This from my Arizona Republic real estate column (permanent link):
Do you have a smart-phone like the iPhone, Blackberry or Palm Pre? How much time do you spend on it? Is it possible that your smart-phone is your primary interface for accessing the internet? If you’re not there already, can you foresee a day when that might be the case?
It’s certainly that way for us, and we see smart-phone surfing as the next big wave in internet use. Because of that, we’re devoting more of our marketing efforts to promoting real estate by smart-phone.
As an example, we just added SMS messaging from a company called Drive-Buy Technologies. If you happen to drive by one of our listings, you can text a short message to a pre-set SMS account number and you will get a return SMS message with a link to a mobile web site featuring property details, photos and a link to that property’s main web site.
I’ve never been a huge fan of video as a real estate marketing tool. But smart-phone technology is changing my opinion. The integration of YouTube into smart-phones is so seamless that touring a home by video — as you sit outside in your car — is suddenly a viable option.
Another use for real estate video on smart-phones would be a sixty-second neighborhood tour — photos of houses, nearby stores and restaurants, schools and parks. And that video might link back to a Google map of the neighborhood, with each featured landmark shown on the map.
We’ve also just added the SmarterAgent smart-phone MLS client. This is a tiny app that gives you access to the full Phoenix-area MLS database. You can search for homes any way you want — by address, zip code, school district, MLS number. Even cooler, the app will use your smart-phone’s built-in GPS system to show you listings at your current location.
Is the smart-phone the future of real estate search? Maybe not, but when you spot the house of your dreams, won’t it be nice to find out all about it — right there on the spot?
Spread the word: Click here for a printer-ready version of this column.
Or: Steal this book: I’ve written over 200 of these real estate columns. They are consistently one of the most popular features on our blogs. Many of them are dated and/or entirely Phoenixocentric. But many others are timeless and generic. If you want to use any of my columns on your weblog or web site, feel free. Three rules: Don’t change my text, credit me as the author and give me a link back to http://www.bloodhoundrealty.com/ with appropriate anchor text. Something like this, perhaps:
<a href="http://www.bloodhoundrealty.com/" target="_blank"> Phoenix Realtor Greg Swann</a> suggested I share this with you:
Am I link-baiting? You bet. The quid pro quo is free content for your site that pulls eyeballs and excites interest.
Bob Gibbs says:
I feel that the smart phones are already changing the way real estate is marketed. By using my iphone and can make a video of a home and send it to my buyer client rather than he/she having to come out and waiste time. I am on my phone constantly responding to clients questions and requests regarding homes.
September 2, 2009 — 6:53 pm
Al Lorenz says:
Thanks Greg! I’ll post this in the morning crediting you as indicated. We’re a bit behind markets like Phoenix in real estate technology starting with our own little MLS out here. Since last summer we now have fairly decent cell phone coverage, so that’s a plus. Helping spread the word about where the rest of the world is can only help.
September 2, 2009 — 8:16 pm
Greg Dallaire says:
The text messaging feature you talked about on another post is extremely useful. If it’s anything like the 800 numbers that do the talking house they are a great source of potential leads.
This is something i’ll be implenting shortly. The smartphone will continue to develop over time I believe they will be where the majority of surfing will be done.
As i’m sitting at Perkin’s eating breakfast on my tablet PC. Technology rocks!
September 4, 2009 — 6:17 am
James Boyer says:
With in the circle of people I have been traveling in, the smart phone is everything. I would say 70% are I phone and 30% are Blackberry’s but in any event, these people are on them all the time, and using them for everything like you say. Thanks for the link to that vendor, going to look into that right now as it is a great idea.
September 5, 2009 — 9:16 am
Jay Myers says:
I am very interested in hearing your feedback on Smarter Agent a couple months after using it. I am considering subscribing, but I would also like it, if it is cost effective for me, if it was also my web based (website) MLS/IDX tool. I saw on their site it is in Beta as of now, but I need to see if they are going to service my area. But only once I start hearing some positive feedback on the mobile app of course.
September 11, 2009 — 1:27 am