Realtor.com Launches Commute Time Search Filter for iOS
Realtor.com just made it easier for real estate buyers to find a home that matches their lifestyle needs. On Monday, the property search portal released a new commute time search filter that allows consumers to search for homes that fall within their desired commute time from work. The filter, currently available only on the iOS version of the Realtor.com mobile app, lets users select their preferred commute length alongside search criteria like number of beds/baths, house size, and more. Home buyers can search in increments of 10 minutes up to 60 minutes. They can also use the "With traffic" option to filter by commute lengths at rush hour or at off-peak times. Once the maximum preferred commute time and other criteria are entered, listings that match are displayed: Realtor.com® said that the commute time filter was created in response to consumer feedback. According to a survey of 600 realtor.com® users, 85 percent of respondents would sacrifice home features like lot size, home size, and home style in favor of a shorter commute. Forty percent of those surveyed said that they wanted to reduce their current commute by up to 45 minutes. "Our goal is [to] go beyond helping consumers search for listings by providing them with the tools and information to make decisions about which homes are right for them," said Chung Meng Cheong, CPO of realtor.com®. "With a more holistic view of their drive to and from work, people are able to make more informed decisions about where to live, and hopefully reduce some unnecessary stress from their daily lives." The commute time filter is only available to iOS users currently, but realtor.com® plans to release launch the feature on its Android app and website in the near future.

School Report Cuts Sales Cycle in Half
Real estate apps claim to do it all and, most likely, some do. But for this West Michigan Realtor®, the only apps that matter are the ones that save her time and money. "As a Realtor®, I spend a lot of money investing in my business," said Michelle Gordon, Realtor® and founder of The Gordon Group, JH Realty Partners, based in West Michigan. "I need to make sure the tools or apps I buy live up to expectations." Michelle consistently evaluates apps for their ability to produce results and whether or not the data they provide overlaps with another app that she is also paying for. She claims her diligence to protecting dollars spent is one of several reasons she is loyal to the Realtors Property Resource® (RPR®) app. "I will no longer pay for vendor tools that attempt to replicate RPR but fall short," she said. "RPR is already paid for in our NAR dues. It offers everything I need to run searches, generate comps and run reports. It doesn't spam me or advertise to me, and is constantly adding new features and tools. What else could I want?" Michelle says that Realtors® only need to ask themselves one question when considering adoption of a new business tool: Does it show value? "All the app needs to do is prove to us that it's going to help us make money and make our life easier. From there, we should be able to put our minds to using it." Yet, she says, many of her contemporaries avoid using real estate apps simply because there are too many choices or they lack the technical know how.

Realtor.com's Mobile App Gets Spiffed Up for Spring
Realtor.com spent the first quarter of this year sprucing up its mobile app for spring. First, the property portal announced two augmented reality features that let smartphone users look up and view listing information via their phone's camera. We told you about that update, but we didn't cover two recent features that really spike the fun factor of the Realtor.com mobile app—both for you and for your clients. Here are two new features you can start using for the selling season ahead: iMessage integration Realtor.com joined the ranks of Zillow and Trulia when they added iMessage integration in February. The integration lets iOS users browse and share recently viewed, saved, and nearby listings right from their phone's text messaging app. Users can preview basic property details like price, square footage, and number of beds/baths with a long press of their device's screen.

Discover MLS-Touch!
Thursday, March 23, 2017 at 10:00 AM PDT MLS-Touch is the application you've been waiting for... and we want to take a few minutes to show you what it can do! MLS-Touch is the most powerful mobile MLS solution packed with features like map search, instant sales comparables, quick access to your listing inventory, email multiple listings and the InstaView which can get you details of the property in front of you instantly. Available for the iPhone, iPad and Android devices, this feature-packed mobile application will allow you to research and show homes, respond to information requests, set up future showings, and much more! Register now!

