I'M HOME! GEN XERS GET A HEAD START ON NESTING - AND KNOW JUST WHAT THEY WANT IN A HOUSE.

Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Staff Writer

When it came time to buy his first home, James Bayer didn't mind putting down roots in the neighborhood of his youth. But he didn't want his parent's kind of house either.

It took seven years of dedicated saving to amass the down payment, then six months of searching to find the right house.

``The main thing we were interested in was location, which is always important. There are only four streets (in the neighborhood) with similar homes. They are real cute homes,'' Bayer said. ``The kitchen being remodeled was also a big deal. I wanted the kitchen in good shape. I didn't want to hassle with the kitchen.''

Another plus: His new neighborhood is wired for speed.

Real estate agents and new home developers are encountering a lot of home buyers like Bayer these days.

He's 25 years old, already a family man, has a good job and is proud to be counted among Generation X, that huge chunk of the population born between the mid-1960s and late 1970s.

They've waded into the real estate market with a vengeance - and their own ideas of what a home should be. Their tastes and wants differ greatly from their parents'.

And builders and Realtors have taken notice, sometimes tailoring their projects and sales pitches to capitalize on Gen X's preferences.

Old is OK as long as the house has some character, but a formal dining room is passe. The living room and dining area is now a great room, dens are media rooms and the spare bedroom is space for a home office.

San Fernando Valley real estate agent Matt Epstein, a broker at Remax on the Boulevard, said Gen Xers are a big part of his business.

``A big selling point is a completely done kitchen with all the top-of-the-line stuff. But they admit to not having a lot of their meals there. Go figure,'' he said. ``And the older generation always wanted to have a guest room. Now the preference is a guest room that can be turned into an office where guests can't stay.''

Having the home wired for a DSL line or that capability is also a big selling point, Epstein noted.

Buyers are all across the price spectrum, too.

Bayer, marketing director for Team 2000, a Sherman Oaks-based advertising agency, paid $210,000 for his first home in Simi Valley a few blocks from where he grew up.

But the thriving economy has enabled Gen Xers to jump in the market across all price points, with some paying up to $600,000 for homes in the western and central Valley, Epstein noted.

Jim Link, executive vice president of the Van Nuys-based Southland Regional Association of Realtors, said there is no statistical evidence available on how big a portion of the local market Gen X composes.

The buzz indicates it is sizable, though.

``A lot of the Generation X buyers are buying the low-cost houses, but a lot of them have also reached a point in their careers where they are earning sufficient income to by that upper-end house,'' Link said.

Nationwide, it is a huge market.

Peter Dennehy, managing director of the Meyers Group in Irvine, a real estate consulting service, has been tracking this market for a while and says there are currently about 70 million Gen Xers nationwide.

Relatively affluent and tech savvy, they've been reaping the rewards of a booming economy.

And they are driving a spike through the heart of a great urban myth.

``The early analogy for this generation was the lost generation, but that is really not the reality. The typical Generation X person has a job just like anyone else,'' Dennehy said.

They also do a lot of research, especially on the Internet, and are interested in product quality.

New home builders have taken notice, too.

For example, Calabasas-based Ryland Homes has been tracking Gen Xers' home buying wants for several months.

As a result, the company has geared its product line, advertising and sales pitch to this buying segment's lifestyle and preferences.

The message is simple: Buying a house can be fun, the company said.

Ryland's research indicated that 33 percent of Xers are looking for a home while another 25 percent are saving for the purchase.

Also, this age group is family oriented and either already have children or are planning to soon. So whatever kind of house they buy will have to be able to adapt to changing needs.

``We're really trying to do a lot of flex space,'' said Marcie Little, marketing director for the company's Southern California division. ``A lot of the Generation Xers work at home, and they want to be able to have a home office and a floor plan that can adapt to family use in the future. And they seem to prefer buying new over resale because they don't want to come in and fix someone else's mistakes.''

THAT OLD HOUSE

Here are some of the baby boom generation's ``must haves'' when it came to buying a home:

--Formal dining room - Some of them were not used very much but they sure were pretty to look at.

--Cable television outlet - A technological must for a snow-free picture and bright colors.

--Guest room - A must for the in-laws and friends.

--Address in the 'burbs - Housing tracts outside the city, and the neighborhood where there were raised, was an attractive selling point.

THIS NEW HOUSE

Generation Xers have their own ideas about what makes a home. Being brand-new is not one of the criteria, either.

--A great room - Forget formal dining, this is the informal generation and a room that serves multiple functions is a bonus.

--Wired for speed - This is the digital age and this buying group demands high-speed access to the Internet.

--Spiffy kitchen - Previously owned homes should have remodeled or up- to-date kitchens with all the latest gadgets.

--Office space - Extra bedrooms are used for home offices, not sleep-overs.

Source: Daily News Research

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, 2 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- color) James and Jennifer Bayer beam as son Alex plays outside their Simi Valley home. They and other Gen Xers are becoming homeowners.

(2 -- color) Gen Xers like the Bayers like slick new kitchens with snazzy appliances, even though they may not eat many family meals there.

(3 -- color) no caption (Welcome to our home sign)

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

Box: (1) THAT OLD HOUSE (See text)

(2) THIS NEW HOUSE (See text)