Discovering Mobile Real Estate

Like many of us, shortly after buying my Iphone, my mind was constantly abuzz about the possibility's it presented. What the potential and functionally of the phone really provided was a reason and a resource to completely reevaluate and change my way of doing business.

As a Realtor, in this current market, believe me it was very easy to look at fresh and new ideas in my business approach. I started thinking of every aspect of the traditional real estate business in a purely mobile mindset. Then something very interesting happened, "traditional" no longer existed in any way, shape or form!

Now, much of this transition involves Social Media, which is of course a huge factor and another blog topic. For this post I will focus just on a few of the Mobile aspects that I have implemented.

Branded Mobile Property Search App

It started with a Personally Branded mobile app for local Real Estate searches. I use Smarter Agent as the service provider that uses IDX connect to my regional MLS and all searches are branded with my information and a direct contact link. The contact link is critical, for I have found that clients who use this smart phone app, prefer to easily contact me directly regarding any property listing they view. The reason is, they don't want to be bothered with fending off every new agent they come across. They do the search from their phone, pull up the listings of interest, and if they want further details they can simply touch the "contact' icon and it dials my cell phone directly! Immediate contact with their agent!

I market this service with business cards, yard signs, my email signature, email campaigns, newspaper ads, mailers, Twitter, Facebook and of course word of mouth. My clients download the free app by simply texting kev to 87778 from their phones.

Of course, a huge benefit is that I am the first, and presently the only, in my local market area to offer this to their clients.

Text Alerts

After doing three escrows in a row earlier in the year where at least 70% of my communication with my clients was purely texting, I went mobile/texting mindset again! What if initial contact with new potential buyer clients was solely by texting? Would a home buyer just text their housing requirements to an agent and ask the agent to help in their property search? Well, early results are, yes they will! I place ads in the local paper explaining that as a buyer they can have an agent looking for a home that fits their needs by simply sending me a text. When I find a home that looks as if it will fit their needs, they receive a "Hot Property Alert" text from me asking for an appointment to show them the property. After just a few months of this promotion, I am currently working with three buyers that are committed to me as their agent!

It is streamlined, efficient, non "salesy" and productive. The key is that the buyer receive these alerts in real-time as I see this listings during previews or before they come on the market.

QR Codes

Okay, this one I am implementing just this week! I am running a full page ad that consists of a QR code in the middle of the page. The ad heading-"What in The World is This?" Actually it is an ad for one of my property listings. The QR code connects to the property website. Now, the only way to view the property info is to have a mobile phone with a QR reader app so that the person can scan the code. Frankly, with the mobile mindset, those are the clients I want! This ad, which has no property photos, no price and no description will be surrounded by pages of the traditional Realtor property ads which all blend together. With Google analytics I will be able to tract results immediately.

I am looking forward to the general public response but also the response from agents using traditional methods! A few calls will be coming in.

First in Market

By using these tools, methods, techniques, I have become first in my market for innovation and insight into some of the new ways to do business as a Realtor. I am sure there are other Realtors doing much the same or have more creative ideas elsewhere, but it is nice to be seen as an innovator within your own market area.

The fun part of all this is that it is constantly evolving and it really benefits our clients in a very big way.

For now, I'm keeping a mobile mindset!

Kevin Nolan