This one came to me as real-world spam, and it has a cloying kind of plausibility to it:
Hmm… That’s almost kindasorta a good idea, isn’t it? Laptop in the car? Maybe not so much. Wi-Fi-enabled PDF? They’re out there, but the iPhone.2 is going to EDGE every other hand-held device to the sidelines. In fact, both types of iPhones are Wi-Fi-enabled, but we know that Wi-Fi is going to be Wi-ped out within a few years.
Even so… Let’s go to the videotape:
I don’t actually hate this idea, but the pitch to the consumer boils down to this: “Your Realtor is too lazy to service your flyer box, so let’s sell him a high-tech gimmick so he can express his laziness in a different way.” I like the idea of doing more to sell listings, but I hate every variety of the brains-not-included plug-n-chug solution.
But that’s as may be. How much does it cost for an effectioNet.com eLapTopTour web site?
Holy cow! They might be plug-n-chug, but they’re cheap: $65, $85 or $95.
But wait. As Tom Waits says, “The large print giveth and the small print taketh away.” Witness:
effectioNet’s pricing schedule is very simple: we lease the device for a fee of $50 per month.[…]
We do require a $150 deposit, fully refundable on return of the device intact, and, we offer a 6 month minimum lease.
The program works on a first month’s lease of $50 + $150 deposit. Then an auto deduction will be taken each month for the balance of the term. We take PayPal and/or all major credit cards.
Townes Van Zandt said, “If you want good friends, they’re gonna cost you,” and effectioNet’s affections are going to run you $365 minimum. Per listing. What will you have at the end of your six month minimum lease? Fond memories.
So let’s say this is demi-semi-sorta plausible. The idea behind the product is kind of half-baked, especially since we already know how to do much better single-property websites than this plug-and-chug upchuck. If we’re committed to the idea but not the execution, what might work better instead?
You can buy new-in-box Mac Minis for $600 on eBay. You’ll need a monitor, keyboard and mouse (a/k/a a KVM), but all those dead Windows machines you own will be happy to donate their leftover gear, plus you only need one KVM no matter how many Mac Minis you buy. Every OS X Macintosh is an Apache web server by default, so you’re almost ready to conjure. What’s missing? An 802.11g Wi-Fi router goes for around $30.
Earlier this week, Chris Johnson showed us how to put everything together. I like this set-up because it doesn’t look like anything worth stealing. Without the KVM on-site, and with this gizmo up on a shelf in the garage — where there is less house to interfere with the signal anyway — you’re probably theft-proof. Easy enough to lock it in a cabinet if you’re paranoid.
What remains is the software problem. Serving up the web site is duck soup, although I don’t know how you’re going to get your prospect to the site without using a hard IP address: 127.0.0.1. I’d be interested to learn how effectioNet is handling this problem.
(Is it possible to force a particular browser to load page when you log-on to a Wi-Fi connection? I’ve seen this in hotels, so it must be. Just a software problem.)
We need power on in the house, but we don’t need a broadband connection. We’re serving up the web site locally.
The cost for the hardware, allowing for everything: Maybe $750, and I’ll bet I could do it for less than that. The first two listings beat effectioNet’s price, and the third one is free. Plus which, you’ll have a much better single property web site on-site, and you can update it whenever you need to — although you’ll have to schlep your KVM around with you.
Bottom line: The effectioNet idea is not awful, but the pricing structure is absurd — just more Realtor-milking. Do I think this is a cool enough idea to do something like it my way? Ask me in three months. If you put something together, be sure to let us know.
Technorati Tags: real estate, real estate marketing, technology
Will says:
You may not hate the idea, but I do. This is just lame. First I thought “hey, cool, I could do this… I could even start up a side business in it” since in Vancouver there are a few realtors still using FM transmitters.
Then I thought how there are just a few realtors using FM transmitters. They’d be the target market. Pretty slim market, huh?
And why don’t realtor’s jump all over this kind of stuff? Because it takes away from phone calls. If your sign/transmitter answers all their questions then you, as a realtor, are never able to qualify their needs and offer a solution, are you? And really, do you see people pulling out their laptop and connecting on? Maybe iPhone (we don’t really have those up here) or other smartphone but not laptop.
Need to impress and give more info than the usual sign? Make a better sign like the ones described on BHB (custom photos, write up, etc). Then wait for the calls (oh, yeah, sign calls to buy homes happen all the time… right?)
June 20, 2008 — 10:02 pm
Todd Carpenter says:
I love my mac, but I think it would be the wrong tool for something like this. I built my ubuntu (linux) machine from a years old Pentium III computer that was given to me. I have less than $50 bucks into it, including a $40 flat panel I purchased on craigslist.
Ubuntu is a user friendly version of Linux. Linux is obviously well equipped to run Apache web server.
This is all it takes
You could probably go to a used computer store, tell them what you need, and have a solution built for you for less than $200. Far less if you can do it yourself.
