REAL Trends was contracted to research and develop a whitepaper covering mobile aspects of real estate with an emphasis on mobile websites. While we aggregate our data and construct the whitepaper, we thought we would share some of our general observations with the real estate industry.

We analyzed several hundred of the top real estate brokerages in the country to find out what they did with their mobile presence. We then graded each on their mobile websites. Often times, a brokerage's website is the consumer's first impression of a real estate brokerage. Unfortunately, there is a large percentage of real estate brokerages that are sending the signal to consumers that if you are on a mobile device, then you're better off going elsewhere. That elsewhere is one of the reasons the large portals are commandeering your hard-earned real estate web traffic.

Template Sites

We found far too many out-of-the-box template mobile websites and not enough of what makes local brokerages the go-to source for real estate—a custom mobile site. Ultimately, having a custom mobile site gives you a competitive advantage. On the flip side, we found a small percentage of brokerages that have impressive mobile websites or mobile apps. These brokerages have differentiated themselves significantly and made the mobile consumer experience spectacular. The premise of the white paper will not only recognize these companies, but also point out the features and characteristics they've developed that stands them apart.

Mobile Device Searches

A statistic that is often overlooked but has huge implications for our industry is that one in four visits to real estate websites come from a mobile device. This has far-reaching implications. As consumers begin their search, many are perusing on a mobile device— oftentimes in a neighborhood they dream to live in one day. If their first impression of your real estate brokerage is poor, what message are you sending potential customers? If you don't appeal to this consumer, you'll end up buying this person back as a lead later on in the buying cycle.

When searching for the answer, many real estate firms opt for the inexpensive template-based mobile solutions. We encourage you to explore a solution that will pay dividends in the long run and differentiate your brokerage. Our friends at Aumnia develop mobile web solutions for brokerages. They become a true partner to help you adapt, grow, integrate and create the best user experience possible.

It's not an off the shelf product, but in the end you're not just adding a new system that operates in a silo, which is a big problem in our industry. Aumnia takes the time to integrate the leads and data into your CRM, so you truly have a seamless platform.

This article originally appeared on the REAL Trends Blog. Reprinted with permission of REAL Trends Inc. Copyright © 2014

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