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Is 'Mobile' the Wave of the Future?

We've been hearing it for several years...

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Mobile has been hot. As real estate professionals we get calls from vendors all of the time offering the opportunity to be an early adopter. The problem is that we have been able to be early adopters for three years. And there are predictions that THIS will be the year the Mobile Apps move into the mainstream.

Sure, now there are more phones capable of managing these applications. Blackberries and iPhones and Droids and the new Nexus One. But the problem there is that we... as real estate professionals... assume that everyone else is where we are. I hardly know an agent that doesn't have a high end smartphone. But yesterday, MediaPost released its data showing that in 2009, only 17% of mobile phones in the US are "smartphones". That would include phones operating on Symbian (Nokia), iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, PalmOS, Android and Linux.

That is a GIANT leap from 2008, and I would expect to see another leap for 2010. In 2008, smartphones had an 11% market share. We might see a 25% market share for 2010...

2010 could be the year of the mobile application in real estate... but I think we have another year to wait. A lot of these phones may not be the machines we are thinking of as smartphones. They have web surfing capability, but not on the level of the iPhone, Blackberry or Android. about 50% of the smartphones are on Symbian and are Nokias and Samsungs that are more tuned for music and photos... Of course, some of those phones ARE web optimized, so it is difficult for me to say exactly how many are really web surfing optimized. But it is less than 17%...

Do you think 2010 is the year that will turn the tide for real estate specific apps on mobile phones?

I'd love to hear from you...

Posted by Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy on 01/08/2010 11:14 PM

Comments (12)

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12 Comments on Is 'Mobile' the Wave of the Future?

JAN

2010

Exactly on point! We need to be reminded that we may be moving faster in media than the norm. Great to be on the cutting edge but we need to not let it replace picking up the phone and calling or person to person contact! Media tech everything can get in our way as well as help us.

Great post!

Brenda Swigert, e-PRO Realtor

ReMax Unlimited West Chester and Liberty Township Office 513-759-4000

www.BrendaSwigert.com email me at BrendaSwigert@gmail.com

West Chester Ohio Top Realtor

Liberty Township Ohio Homes For Sale

Cincinnati Ohio Short Sales and Foreclosures

There is leading edge technology and bleeding edge - bleeding edge being very expensive to say you are the first kid on the block to have the newest gee whiz bang toy. Sounds to me like if you were adopting the technology 3 years ago you were on the bleeding edge.

As far as mobile goes, I have not had one person who called in say they are using the internet on their phone when doing real estate searches. Maybe it's just my market. I'm sure there are tech savvy people who are, but it seems most are still driving and calling the number on the sign.

Lane,

I've had my blackberry for two years now, and love it. I'm excited about Apple's new "slate PC/tablet/reader" that's supposed to hit the street by the end of this month. Viva tech!

Mike in Tucson

I think we will see major improvements, but I am not sure if this will be the year that we all go mobile.

JAN

2010

I have had the rmls mobile on my phone. I was not impressed with it up here in Clark County, WA. Sure it had a neat feature that I could sit in my car in front of an address and then pull up all homes for sale within one mile...but it just didn't seem to be a useful feature. It really didn't help me with my business. The few clients I showed by handing them my Palm Treo 700 smart phone (a dinosaur, I know) weren't very impressed looking at homes on a tiny phone screen.

I do text...alot.

Lane

I find it amazing that each day ushers in another wave of yet more ideas and applications.

I would have a hard time trying to do a contract on my "smart phone." However I do think when a good table PC hits the market we will have come a long way towards being able to do our business anywhere. Right now the best "mobile" application I have is electronic signatures which means no more faxing documents and with many clients coming in from overseas assignments it is a completly boon to my business. I just got a Droid this week and I'm still playing to figure out all the possibilities.

I just wish I had a phone I could watch the game on as I do an open house tomorrow.

JAN

2010

I can vouch for not everyone being on board with the SmartPhones, etc. I refer and finding an agent in my area who even checks their email every day is a problem. ;-(

JAN

2010

Thanks everyone... I've been using a Tablet for four years. It rocks. There are fewer tablets on the market now than when I got mine. Of course, when Apple comes out witrh theirs, everyone will gush over it.

There is a lot of cool tech, but sometimes it takes a while for it to "click"... I wonder if mobile tech is ready to click for the real estate space yet...

JAN

2010

Amazing what keeps coming out. I have had my smart for less then two years and a new one is on the horizon.

MAR

2010

Gene - Technology is moving quickly... and will continue to do so... Sems like there is always something right around the corner.

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Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy

Suwanee, GA

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Diamond Dwellings Realty

Address: 2078 Teron Trace, Suite 250, Dacula, GA, 30019

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