Beyond Downsizing: How Baby Boomers Are Redefining Their Next Move

Baby boomers have become the most powerful generation in today’s housing market, but many agents are still approaching them with an outdated downsizer strategy. In this presentation, Tim Slevin, CEO of The Share Group, explains what is actually driving their next move, why more boomers are buying larger or different homes, and how agents can identify and connect with these homeowners before the opportunity reaches the open market.

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Baby boomers were supposed to sell their longtime homes, reduce their expenses, and move into smaller properties.

That is still the right move for some homeowners. But it is no longer the whole story.

Many boomers are buying larger homes, moving closer to family, creating multigenerational spaces, purchasing seasonal properties, or renovating their current homes so they can age in place.

For real estate agents, this changes the traditional downsizer conversation and creates opportunities on both sides of the transaction.

The next major boomer housing opportunity may not be helping someone find a smaller home. It may be helping an established homeowner decide what comes next.

Downsizer Script Book

We created a free Downsizer Scripts Guide with practical opening lines, discovery questions, objection responses, voicemail examples, and follow-up ideas agents can use when speaking with established homeowners.

Baby Boomers Have Outsized Influence in the Housing Market

Baby boomers represent approximately 20% of the U.S. population, with an estimated 67 million members as of July 2024. Yet they accounted for 42% of all home buyers in the National Association of REALTORS®' 2026 generational trends report.

Their influence is even greater on the selling side. Boomers represented 55% of home sellers, more than any other generation.

That means boomers are participating in the housing market at more than twice their share of the overall population.

This is not difficult to explain. Many have owned real estate for decades and benefited from substantial appreciation. They are more likely to have significant equity, retirement savings, investments, or proceeds from another property.

Some can purchase their next home without a mortgage. Others can help their adult children buy a home while still making a move of their own.

Interest rates and monthly payments still matter, but many boomers have more flexibility than younger buyers who are trying to enter the market for the first time.

For agents looking for listings, the demographic shift is impossible to ignore. The typical home seller reached a record median age of 64 in 2025. Prospecting strategies built primarily around younger homeowners are increasingly disconnected from the people who are actually selling.

A Downsizer Is a Profile, Not a Predetermined Outcome

A traditional downsizer lead typically has several recognizable characteristics:

• Age 55 or older
• Ten or more years in the home
• Significant home equity
• Children who have moved out
• A property that may require more space, maintenance, or expense than the owner currently needs

Those characteristics can identify a homeowner approaching a transition. They do not tell you what that transition will be.

An older homeowner may want less square footage. But that same homeowner may also want:

• More bedrooms for visiting children and grandchildren
• A first-floor primary suite
• A single-story layout
• Separate guest quarters or an accessory dwelling unit
• A larger kitchen and entertaining space
• A second home in a seasonal destination
• A property closer to family, healthcare, hobbies, or friends
• A newer home requiring less maintenance, even if it is not smaller

The opportunity is not defined by square footage. It is defined by a mismatch between the homeowner’s current property and the life they want to live next.

Why Some Boomers Are Buying Bigger Homes

The share of older buyers who say they want more space has increased in recent years. Several factors are contributing to the change.

1. Family Is Becoming the Center of the Decision

Adult children often establish careers and families in other cities. Rather than expecting their children to move back, older homeowners may relocate closer to them.

Others want enough room to host children and grandchildren for holidays, weekends, or extended visits. Remote work has also made longer family stays more practical.

A larger home can become the gathering place for several generations.

2. Their Old Neighborhood May No Longer Fit

A neighborhood that was ideal 20 or 25 years ago may feel very different today. Friends may have moved, longtime neighbors may have retired elsewhere, and the activities that once mattered may no longer be relevant.

The home may hold important memories, but the surrounding community may no longer support the homeowner’s current lifestyle.

This is an important distinction for agents. The question is not always, “Do you still love your home?”

It may be, “Is this still the ideal location for the way you live today?”

3. Equity Gives Them More Options

Longtime homeowners may be sitting on hundreds of thousands of dollars in unrealized equity. In high-appreciation markets, the difference between the original purchase price and today’s value can be dramatic.

That equity can fund much more than a smaller replacement home. It can make possible a move to a preferred community, a multigenerational property, a second home, or a residence designed for the next 10 to 20 years.

4. Smaller Homes Are Not Always Easier or Less Expensive to Buy

Smaller, well-located, single-story homes are often in high demand and limited supply. They may sell quickly and command a premium.

Moving costs, taxes, homeowners association fees, and the cost of preparing a longtime home for sale can also reduce the financial advantage of downsizing.

For some owners, the better solution is not the smallest property available. It is the home that delivers the best combination of location, accessibility, maintenance, community, and long-term comfort.

Safety and Aging in Place Are Part of the Housing Conversation

Housing decisions later in life are also health and safety decisions.

