First, there’s the New York buyer who wants all the bells and whistles but wants to preserve a home’s original character. Then, there’s the west coast home buyer, the California homeowner who goes all futuristic when building their home inspired by Silicon Valley.

The next comparison are the self-made buyer and the legacy buyer. The self-made buyer who earns their wealth is one who understands the real estate market, designing their home for someone else to buy. The legacy buyer is one who comes into money, building their home to their own specification, making it impossible for someone else to see the home as their own.

But the next wave of home buying that realtors are revving up for are the YOLO buyers (you only live once). This new sea of home buyers fear the end of the world at hand, so they are building and designing their home according to their taste. It could be bigger homes with swimming pools and bigger kitchens, but sustainability and wellness play a big role. You could want a shower that dispenses essential oils to add years to your life. Or as our home panel is seeing, buyers now want homes that are much smaller, building and designing a home not only with everything, but mainly is a home that is a stop and go.

YOLO (You Only Live Once) means something different to each and every home buyer. It could be a home that goes over the edge of build and design where the next owner is edged out. Or like most of us here in New York City, along with DANIEL PLUS LAUREN also, they want a home whether it’s big or small that has everything we’ve ever wanted. But, our home is primarily a living space that we can easily take care of with very little maintenance. A space where we can move into with little to no unpacking. And a space we wake up, head out to Equinox before conquering the world, stop home quickly to eat, head out again, then come home to sleep. That’s what we call the New York way of life.

Daniel Quintanilla