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Now do I really need the iPhone? Zillow and my Client finally left me no choice!

First: I love my Nokia PDA. It is a great phone. It does everything I want from a phone: E-Mail, Web browsing, Tethering even SIP-Telephony without a glitch. Fun stuff also like Google Latitude, always letting my family know where I am. Google Earth and a lot more.

I tried the first iPhone years ago. After a few days I gave it to my daughter. Too many things I loved on my Nokia PDA, it could but would not do (because of some agreements between Apple and At&T).

Then last weekend everything changed:

I drove with a client to look at a home in an area where they would love to move to, but were not able to find the right home. We looked at this home, but sure enough there where to many issues that did not fit their criteria. So we looked around for other homes for sale in the area.

I was prepared. I had my notebook connected via Bluetooth with my Nokia to the Internet (Tethering). I am a technology freak. Always up to date! Not many of the Realtors I know would even try this on the road.

So I thought.....

We found a home that looked interesting, so I started entering the address into the MLS when my Client, playing with his iPhone, read out loud all the info of the home: Bedrooms, Bathrooms, Sqft, sale price. I wasn't even finished typing in the address. Then he showed me pictures of the inside on his iPhone.

Now I just found myself in the stone age of technology! 5min ago I thought I was at the cutting edge. Wow what a feeling.

Things like that happen to me only one time!

Back home I ordered the new iPhone 3G S online. I also bought a device to mount it in my car like a navigator.

Now I am back in the game and wonder how I survived without this device. I always have Zillow activated, so while I drive through town, I can see the real estate information about the homes I am passing automatically. The built in GPS follows my route and shows me the homes around me without any interaction with the phone. If I am interested in a home, I tap my finger on the home and receive more details and in many cases pictures from the inside. What a great tool to have, and now I am impressing my clients!

Looking forward to show you homes in the area and being able to answer your questions about every home, even if I don't know all the details. I just look them up right then and there!

See you soon!
Richard

Dipl.-Ing.
Richard A. Stephan
Licensed Realtor®, e-PRO®, TRC
TonyDavidsHomes.com LLC
1420 Celebration Blvd. Suite 200
Celebration, Florida 34747 / USA
Mobile: +1 - 407 - 433 - 8702
Fax : +1 - 407 - 624 - 4855
My Website: www.RichardStephanRealtor.com
Office Website: http://TonyDavidsHomes.com
Mail To: blog@RichardStephanRealtor.com

Posted by Richard Stephan on 06/24/2009 10:44 PM

Comments (17)

Zillow App for the Iphone in the ActiveRain Channel

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This post has been included in Florida Information Osceola County, FL Information Celebration, FL Information

17 Comments on Now do I really need the iPhone? Zillow and my Client finally left me no choice!

JUN

Hmm, maybe I should get a Virtual Tour application for the Iphone as well,

off to work!

We do not live in an area where the IPhone will work -- or should say where ATT will work.

Really interesting, I wonder if the Blackberry storm has a similar application??

JUN

VOHT: Let me know when you find the app!

Bob & Carolin: In my area AT&T has great coverage. I know this is not the case everywhere. Reception is key, so if your area does not have decent AT&T coverage right now, you may have to wait.

David: At this point neither Blackberry.com nor Zillow.com have any information about this application coming to the Blackberry Storm. But if an application is this good, it is usually just a matter of time until other capable devices are incuded.

Richard-

I am so glad to hear that you liked the app! It has been fun to watch how much people are downloading it - about 500,000 in the first 2 months.

In case people don't have an iPhone but want to see it demonstrated, here is a short video about it - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJfrdcbfXsc

When we launched the iPhone app, we got tons of questions about crreating a Blackberry app. So we are in the very beginning stages of creating one. No eta yet, but it is coming.

Thanks for the post, it was a fun read!

Sara: Thank you for your comment. I never thought I would get a direct response from Zillow! The video is very informative.

David: There you have your answer first hand. You can get/keep your Blackberry Storm!

JUN

Fantastic story Richard.

- Spencer (from Zillow)

JUL

The Smarter Agent thing is really helpful - there are also some great duplex and investment property apps out there.

Sounds like you are now a true Iphone Realtor. What do you think about Iphone v. Blackberry? for web browsing, MLS info, photos, maps, etc.

JUL

Got the new Zillow App and it's really cool for search... We just launched a new App with the App Store that is now available. It's called AgentWorx. It is totally designed from the ground up to be a really easy yet powerful contact management and agent productivity tool. It keeps you on track with you business!

You can read more about it at the following URL www.appspice.com or go to my blog entry on ActiveRain at the following URL http://activerain.com/blogs/larssonc

Good selling!

JUL

What a cool story!

I agree, the Zillow iPhone app Version 2 coupled with the new iPhone 3G S is an unstoppable mobile RE tool.

My favorite thing is that it's so addictive to such a wide audience--everyone from agents to my parents.

Spencer & Ajay: How many more of you are out there? You Zillow people seem really active on AR. I guess that is a good thing, since you get a lot of feedback here. Keep up the good work!

Tom and Chris: Thank you for the ideas for more useful apps. I will try them out.

Harrison: I am not able to answer your question. Before the iPhone I have been using the Nokia E60 PDA. As I explained, it did everything I needed, but the Zillow app was the killer app for the E61. I have no personal experience with the Blackberry.

JUL

I was searching for a good real estate app and found your post actually linked to from propertyadguru (not affiliated just found it in search). So I think I am going to download Zillow and possibly see about AgentWorx too. I would like to be able to use multiple apps, but without having to re-key data of at all possible. Thanks for the informative review!

AUG

Valerie: I am glad you liked my blog. I am sure you will be happy with the Zillow app.

AUG

Brilliant story!
It's amazing how quickly you get used to new technologies.
Well, at least some of us... ;-)

I wrote a post on GPS solutions within the real estate a few weeks back.
http://www.thebeliever.se/smart-use-of-internet/2009/6/29/gps-the-killer-app-for-mobile-services-in-real-estate.html

AUG

LOL! Can you handle one more real life Iphone story? I was house hunting with my son last month. Me, the Mom and Real Estste agent with my Blackberry curve, and my son the Major in the AF loaded with his Iphone. Every time I turned around he was using the Zillow app. Yesterday was my birthday...guess what I got? My very own Iphone! However, a die hard Blackberry fan, I sent an interoffice email asking for feedback on the value of an Iphone in our business and went straight to active rain and found your post! Thanks!

Cindy

SEP

Too bad Iphone isn't compatible with Supra ekey technology. I hate carrying more than one device to open lockboxes. As a result the Palm Treo is my phone of choice. If any of the Zillow execs are reading this post, there are more Realtors nationwide with Treo's due to the fact above. Please don't overlook this large segment of your market.

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