The common media narrative about millennials tells a story about a generation that is living in their parent’s basement, unemployed and not ever wanting to get married. Fortunately, this is not the case. Millennials are very quickly gaining more affluence, becoming the youngest generation of parents in the United States today and one in three millennials have already purchased a home in the past year. As millennials quickly become the largest generation by population size in the United States, there are few things to keep in mind when connecting with these new potential homeowners.

Millennials expect a frictionless home buying journey

Although millennials are buying homes later in life compared to previous generations, they still consider owning a home to be a major life milestone they want to accomplish. According to our latest research, 63 percent of affluent millennials, adults between the ages of 18 and 34 making an annual household income of more than $100K, currently own their own home. However, they are going about the purchasing process differently than previous generations. This is due in large part to the easy access millennials have to research and resources that help to guide their purchase path. Millennials are what we call digital natives; most of this generation was born into an era that has never experienced life without the Internet, mobile phones and digital advertising. That means they expect to utilize these things in all facets of their life – including buying a home.

The Internet has brought the expectation that things happen instantly. They expect the same to be true when looking at different housing options. While online platforms like Zillow are creating an extremely competitive landscape, the most successful realtors and independent home sellers are leveraging the information millennials are finding online to develop more connected, transparent in-person relationships. Millennials are a “connected” generation, and as such, they expect every touch point of their home buying journey to connect; whether that is online or in-person, millennials want a seamless, frictionless experience.

CLICK HERE to read the full article on Forbes.com