Mobile Technology and Real Estate

Will Your Listings Be Found on the Mobile Web?

2007-09-19T07:54:18Z

Blackberry, Treo, iPhone, BlackJack, Motorolla Q, Dash, Sidekick, EnVY... Each day, new, more powerful mobile phones are being released into the market. Mobile phones that rival the power of the computers we had on our desktops at one time.

The recent release of the Apple iPhone has no doubt been a game changing event. This incredible piece of technology has opened up the eyes of consumers and phone manufacturers to the vast potential of the mobile web. No longer does a mobile web site have to be simple text on a tiny screen. Add fonts, colors, sound, video, and fancy sliding windows, and you now have a robust interactive experience in the palm of your hand.

So the race is on. Manufacturers are upgrading their handsets and browsers to compete, content providers are building cool new mobile web sites, and consumers are buying the latest and greatest gadgets. How long do you think it will be before surfing the mobile web becomes a common occurrence?

So how will that impact the real estate market? How does the fact that each day more home buyers and sellers are accessing the Internet on their mobile phone affect us?

There are over 200 million mobile phones in the U.S. alone. Every single home buyer who is driving around looking at homes, researching a neighborhood has one. The same way buyers are doing initial research on-line, they will be searching for homes from their phones. It's already happening, and each day brings more than the last.

Imagine as a home buyer, you are looking at a home for sale in a neighborhood you are interested in. You're driving around, and you see a home for sale. You bring up the property's mobile web site on your phone, and are provided with details, contact info, photos, and even video. With a single click, you make contact with the seller instantly.

As you research the neighborhood, you want to compare the asking price of this house with others that have sold on the same block in the last year. With a simple click, the data is right there. Now show me other homes for sale like this nearby, and provide me with directions from here. Done.

This is what the future looks like. This and more. The question is whether you, and your listings will be found. Google, Yahoo, Ask and other search engines are investing big money in indexing the mobile web. They are doing this because they all want to dominate the mobile search platform. The next 12 months will be exciting time as the handset manufacturers try to out do each other, and the Internet giants lure consumers to their portals. It's like the first days of the Internet all over again. Make sure both you and the properties you market can be found. Take some time to surf the mobile web, and prepare to market your properties on this emerging technology.

For more info on setting up a mobile property site, visit http://www.MobilePropertySites.com

MobilePropertySites.com Provides Free Single Listing Web Sites For Mobile Phones

2007-09-18T07:47:14Z

MobilePropertySites.com, a new service from Cell a House launches single property websites for the mobile web. Realtors can instantly create free mobile web sites for their listings, expanding their reach to house hunters on the go.

Princeton, NJ – September, 18, 2007- Mobile Visions, Inc., a leading provider of mobile messaging and marketing solutions, today announced the release of Mobile Property Sites (http://www.MobilePropertySites.com), a free service that creates individual property web sites for the mobile web.

As a companion service to their Cell a House (http://www.cellahouse.net) lead generation tool, MobilePropertySites.com allows home sellers to quickly and easily take their place on the mobile web. Real estate agents simply enter the MLS number of the home for sale, and a mobile web site is instantly created. Each property is assigned a unique web address, and sellers have the option of getting a personalized .mobi domain name. An example can be viewed on a mobile phone at http://1MainSt.mobi.

“There are over 200 million phones in the U.S., and the mobile web is growing by leaps and bounds every day.” says Greg Harris, CEO of Mobile Visions, Inc. “With the release of new, more powerful mobile phones every day, the mobile Internet will continue to gain mainstream acceptance. While house hunting may start on the web, in the end you always end up driving around a neighborhood looking at houses.”

With a Cell a House mobile property site, agents get their listings indexed in the mobile search engines, as well as have them promoted through Mobile Visions’ soon to be released mobile property search portal. Mobile property sites are completely free, and each property can be setup in seconds.

Real estate agents simply log in, enter an MLS number, and press a button. The site is instantly set up and ready to be promoted through lawn signs, print ads, listing magazines, and more. Additional lead generation options are also available that provide the agent with the phone number of the home buyer requesting information.

“What’s the point of putting a web address on a for sale sign, when we know for a fact that 100% of the people reading it don’t have access to a computer?” says Harris. “With a mobile property site, you can provide the buyer with all the information they need, right to their mobile phone, while they are standing in front of the house.”

Upcoming options include researching comparables and recent sales, as well as viewing other listings nearby from the same agent. Cell a House will even include directions from one home to the other.

Experience the Cell a House service first-hand by dialing 1-800-914-9907 from a mobile phone. Simple enter house code 99999 to be sent to a Cell a House mobile property site.