Falls are the leading cause of injury and injury-related death among adults age 65 and older. The CDC reports that more than 14 million older adults, approximately one in four, report falling each year.

That makes features such as single-story living, fewer steps, better lighting, accessible bathrooms, wider pathways, and a first-floor primary suite more than design preferences. They can affect how safely and independently someone can live.

Agents do not need to act as healthcare advisers. They should, however, understand how the physical layout of a home can support a client’s long-term plans.

In markets where single-story homes are scarce, agents who know the available inventory, suitable communities, and adaptable properties can provide meaningful value before a homeowner is ready to list.

One Relationship Can Create Multiple Transactions

A conversation with an established homeowner can lead to more than one listing.

The owner may need to:

1. Sell the current home.
2. Purchase a replacement property.
3. Buy a seasonal or second home.
4. Help an adult child purchase a home.
5. Sell another property or rental.
6. Refer friends or family facing a similar transition.

This is why these relationships should not be treated as one-time lead conversions. A thoughtful agent can become the real estate resource for an entire family network.

The key is to begin the relationship early. Many of these homeowners will move in three, six, nine, or 12 months, not this weekend.

The agent who helps clarify the plan before the transaction is usually in the best position to earn the business later.

Stop Asking, “Are You Ready to Downsize?”

The word “downsizing” makes an assumption about what the homeowner should do. It can make the conversation feel restrictive before the owner has discussed what they actually want.

A better approach is broad, curious, and focused on the future.

Try questions such as:

• What are your real estate plans over the next 12 months?
• What do you like most about your current home?
• What would you change about it if you could?
• Is your home still in the ideal location for your life today?
• Where is your family located?
• Where do you travel most often?
• If you could live anywhere, either full time or seasonally, where would it be?
• Would more room for family make a difference?
• What would need to happen before you would consider making a move?

Listen carefully to how the homeowner answers.

Past-tense language can be revealing: “We loved this neighborhood when the kids were young,” or “This house was perfect when we moved here.”

Those statements do not necessarily mean the owner is ready to sell. They do indicate that the current home may be connected to a previous stage of life.

An effective agent helps the homeowner imagine a positive next chapter while respecting the emotional difficulty of leaving a longtime home.

How Agents Can Find the Right Homeowners

Random prospecting creates random results. A stronger campaign begins with a clearly defined homeowner profile.

The Share Group connects property, homeowner, and mortgage data to help agents identify established owners who may be approaching a real estate transition.

A targeted Downsizer list can include filters such as:

• Owner age
• Length of residence
• Estimated equity or loan-to-value ratio
• Property type
• Home value
• Living area, bedrooms, and bathrooms
• Marital status
• Presence of children in the household
• Estimated income
• Single-story or multistory property data where available
• Geography, including ZIP code, city, county, or market

The Share Group has approximately nine million homeowners nationwide who match its core Downsizer profile. Every record includes a phone number, with additional contact and property information available depending on the record and selected criteria.

This allows agents to focus their time on homeowners who have the equity, property history, and potential motivation to make a move.

Turn the List Into a Consistent Campaign

Data creates an opportunity. Consistent activity turns it into a pipeline.

A practical campaign can follow five steps.

1. Define the Market

Choose the ZIP codes, neighborhoods, price ranges, and property types you understand best.

2. Build the Homeowner Profile

Prioritize longtime owners with substantial equity and properties that may no longer fit their lifestyle.

3. Start With a Low-Pressure Conversation

Ask about their plans rather than assuming they are ready to sell or move into a smaller home.

4. Add Value Over Time

Provide relevant market updates, property value information, neighborhood sales, suitable listings, and introductions to trusted local resources.

5. Track Every Outcome

Record calls, conversations, follow-up dates, motivations, family locations, preferred communities, and potential timelines in your CRM.

The agents who succeed with prospecting are rarely the ones who call a list once. They are the ones who reserve time for conversations every day, improve their scripts, follow up consistently, and remain useful until the homeowner is ready.

The Next Opportunity Is the Homeowner’s Next Chapter

Baby boomers are not following a single retirement housing script.

Some will downsize. Some will buy bigger homes. Others will relocate, renovate, purchase second homes, or create space for multiple generations.

For real estate agents, the opportunity is not to predict the answer before making contact. It is to identify homeowners approaching a transition and help them explore the right options.

The better opening question is not, “When are you downsizing?”

It is:

“What are your real estate plans for the next 12 months?”

That conversation can lead to a listing, a purchase, a referral, or a long-term relationship with an entire family.

Find Downsizer Leads in Your Market

The Share Group helps real estate agents identify established homeowners using property, mortgage, equity, demographic, and contact data.

Create your free account and search your market to see how many Downsizer leads are available in your preferred ZIP codes.