On the Nov. 14 episode of my Lykken on Lending podcast, we had the opportunity to discuss the Millennial consumer with Leslie Gibin of Arch MI. While more Millennials have been entering the market for homeownership, that growth has been slow. Millennials have difficulty finding work and, when they do, they have difficulty believing the work is stable. The uncertainty, coupled with student debt, leads them to shrink back from a long-term investment like owning a home.
Is there anything we can do to help the Millennial consumer become more comfortable with homeownership? Of course, yes, I believe there are many things we can do to increase the participation of the Millennial consumer in the mortgage industry. But here's one idea in particular: We can give them jobs!
Through much of its history, the mortgage industry has been very inwardly focused. We look for people who have experience in the industry. Children come into the industry through their parents. Or, perhaps we look at closely related industries in the financial sector. But rarely have we looked completely outside of the mortgage industry for our recruiting. Perhaps now is the time.
There are a large number of Millennials graduating from business colleges, STEM programs, schools of communication, etc. These folks have learned a great deal about their respective fields and have been involved in projects that could easily be transferable into the mortgage industry. Have we given them a chance? If we want Millennial consumers, we've got to do our part in creating Millennial workers. When people are more comfortable with their earning, they'll be more comfortable with their spending.
David Lykken, a 43-year veteran of the mortgage industry, is president of Transformational Mortgage Solutions (TMS), a management consulting firm that provides transformative business strategies to owners and “C-Level” executives via consulting, executive coaching and various communications strategies. He is a frequent guest on FOX Business News and hosts his own weekly podcast called “Lykken On Lending” heard Monday’s at 1:00 p.m. ET at LykkenOnLending.com. David’s phone number is (512) 759-0999 and his e-mail is [email protected].