June 20, 2008 — 10:08 pm
Chuchundra says:
You get your prospect to the site by setting up your own DNS server. Just make everything resolve to the hard IP of your web server. Same thing you get in Starbucks when then redirect everything to their signon page,
I don’t think you even need a real computer for this. All you really need to do is serve up a few static web pages. You could probably do it with a Linksys WRT54G or a similar, hackable, wireless router.
Load DD-WRT or OpenWRT on to it, a web server and DNS. Drop your web pages on it, plug it in and let it go. After you amortize the development costs, the per-unit costs are less than $100 per including signage.
June 21, 2008 — 4:17 am
Genuine Chris Johnson says:
NONONONONONNONONONO. This is the ultimate in single property websites + signage. So simple.
Like Chuchundra said, get a WRT54G which is a mini linux box. Relay the mail through the homwoner’s own wifi. WRTs can have the range get boosted, too.
And, this is a hands on demonstration of competence, that will attract buyers, help sellers, and be another source of the smugness.
You can even probably enable meebo/equivalent, and schedule showings from the place…get applications for lending, etc.
Dude, this idea is so there, and so easy, and so instant. I’ll betcha you could get WP on a WRT54G.
June 21, 2008 — 6:55 pm
Todd Carpenter says:
The more I think about it, the more I like this idea. Maybe not as much for suburbia, But in a high density urban area, it would be sweet. Imagine using it for a condo that sits above a coffee shop. Name your server “live in this neighborhood”.
Not nearly as effective as a simple sign. But for many condos, a sign isn’t possible anyway. Those eyes that do stumble across it are likely people who travel to that neighborhood, just to be there.
June 21, 2008 — 7:10 pm
Greg Swann says:
> After you amortize the development costs, the per-unit costs are less than $100 per including signage.
Substantially less as a DIY project.
> get a WRT54G which is a mini linux box
I’ve bought a half-dozen of these as cheap WI-FI solutions for other people. Never new they were hackable.
Have you done this, Chris?
Very cool. This is worth looking into.
June 21, 2008 — 7:38 pm
Bill Lublin says:
Am I just missing it? – You have a potential buyer in a car outside the property and instead of showing them the property you want to help them disintermediate the agent and eliminate the property by looking at a virtual tour? (Yes folks, people get information in order to eliminate properties not to garner a collection to see- they really only want to see one house – the one they want to buy – and that one they will want to walk through, touch, smell and feel)
The cost is irrelevant – Technology that is triggered by the sign outside the property is just plain silly – and ineffective as a tool for the business person.
Its just not good on any level for an agent. (And I love toys as much as anyone, but this just gets in the way) The only beneficiary of this technology is the company making the product.
June 21, 2008 — 9:06 pm
Todd Carpenter says:
Conversely Bill, when I looked for my last home, I did a lot of it on my own and without an agent. The properties that gave me the most information online where the ones I was most interested in. I loose interest in a home the second I can’t see “inside” it without becoming a lead for an agent. I got my agent involved when I was serious about the property. I was serious about the property once I saw lots of details on the website listed on the yard sign. Without that web address, I probably wouldn’t live where I live.
Agents who make prospective buyers become a lead before showing them ANYTHING about the home are loosing as many fish as the net.
June 21, 2008 — 9:18 pm
Chris Johnson says:
I’ve hacked the WRT a couple times, mostly to expand the signal, but lifehacker has 30-40 posts on the subject over the years.
It’s simpler than your first bit of PHP code; lifehacker is easily searchable. Linksys has sort of embraced those that do this!
And I saw them for $29.95, and I’m guessing we can make a .bat file + url to put a site on them.
June 22, 2008 — 10:40 am
effectioNet says:
I believe there is some confusion as to the real purpose of our product.
This product caters to the potential buyer who doesn’t wish to look at homes under the pressure of a Realtor. Some percentage of potential home buyers find a general area they would like to live in, then drive around those neighborhoods, looking for homes to purchase. The eLapTopTour allows potential buyers to view homes quickly and comfortably on a laptop or PDA. Full size, high resolution pictures as well as self promotional video can reside on the eLapTopTour, which enhances the image of the listing Realtor. The fees of $65, $85 or $95, depending on the selected package, include the cost of a yard sign, shipping postage, web page review for content and syntax errors as well as a USB key consisting of the entire web site. If a Realtor has the ability to create their own web site, those package fees are not required. It has taken thousands of hours of development and testing to create automated web site creation tools as well as integrity testing of the product. The $50 monthly rental fee also includes technical support. The purpose of our product was not to milk the Realtor, as Greg has noted. The purpose of the eLapTopTour is to enable the Realtor to multitask by virtually being at multiple locations simultaneously and offering a lower pressure opportunity for potential home buyers to gain additional information about a home without being pressured up front.
January 21, 2009 — 12:37 pm