7 Ways Apps Can Boost Business for Estate Agents
Everyone’s using apps these days, and there’s an app for everyone. So have you ever thought about how apps could boost sales? Or about whether it’s finally time to hire an agency to make an app just for your business? Here’s a quick rundown of seven ways you could do better week in, week out, just by downloading a few new apps to your smartphone.
1. Keep on top of your property portfolio with Zoopla and Rightmove
Keeping an eye on how your properties are faring on the market has never been easier than it is today. Zoopla and Rightmove let you quickly and easily see how many views your post receives, and can let you see generalised info about local prices and trends. It’s never been easier to price a property, or to know whether you’re actually undervaluing a property you’re selling.
If you are a registered Rightmove member, your listings can appear as featured posts, boosting the views you’ll get. This, of course, means that you’ll be reaching far more prospective buyers than you would otherwise. You also get so much feedback on the number of views and the amount of interest your listing is getting- something you never can from traditional print listings.
2. Use push messaging to market new properties
Zoopla, Rightmove and the host of other similar apps aren’t just designed for estate agents. They’re for house hunters too, and increasing numbers of people are actually taking time out of their busy day by searching when they’re on the go. If you aren’t tapping into that market, you can rest assured that your competition is.
Take advantage of this new trend by marketing properties through the medium of push messaging. House hunters set up alerts on their phones whenever a certain kind of property gets onto market- be it under a certain price, or with a minimum number of bedrooms. If they download your app to help them search for houses in the local area, you can send push notifications that will let them know- instantly.
3. Signing documents is so much easier with DocuSign
Tracking all the forms and papers you have to sign is a chore. So why not join the 50,000 real estate professionals using the DocuSign app to make it a doddle? You can use the app to sign documents with a couple of quick taps on your phone screen. Any time you do sign a document using DocuSign, it is genuinely legally binding.
You can also send and receive documents through the app, so you don’t have to worry about anything getting lost in the post. So if somebody back at the office needs your say-so and has to have your signature on the dotted line, they can send you the form, and you can sign it and send it back within the minute. If you check your phone, that is.
4. Use scheduling apps to remind yourself of viewings
There are dozens of scheduling apps out there- including ones that are part of the default set of apps on iPhones and Androids. Rather than using a traditional note pad, why not consider switching to a scheduling app to help you remember viewings?
You can set the alarm for whenever you want: early in the morning just after you wake up, or with five minutes to spare if you like to rush.
5. Whip up floor plans in an instant with MagicPlan or Roomscan Pro
These nifty apps draw floor plans all by themselves, so that you (or your designer) don’t have to. All you have to do is touch your phone to each of the walls in each of the rooms, and your phone’s own sensors and GPS locator will actually draw the floor plan for you.
That’s right- no more measuring the walls, windows and doors of every single house or flat in your portfolio. Believe it or not, these apps are accurate down to the odd centimetre, which is really impressive considering that they use satellite technology and the phone’s unique sensors.
This is a great way of saving time and money on drawing up a floor plan the old fashioned way. The best thing is that these design apps allow you to easily send the floor plan to your email or save it to your phone, so that you can quickly upload it to your property listing: be that in your own app, or on Rightmove.
6. Illustrate hyper realistic room layouts with Home Design 3D
If automatically drafting a floor plan isn’t enough for you, maybe you can save some more time and money using an app to remodel the homes in your portfolio. If you have a potential buyer lined up for a fixer-upper, you can grab their interest by showing them what the property could look like- with a new kitchen, new bathroom, or just some modern furniture.
You can even incorporate the designs into the listings on your app- what’s stopping you? It’s a great way of marketing old and even dilapidated properties, that you almost certainly wouldn’t bother doing if you had to pay a professional designer. But now you can, and all through your phone.
7. You can boost business locally with your very own app
So all these apps that we’ve found could greatly benefit your business as an estate agent. But what about having your own estate agent app? Believe it or not, it only takes a few minutes, and you’ll be enjoying increased sales in no time. You can either ask somebody who you already work with to help you put one together, or hire an expert to lead the way for you.
As an estate agent, your best bet is to market locally: advertise heavily in local newspapers, use flyers and maybe even posters to let potential new customers know that they can find their new house through your app. Or if you’re based in a particularly desirable area- which we’re sure you are- then there’s nothing stopping you from marketing nationally as well. The choice is yours!
Izaak Crook is a Digital Marketing Executive for AppInstitute, a SaaS App Builder platform that allows anyone to create their own iOS and Android app without writing a single line of code.
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