December 20188IN MY OPINIONBy Kamran Bakhtiari, VP, Marketing, loanDepotThe experience of home buyingfrom financing to shopping to signing most of your docshas experienced a digital transformation in recent years. And the evolution continues to touch even change-resistant phases of the process.Now, prospective buyers can virtually "walk" through the rooms of a home they're considering in a neighboring state or further away. Or place and arrange their current dècor in a prospective new home via augmented reality. According to a New York Times article, apps that expand the home buying and home renovation experience will continue to reshape customer expectations throughout real estate. How will lendingthe next, or sometimes first, crucial step in the processkeep up? And what's the most strategic way to market these innovations to a massive audience used to consuming information through ever-changing means? A Disruptive RevolutionLike many long-established institutions such as healthcare, lending is considered a latecomer to the digital revolution. Several theories persist about what's been the most resistant barrierprotection of sensitive personal information being the most significant. However, today's customers are used to moving fast and completing formerly tedious tasks with rapid efficiency, having minimal patience for old-fashioned hardcopy record searches and transfers.Millennials (or digital natives) are now the largest segment of first-time home buyers, accounting for 66 percent of the market, according to a National Association of Realtors 2017 report, "Real Estate in a Digital Age." And this generation has far from peaked. The "boom within the boom" years for millennials were 1990 and 1991; those born during that time will bring another surge of population as they reach home buying age. Respectively at 28 and 27 today, their influence is just beginning to register in the world of mortgage lending.This wave of new buyers is demanding servicesincluding shopping and obtaining financingon their terms. To deliver on these new customer expectations, companies must first develop the infrastructure to support itand solve the pains of lighting up a new consumer experience channel. Developing the technology isn't enough; it has to be shared with this audience so they recognize its efficiency and value. Adapting to Digital NativesLenders Meet Millennials, and All Consumers, on their TermsKamran Bakhtiari
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