Realtor.com Introduces Augmented Reality to Its Mobile App
At the end of last year, there was a lot of chatter about augmented reality being one of the "trends to watch" in 2017. Well, it looks like the pundits are already being proven right, with a major real estate player announcing two brand new augmented reality features in their consumer facing mobile app. Today, Realtor.com launched "Sign Snap," a feature that lets consumers snap a picture of 'for sale' or for 'rent signs' with their smartphone to view property information. Sign Snap uses GPS and image recognition technology to search Realtor.com's database and display that information to users of their property search app for consumers. The feature is available now for Android devices, with iOS deployment expected this spring. Next Up: Street Peek Also slated for a spring deployment is Street Peek. This is where the augmented reality fun really kicks in. This feature lets users point their phone's camera at a house, group of houses, or even an entire street and view property information overlaid on the camera's feed. Users can pan around a neighborhood to see data like the listing or rental price of every home, recently sold price (if applicable), estimated value, and the number of beds/baths.

Discover MLS-Touch! (9/15)
Thursday, September, 2016 at 1:00 PM PDT MLS-Touch is the application you've been waiting for... and we want to take a few minutes to show you what it can do! MLS-Touch is the most powerful mobile MLS solution packed with features like map search, instant sales comparables, quick access to your listing inventory, email multiple listings and the InstaView which can get you details of the property in front of you instantly. Available for the iPhone, iPad and Android devices, this feature-packed mobile application will allow you to research and show homes, respond to information requests, set up future showings, and much more! Register now!

Rate My Favorite Learning (8/18)
Thursday, August 18, 2016 at 10:00 AM PDT This session is for agents who are looking for a better way to engage with their clients, especially Millennials. Benefit to the Agent Pro Agents are able to give their clients a branded website that allows friends/family to rate their favorite properties As a Pro Agent you have access to all ratings and comments from your clients unique influencers Gain exposure to potential leads that invite their friends and family to rate their favorites. Client Benefits Provide clients a tool to easily communicate with their friends/family during their home buying process Perfect tool to provide those Millennial buyers who are looking for instant feedback while they search for their favorite property Register now!

5 Real Estate Apps that Used Augmented Reality Way Before Pokemon Go
"Augmented reality" has entered the cultural lexicon in a big way, thanks to Pokemon Go. It's not just teenagers and gamers who are chattering about it, either. Just last week, I saw an article on a business blog that listed four industries that are primed for augmented reality to disrupt. One of the those industries? Real estate! From the post: The potential applications augmented reality could have in real estate is not to be discredited. By holding up a phone to any house and retrieving important details about the property — i.e., home values, bedrooms, and square footage, etc. — would change the landscape of obtaining valuable real estate information. Guess no one told the author that we in the real estate industry have already been leveraging augmented reality like this--and for years! Let's take a look at some of the apps that have been busy blazing the augmented reality trail in our industry. Real Estate's Two Heavy Hitters First, let's clarify what augmented reality is. It's when the real world is supplemented by data, visuals, or sound via a device like a smartphone or tablet. Typically, users can see these "extras" by turning on their device's camera and viewing the surrounding environment through their phone's live camera feed. In the case of Pokemon Go, the game taps into your phone's GPS and camera to show you virtual creatures that you can catch (among other things). In the case of real estate, consumers and agents can use their phone's camera feed to view property information overlaid onto the live video feed. This short video shows you how this process looks in HomeSpotter, an augmented reality property search app:

Discover MLS-Touch! (6/22)
Wednesday, June 22, 2016 at 1:00 PM PDT MLS-Touch is the application you've been waiting for... and we want to take a few minutes to show you what it can do! MLS-Touch is the most powerful mobile MLS solution packed with features like map search, instant sales comparables, quick access to your listing inventory, email multiple listings and the InstaView which can get you details of the property in front of you instantly. Available for the iPhone, iPad and Android devices, this feature-packed mobile application will allow you to research and show homes, respond to information requests, set up future showings, and much more! Register now!