To create free mobile sites for your properties visit http://www.MobilePropertySites.com.

For information on how to use Cell a House, and text messaging to reach home buyers directly, visit http://www.CellAHouse.net.

About Mobile Visions, Inc:

Mobile Visions, Inc., based in Princeton, NJ, provides mobile marketing and SMS messaging solutions, quickly and affordably. Mobivity, Mobile Visions’ text messaging platform is the first fully automated 2-way system, making mobile marketing easy and affordable for small to medium sized businesses.

Contact Mobile Visions, Inc at 1-888-808-6274, or email press@mobivity.com.

Are You Reaching Buyers While They Are Out Hunting?

2007-08-14T08:08:59Z

By definition, the term “hunting” means to actively seek something. Since the Internet has become such a driving force in selling homes, the “hunt” has become much easier. It has also lowered the barrier of entry for your competition, and has created a level playing field.

A real estate agent who does not have a web presence of some type would not be taken seriously by any buyer in this 21^st century market. We all know that. So it’s safe to say that between agent web sites, broker web sites, Realtor.com, Trulia, Zillow and the other big players, that you have the Internet covered. You’ve even created a web site specifically for a single property. Your listing can be found, and you can be contacted by anyone searching online for what you are selling.

But what good is any of this marketing when the buyer is not in front of their computers? Home buyers are not driving around with their computers searching for homes, and sending emails to agents. If we believed that, then we would not even bother to put up a “For Sale” sign.

You’ve also listed your properties in the local newspaper, The Real Estate Book, Homes & Land, and other local real estate listing publications. The reason you do this is that although the Internet plays a big part in getting leads, these “off-line” methods still bring in buyers. These print publications still play a big part in the actual “house hunting” that is being done.

So how can you reach these buyers? How can you reach out and grab them? How many people drive by one of your homes for sale, or see an ad in one of the publications and don’t contact you?

There are 3 things that virtually all consumers have with them at any given time. They have their keys, their wallet, and their mobile phone. While the keys won’t help you sell a house, and the wallet is needed when they are ready to spend money, the mobile phone is the most personal item that can be used to reach consumer. Which of these 3 things will almost 100% of your prospects have within arms length of them when they are exposed to your ad or sign?

What good is all the Internet marketing you’ve done going to do you now? What good is that lawn sign with the web address to the cool website going to do you now?

For example, let’s say a home buyer grabs one of the real estate magazines at the Diner and sits down to look through. They start to mark off some houses that look interesting. They would love to know more, but the last thing they want to do right now is start calling agents, wait for callbacks, and feel sales pressure. They just want to see some more pictures and details.

By adding one simple sentence to your print ads, you can provide that information and at the same time capture the buyer’s phone number.

“To see pictures & info text the house id# to 95495,
or call 1-866-760-2345 from your mobile phone
and it will be sent instantly”

.What does it cost to add a single sentence to the bottom of your ad, or to put it on a rider? It cost NOTHING! You are already paying for the ad space. You are paying for the ad design. It’s just words.

With this simple sentence, you have accomplished the following:

You’ve made the ad trackable. You can now know EXACTLY how many people requested your information. You now know EXACTLY which of your ads is drawing more response.
You’ve collected the mobile phone numbers of buyers that are clearly interested in your type of property. Maybe this one is not good for them? We’ll I’m sure there are others you can show them.
You’ve given the consumer what they wanted, when they wanted it. They don’t need to rip out an ad, or remember to visit your site when they get home. They have a text message on their phone with your contact information, and a link to your mobile web site. How many of those consumers would put your business into their phone’s address book with a single click?

Mobile phones are advancing at an incredible pace. The new Apple iPhone has raised the bar, and mobile use will begin to grow at an exponential rate. From the palm of their hand, buyers are able to find properties, and do the same research they can do from their computers. As these new, incredibly advanced mobile phones arrive, mobile Internet usage will explode. Will you be found?

Start thinking about adding a mobile strategy to your marketing arsenal. Staying ahead of the curve will bring in more buyers, and more listings.

Greg Harris is the Founder and CEO of Mobile Visions, Inc. the providers of the Cell a House service. Cell a House is a mobile phone based lead generation and information tool for agents and home buyers. Cell a House creates a mobile website for each property with detailed information for the buyer. The buyer’s phone number is send to the agent for follow-up.

Mobile Visions, Inc specializes in creating tools that use the mobile phone to increase sales through the use of text messaging and mobile web sites.

For more information, visit http://www.cellahouse.net, or visit his blog at http://blog.mobivity.com.

Cell a House can be reached at 1-877-659-0629.