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There's an App for That...

white rabbit Is your MLS, board of Realtors, brokerage progressive? Are they on the cutting edge?

Marc Davison wrote Real Estate's White Rabbit about traditional brands like Betty Crocker, Kraft Foods and Monopoly having an iPhone App.

And about Zillow's iPhone App

What did traditional real estate say??? Some of the comments on Davison's post are about how the Blackberry outsells the iPhone... about how we need to use Blackberry's for business....

It's not about us.

Davison wrote:

"Traditional real estate is always a day late on understanding its customer and a dollar short on shifting quickly to meet their needs.

As long as MLSs, associations, brokers and vendors continue to cater to the stagnant inclinations of their constituents - agents - rather than pushing them forward into new mediums others outside the industry will."

The real estate industry uses Blackberry's and Treo's but our consumers have the iPhone. Do you think we can talk them into giving up their iPhones?

What real estate brand will have the first iPhone App?

Better Homes and Gardens?

Century 21?

Coldwell Banker?

Keller Williams?

Real Living?

Realty Executives?

Re/Max?

Or if your MLS has a consumer portal, will the board do an iPhone App?

Or will we just ignore the iPhone as an industry and hope it just all goes away?

In 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' the White Rabbit says something like:

"I'm late, I'm late
for a very important date,
No time to say hello, goodbye,
I'm late, I'm late, I'm late"

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Posted by Maureen McCabe Central OH Homes on 05/13/2009 07:01 AM

Comments (15)

Zillow iPhone App in the ActiveRain Channel

zillow, real living, email

Post is included in group: Real Living
Post is included in group: Realtors®

15 Comments on There's an App for That...

MAY

Oh how I wish our MLS board would learn how to spell technology....we do have the portals...but what I have lobbied for with board members and have been told "not in my lifetime" is IDX...go figure...grrrr...have a great day !

We have to link to our brokers IDX (Columbus Board of Realtors MLS rule.)

Our board has a tech users committee. I quit a year or so ago. I think they are going to DO social media this month... thought about going but I think it would still be a waste of time...

or maybe that was last month...

It's the technology era! If you don't jump on the train you'll be left behind. Thos members that fill the board positions of the various real estate organizations are seasoned agents that have been in the game for many years. Thus, the reluctance to change and technology. I'm building my entire business around the Internet. I'm buying an Iphone here in the coming weeks. Just waiting to see if Apple is going to release the next generation phone next month!

Thanks for the comment Chad. Would Avalar do an iPhone App? Does the brand you are affiliated value technology?

Maureen, I switched to the Mac at Christmas. I get lots of comments on it at Board Meetings being accused of going to the dark side. hummmm I am sure our board will not do this.

Heck, most of the board members JUST switched to Blackberrys from Treo's and they are all in love with them. I will eventually get an Iphone but not for awhile, too much of a learning curve on the Mac.

But, I use mobleMe and it will sync in the air to my lap top so I am intriqued to say the least.

I read this this morning on Marc's post on Inman. I applaud Zillow for forward thinking and in light of all the discussion on IDX syndication last week, it is obvious why they are at the forefront of technology and filled the void and continue to do so for R dot c.

Maureen,

Its funny that you mention some agents not wanting to give up there blackberry, My daugher saved all last summer to purchase an iphone and as soon as I had an option to upgrade I did, in fact I just downloaded the zillow app yesterday. Haven't played with it yet, but what a great idea about a company app.

Katharine

The power of the Internet. . .it will change the way we do business. I hope our local MLS can keep up!

Missy I did not realize it was on Inman today. Thanks

I don't have an iPhone or a Blackberry or a Treo. What real estate agents use internally really does not matter to consumers who use the phone they are comfortable with.... lots of young consumers their choice to hang out on the web is an iPhone.

Melina Tomson wrote on Spencer R's AR post about the Zillow App:

I just created an iPhone app for my brokerage and am trying it out. I personally think you need to use your daughter's video in promos.

My kids (7 and 8) work the iPhone like a pro...although we don't have the Zillow iPhone dance going on :)

We have a some realtors in the northern part of New Hampshire that only have dial up... so we have to cater to them and we are really in the dark ages here in New Hampshire.

that's internal though isn't it Joan? That's about what goes on at the Board of Realtors, or at the company how agent's access information. That is not how you distribute the info to consumers?

Consumers are on the internet to get their info... and they want to be able to access info on their phone of choice. Some of us still want them to look at the newspaper because that is where we have our properties advertised.

Maureen,

It is a big hit with the local folks when the MLS board here forgives a month or two of dues at year end due to sufficient reserves. Seems to me that that is a disservice to the membership when there are so many technological avenues that require an investment to develop.

I would rather they take the money, even raise dues, and advance the platforms we work with.

Heck, Microsoft is badgering me to upgrade to IE8, and IE8 is not supported by the current MLS solution. I'm supposed to downgrade to IE7 if I buy a new computer? Shucks...

Yes, this is all internal, but the effect is to stunt the value of the interface, and the ensuing inefficiencies ripple to the consumer in many ways.

Mike I am not diminishing the responsibility the boards have to their members to catch up with technology but some brokers don't wait for the board, some agents don't wait for their brokerage.

I wish I were more techy.

Seems CB has an iPhone App but "it is lame" at least according to John Rowles in a comment on the Inman post of Davison 'Real Estate White Rabbit' today.

John Rowles (broker w/ Century 21?) wrote:

"Even when the brands get pointed in the right direction, they can't execute. The CB iPhone app came out well ahead of the Zillow app, so why didn't it become a top 20 App Store download?

Because it is lame compared to Zillow's app.

The bar has been set. At this point it is pointless to release a branded app that is less useful than Zillow's."

Oh well... back to the drawing board....

Intero Real Estate Services has an iPhone app. (InteroRealEstate.com) I'm not with them now but was for a few years and they are pretty good with technology. [They're the firm with the largest market share in Silicon Valley (Santa Clara Co., CA) right now, having just inched out Coldwell Banker and Alain Pinel.] If any other realty firms in Silicon Valley have an iPhone app, I'm unaware of it.

Then again, I'm still using my treo (and most of my clients do not use the iPhone, but a couple of them do). The iPhone isn't available w/Verizon, which has way better coverage here, so I wouldn't even consider it right now. Great tools are not nearly as important as calls not getting dropped.

MAY

What we use to conduct business doesn't matter much to consumers if X % and growing are using iphones. We can go on using Treos, Blackberrys, they will use what they need to for what they are doing.

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