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Showing Beacon....gadget or good idea.

Real Estate Agent with Former Agent

November 20, 2007 01:05 AM

Has anyone started to use the new product on the market called the showing beacon? I have been hearing more and more about these as our association has been working with this company.

Apparently you place this item in the home and the showing agent is asked to push the red button upon the exit of the showing. Then the showing beacon wirelessly connects to the base unit in the home (up to 100 ft away) that is connected to a house telephone jack. The showing beacon then sends a signal (makes a call) to the service and then it sends up to two phone calls and/or two text messages to the numbers that you have previsouly entered for the sellers notifying that the showing agent is done and they may return home.

Shwoing BEacon

Now I do see a benefit to this as I would hate to have to "find something to do" for a period of up to two hours as that is how our system allows agents to set their appointments.

With this item the seller is notified quickly. So let's say they set an appointment from 2-4 pm to show the house and the arrive at 2:30. The average showing takes 15 to 30 minutes so the homeowner is under the impression that they haveto be away from the house until at least 4pm. With this item they would be notified that the showing was over by 3 pm and they could return home an hour earlier.

This is where I see the value in it, more convienece for the seller = a plus to using you as thier service provider and that is what my team (www.MyNewNCHome.com) is all about, taking care of the customer.

Now understand, this item does have a cost...but not to bad...about $35 a piece (from what I read) and then there is a service fee of $50 a year or $20 per listing (that's a no-brainer...). Also, if you are a CSS (Centralized Showing Service) member there are furthur discounts...good ones.

If you are currently using this item give the users here at ActiveRain a little feedback.

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James & Tara Painting

Silverman Realty Inc. - Jacksonville, FL

Realtor - Jacksonville, Florida

I think it is a good idea. I've never heard of it though.

Nov 20, 2007 11:44 PM

Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker

Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA

Put 40 years of experience to work for you

Seems the success of this gadget is contingent on the selling agent remembering to push a button. Lots of luck with that. I mean, if you can't get a selling agent to lock the back door or turn off the lights, why would they remember to push a button upon departure?

Wouldn't it be easier for a seller to just leave the house when the selling agent shows up, walk around the block, drive to the park, whatever, come back to check to see if the agent's car was still there?

Sometimes I think manufacturers dream up gadgets just to sell gadgets. Maybe I'm just old and cranky.

Nov 21, 2007 03:06 AM

Steve Shatsky

Dallas, TX

This seemed to me to be a "gadget" when it was first introduced in our market a few years ago and based on the fact that I have only encountered two of them in the past few years I would say it has not caught on here. Basically, if you set a one hour showing window does it really make this device a worthwhile investment to know that the sellers can come home 15 minutes early?

I actually asked a couple of sellers I was working with when the beacon was introduced if they saw an advantage to my getting them one and they told me that if they had planned to be out for the hour that the showing was scheduled for, odds are that they would not be coming home early anyway and that they would rather I put the money I was willing to invest in the device towards additional marketing.

Nov 21, 2007 07:06 AM

Armando Rodriguez

QUEST REALTY SERVICES - Orlando, FL

Orlando Homes 4 Sale, Real Estate Broker-GRI

Interesting, but they'll have to figure a way for it to send the signal automatically as the buyers leave. Otherwise it may not work as planed.

Thanks for the info anyway!

Nov 21, 2007 07:40 AM

Adam Brett

The Adam and Eric Group - Fullerton, CA

The Adam and Eric Group, Fullerton's Finest

I have never seen this and to be honest I don't think agents would be consistent enough to make it worth while

Nov 21, 2007 08:54 AM

Gene Allen

Fathom Realty - Cary, NC

Realty Consultant for Cary Real Estate

Sounds like a neat idea but again you have to rely on the agent who usually is not competent enough to leave a card to let you know someone was there. Have not seen them in this area.

Nov 23, 2007 01:17 AM

Anonymous

DerrickR

From a home seller prospective, I think it is a great idea. Given the fact that on numerous occassions we received a call about a showing and had nothing planned as we were comfortably watching t.v. We drove around the block a few times and finally waited in a parked car that was angled so that we could see when they left. It would have been nice to know that I could go to a local starbucks and wait until I received a text. I think all that would need to be done is either place the button near the front door or put a small nicely printed sign on the front door as a friendly reminder to push the button.

Dec 27, 2007 01:29 AM

Alan Langstone

Mount Pleasant, SC

A lttle late as far as a comment goes but, we currently have four Showing Beacon, we use them on all appropriate listings.

The feedback from the sellers is that they think they are wonderfully, especially in the evenings or at weekends.

Surprisingly we have yet not had an agent fall to push the button, when you use the door hanger by the lockbox, it's kind of hard for them to forgat to do it.

So from my wife and I it is a big thumbs up. Go Buy One.

May 31, 2008 03:59 AM

Kevin

How can it work if all they have is a cell no land line?

It just can't

Jul 12, 2010 01:20 PM

John Benevides

We have them and have used them for about a year now and our clients (seller's) rave about them! We use it as a marketing tool as just another "added benefit" we provide our clients above and beyond our competition. I don't think it is a gimmick or gadget because it really works and has true value for the client. Our normal showing times through our CSS is two hours, so that is a long time to be gone for a 15 minute listing, especially if the seller has small children and/or dogs.

The only major drawback is that the seller MUST have a home based landline! If you clients are under 30 years old, they probably don't! Even so, it usually doesn't work with VOI (voice over internet) technology so that weeds out more candidates. Still, for those clients that have the "vanilla" home based landline and can benefit from the features, it is a nice perk that almost no other Agents are offering.

Mar 24, 2011 11:17 AM

#10

Mike

Does anyone have an example of what the text message reads?

Mar 25, 2015 11:36 PM

#11

Dena Smith

DSmith Realtors - Irving, TX

I have one and the agents would never push the button when they were done. so it was pretty worthless. It's been sitting on the shelf for years - is the service still operational? Anyone want to buy mine?

May 10, 2017 05:08 PM

Showing Beacon....gadget or good idea.

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