What is it about Generation X that has frustrated, irritated and generally unsettled those in older generations? After all, they are the offspring of those now in their 40s and 50s. The difference is due, in large part, to what happened during the decades in which they grew up.

Each generation is a product of the events and attitudes and they experienced during their youth. The first half of Generation X grew up during the chaos of the 1960s and early 70s including race riots, gas lines, Watergate and the burning of bras and draft cards. The second half grew up with massive corporate layoffs, recession, double-digit interest rates, the Iranian hostage crisis, the Challenger tragedy, and Three Mile Island. The world they were taught to believe in turned out to be considerably different.

With the advent of electronic calculators, video games and computers, Xers also grew up in a world that moved faster and seemed more focused on convenience and entertainment. Rather than using pencils, you punched in numbers. Rather than going outside to swing a bat, you stayed inside and played Pong. Rather than reading books, you learned Fortran.

All this being the case, one can assume that the way they approach the purchasing of products is decidedly different that their parents.

They are inherently skeptical. A Baby Boomer sees an automobile commercial and thinks, "Wow! I'd love to drive one of those."

An Xer looks at the same automobile commercial and says to his friends, "Notice the way they back-lit the set to make the car look bluer than it really is. Notice the angle of camera that makes this car look like it hugs the curves better than it really does. Notice the fish-eye lens they used on the inside to make this Geo Metro look like a Ford Expedition."

And they are coming to buy a house from you!

They are multitaskers. Xers are the original channel surfers. They watch four programs at once clicking between news, comedy and sports without giving the commercials another thought. They are famous for chatting on the phone, surfing the net, and reading through the MLS listings you faxed them all at the same time. When touring a home, they might be glancing at their blackberry to check e-mails and pausing to answer their cell phone right in the middle of your insightful remarks about the family room and kitchen.

"But that's rude," you might think. To many Xers, however, that's how the world works.

They are comfortable with confrontation. Most Boomers are such nice people. This, however, can delay or even prevent them from getting to the heart of a matter.

Xers, on the other hand, are nice people, but have learned that confrontation is a fact of life. Millions of them grew up as latch key kids and in single parent homes where they had to fend for themselves. From this, they learned that if you had a problem, you probably would have to deal with it yourself. This environment taught them a self-sufficiency that helped them hone their problem-solving skills early on. Some of this problem solving involved dealing with conflicts. But when there is no alternative, you do what it takes to overcome the obstacle. These skills now serve them well in adult settings. Negotiating is a good example.

If an action or words might make the other party feel uncomfortable, sometimes that happens. Purchasing a home is an enormous investment. Simply because you ask the seller/buyer for a concession that is to your advantage and might make him or her feel uneasy, doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. A buck is a buck is a buck. Xers learned in their youth that if you don't ask, you don't get. They grew up during turbulent economic and social times and have learned the problem solving skills necessary to succeed. Dealing with confrontation happens to be one of those skills.

They are impatient and time-conscious. Xers are a product of both the speed of technology and loyalty gone wrong. Many watched their parents lose jobs after 15, 20 or even 30 years of tenure. Moore's Law has observed that the speed of computer chips doubles every 18 months. If someone tells them that, "These things take time," they reject that way of thinking out-of-hand.

If a broker tells them it will take a "few days" to assemble a list of potentials homes to visit, they're likely to look for a broker who can do it today. Better still, they'll just work with brokers who have homes posted on the Web. Life is too short.

They also recognize that time is money. A broker, who is disorganized or slow to react, will find him or herself replaced quickly. Xers have learned that they are the customers, and that the customer requires timely assistance.

They are accepting of more than one right and wrong. "This can't be," you say. "This is only one right or wrong." Not to someone who has grown up with a myriad of messages and images that contradict each other. The media is full of them.

The emergence of "situational ethics" has allowed those who choose to do so to manipulate the system, while rationalizing that they are not doing anything wrong.

• Is it okay to string a salesperson along during an hour-long open house tour just for the fun of it on a Saturday afternoon?

• Is it okay to apply for a mortgage knowing full well that you or your spouse will be downsized within the next 30 days?

• Is it okay to shop for a real estate broker by telling four different individuals that they are competing for your business so they better impress you?

• Is it okay to take half a day of a Realtor's time simply to get an education on the market, when you have no intention of buying?

As younger buyers continue to enter the market the purchasing behaviors they display will continue to alter the way real estate is bought and sold. Its not right. Its not wrong. Its just different. How prepared are you?

Published: January 29, 2002

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Robert Wendover is the Managing Director of the Center for Generational Studies which conducts research, produces seminars and publishes resources on how the generations relate to one another in American society. For more information about generational trends, please visit Robert's Web site at www.gentrends.com. You can contact him at 1-800-227-5510 or wendover@gentrends.com.