Realtor.com Launches Overhauled Version of Their Consumer Mobile App
Realtor.com launched a new version of their iOS app today that seeks to simplify the home search process for consumers. In addition to offering users a "streamlined search" experience, those with limited memory on their phones will be happy to learn that the updated app now takes up 40 percent less space. This pared down version of the app, dubbed v9.0, now puts the search experience front-and-center, sending consumers directly to a map of listings upon opening. The updated app is only available to users of Apple devices running iOS 9, and it taps into the new features that this operating system offers, like 3D Flyover. With 3D Flyover, mobile users can see listings and nearby attractions from a bird's-eye view, as demonstrated in the screenshot below: Other features include property details organized into sections that expand to display more information upon a quick finger tap, the ability to view nearby amenities like restaurants and stores, and the ability to share listings numerous ways, including via text, email, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Pinterest, and more from within the app.

Five Ways GPS Technology Has Transformed Real Estate
Much of the hype around smartphones is centered on how they empower users to accomplish important tasks on the go. But your mobile phone isn't just a lightweight version of your computer. Smartphones have unique features that do things your computer can't, and that open up a whole new way of working with real estate data. Chief among these features is GPS technology. Mobile apps can use GPS to tap into your geographic location and serve up a wealth of valuable uses that weren't available before smartphones. Real estate, being supremely location-based, is particularly well-positioned to benefit from this technology. Here are five ways mobile GPS has transformed the housing industry: 1. Property search - Ever been on a showing with a client who wants to know if any nearby properties are for sale? GPS to the rescue! Many mobile search apps today can tap into your phone's GPS and instantly pull up a list of active listings near your current location. Some get pretty fancy about it, too. With HomeSpotter, for example, just point your phone's camera at a property to pull up listing information. RPR Mobile lets Realtors search nearby homes, pull up comparables, and even see information on nearby FSBOs. 2. No more stopping for directions - Mobile navigation is a godsend for always-on-the-go agents. Gone are the days of meticulously writing down directions before leaving for a showing. Now, just type the address into your favorite navigation app for instant driving directions--and to see the flow of traffic on your route. Many property search apps today offer driving directions from right within their interface. Others, like MLS-Touch, even let you create multi-property buyer's tours with a detailed itinerary and directions.

Product Review: Team Phone
VoicePad has become an established leader for mobile property marketing. Always looking for new ways to serve the real estate community, they recently rolled-out a new product offering crafted specifically for real estate teams. Team Phone is a cloud-based phone system that was built with the goal of allowing teams to be more productive and more responsive to consumers' needs. The system, which is integrated with listing data, delivers automated property information, generates leads and automates many business processes. It requires no hardware or software and works with all mobile devices. Meet VoicePad If you're unfamiliar with the concept behind VoicePad, a basic introduction may help. They offer real estate professionals an integrated mobile property marketing platform that includes: call capture (with auto-recorded audio presentations), text (to receive property information via text with links to mobile Web) and mobile Web (mobile websites featuring virtual tours, photos, interactive maps, and online searches). VoicePad currently services over 1500 offices with over 65,000 agents in approximately 200 MLSs. The goal of VoicePad's mobile marketing strategies is, of course, lead generation. And VoicePad is taking their lead generation to the next level . . . but I'm getting ahead of myself; we'll talk about that next week. Now, let's talk about Team Phone.

How to Gain Mobile Market Share and Minimize your Lost Customers
Dan shops for real estate from his desktop. That's how he found you. He visited your real estate website, submitted a lead, and you answered. You've worked with him for several months and he just hasn't found the right house for his family yet. Dan is also a mobile customer. He checks his email from his smartphone, searches homes while waiting in line at the local coffee shop, and occasionally relies on his smartphone to look up listings for sale in the area he drove through. Dan is your customer...but only half the time. When shopping from his desktop, he's using your website and the resources you've provided him. When shopping from his mobile phone, he found your desktop website difficult to navigate. The property search was hard to locate and use. The font was too small. He had to scroll side to side too much, even when zooming. And all those elements designed in Flash don't display, while some of those in JavaScript don't render correctly on his smaller smartphone screen. He can't even find your website when Googling it from his smartphone, because your desktop-optimized site doesn't rank well in mobile searches. He has since found a mobile-optimized website that he likes much better, but it's not yours. When trying to get quick answers on properties, he has found it much easier to submit them through that website rather than copy the MLS number and contact you about them.

The Impact of Increasingly Mobile Technology on Real Estate Pros
The surge in available tech tools for real estate professionals has made many aspects of the job easier. That doesn't mean that technology on-the-go is free of drawbacks. Point2 settled down with Liz Alexander of Keller Williams Realty Atlanta Metro East to discuss a few of the perks and pricks of mobile technology on real estate professionals. Advantages Alexander has enjoyed a career in real estate for eleven years, witnessing fluctuations in the market and the passing of numerous trends. Overall, the use of mobile technology has positively influenced where and how business takes place. "Mobile technology has been huge in this industry," says Alexander. "With smartphones and tablets, it's so much easier for us to be mobile and not confined to an office computer." Mobile technology saves time. Mobile devices allow agents to take photos and videos of properties in a snap; we can instantly upload these resources to our websites or send them directly to clients. Once viewed by the house hunters, agents know immediately which homes we can skip and which we should take the house hunters to in person. Such priceless tools appeal to out-of-town or busy clients who don't have time to tour a slew of homes.

Friday Freebie: Branded Mobile Apps from Smarter Agent
Take advantage of the ever-growing mobile market with this week's Friday Freebie from Smarter Agent. Free Setup on Branded Agent Apps Smarter Agent's Branded Apps are tailored just for you, with your name, phone number, and email address. All calls, texts, and emails go directly to you, regardless of the listing agent. Your competitor will not be marketed in your app, so you get to control your own market and brand. With your own app, you can establish direct relationships with customers, instead of having them come to you by way of aggregators and third parties who control your leads. Smarter Agent will waive the setup fee on its Branded Apps when you use the code RE12. Other features of the Branded Agent Apps include: Customized tools for easy distribution and marketing Access to powerful dashboard and statistics for usage tracking Unlimited free downloads for your clients Call and email tools, photo displaying capabilities, and GPS/geolocation technology Visit Smarter Agent's website to learn more.

Today’s Tech Savvy Home Buyer
Believe it or not, when you are showing a house to today's modern home buyer, they will actually look up from their smart phone from time to time, if only to capture an image, then it's back to their phone to get a Zestimate, check out Trulia, do a map search for comparable properties, or search for the nearest Starbucks. In other words, today's tech savvy home buyers have an abundance of information available to them at their fingertips, and they use it to their advantage. Technology has enabled buyers to become the ultimate educated consumer. So what do agents and brokers need to do to provide instant access for their listings to the home buyer with an iPhone permanently attached to their hand?

My Husband’s Love Affair with the REALTOR.com iPad App
I'm constantly finding my husband in bed with the REALTOR.com iPad app. I'll pop into the grocery store and return to the car only to find him once again enthralled with it. I've decided to take a professional interest in this – if I don't, I'm going to get a serious inferiority complex. So, I sat him down and asked him to explain his love affair with REALTOR.com's consumer-facing mobile solution. His observations are interesting, so I thought I'd share them here. "I know it's accurate." Before using the app, my husband used the property search on the REALTOR.com website. Why? Because somehow (and I swear it wasn't me), he picked up the concept of MLS data being the most accurate data, and that this is where REALTOR.com obtains its data. I shouldn't be surprised – he's an incredibly intelligent guy, and tends to do his research before making any decision (particularly big ones like buying real estate). He says he's been "disappointed" by Zillow. He found great properties listed there that were actually no longer on the market, and his poor heart was broken on several occasions. He's also seen incorrect prices– and doesn't want to be wondering if he's missing an important $50,000 price drop.

Top 10 Articles About Mobile Technology
We continue our series of “Top 10” articles with a focus on mobile. This is a hot topic right now, and shows no sign of becoming any less prominent. Once again, these articles are in no particular order. Oh, and we’ve included a blurb from each to capture your interest. 1) Tired of Your Smartphone Dying? 7 Quick Fixes Two months ago, I finally gave-in and purchased a Smartphone. Given how long I'd avoided taking this step, I was determined to feel ambivalent about my new tool. Instead, my Droid and I have been getting along swimmingly. Except for one thing: it keeps dying on me! 2) 10 Data-Conserving Tips from Road-Warrior Victor Lund We just love Victor Lund, our CEO. Even if he's on a trip to Italy, the man makes himself available to his team at all times. That's good for us, but bad for his phone bill. That's why, on his most recent trip, he decided to compromise on his international data plan. He thought this compromise would give him enough wiggle room; instead, it gave him enough rope to hang himself with. Needless to say, Victor went over his data plan in dramatic fashion. But he decided to give it a positive spin. "It's a learning opportunity!" Okay, so let's learn from it. Here are a few quick tips for data conservation. 3) Are You 'Optimized' for Mobile Being that the mobile technology landscape is progressing at a pace that rivals the New York minute I make it a point to try and get as much 'mobile news' as possible on a daily basis to stay on top of things. The other day I updated my profile with the MMA (Mobile Marketing Association) and for doing so received an e-mail with their top ten stories. Popping it open my eye immediately caught story #2, Century 21 sees mobile as a way forward in real estate; naturally I was inclined to read further.

Do’s and Dont’s of Text Messaging for Real Estate Agents
There's a time and a place for text messaging. It can be a helpful tool – or a totally inappropriate misuse of technology. Here are just a few pointers about how to use text messaging appropriately. As with all our articles, we'd love to hear your comments about your own experiences.

A perfect example of effective,consumer-oriented marketing
We recently stumbled across a QR code success story that is a perfect example of effective,consumer-oriented marketing. Based out of Birmingham,Alabama,a broker named Charita Cadenhead was struggling with a way to entice open house attendees to sign the log-in sheet.  So,she created and began distributing double-sided sign-in cards.  Each card had places for contact info on the front and instructions for downloading a “QR reader app”on the back. After filling out the card and returning it to Charita,each attendee received a “One Day Sale” QR code coupon to scan.  And for the first time in Charita’s career,everyone who attended her open house signed in without hesitation!

3 Ways Mobile Search Solutions Can Capture Leads: Text, Voice and Mobile Browser
I'm about to make a very bold statement. Here it goes: the Internet isn't everything. Don't believe me? Then learn about mobile search, the use of cell phones to obtain information on-the-go. With the ever-increasing use of cell phones, you don't want to miss this growing trend. REALTOR.com® released a great infographic to showcase how important mobile search is specific to the real estate industry. You won't want to miss this!

Six Steps To Help Avoid The Follow-Up Trap
Every sales professional has probably experienced this but never put a name to it. So at Goomzee we have. Quite simply, sales professionals have now become captives to their broad Internet-based marketing and must be on call to respond to leads 24/7. With the addition of Internet marketing which seemingly never sleeps, the sales professional must be willing to respond and follow up with leads all the time or they will go cold. We call this the “follow-up trap”. We hear from real estate professionals around the country, and one common theme noted from the industry’s veterans is that things used to be simple and they’re frustrated trying to keep up with all the new things they “have to” do to market and sell real estate. In the past you would list the property in the MLS, place a sign at the property, print up flyers and occasionally advertise in the newspaper (often to appease the sellers). Something that was very clear back then was the target market which typically was other real estate professionals within the community. That made marketing easy because there are a finite number of people you market your properties to and the MLS made this possible to achieve, efficiently, creating a “clearing house” of real estate listings that other agents could gain access to. The target market was clearly defined which made this approach very efficient and effective.  

The Queue Goes to the World Mobile Congress
What a week! I was blessed to be able to spend time in Barcelona, Spain at the World Mobile Congress which is THE event for mobile each year. The theme throughout was tablets and specifically the new operating systems from Google and Blackberry respectively called the Android Honeycomb and Playbook. I had a chance to spend some hands on time with both devices and was really impressed. As someone who LOVES his iPad I have to say that Apple better be careful as these two new options are going to be wildly popular with the masses. Also featured are Glympse, SPB Software, HP ePrint, Google Body, ooVoo.com and SwiftKey.