Real Estate Mobile Phone Apps- Cool New Tool or Just a Waste of Time?

BlueRoof360 will begin building our mobile app soon because a new broker client has requested it. We will spend a week or so designing how it will look and work and then spend whatever time it takes building it (we anticipate a few weeks to a month) and I can already think of a few things that will make it stand apart from other mobile apps available.

I have one idea in particular that sounds like it will be really cool to build into our app, and, as the owner of a technology company, thinking of a new idea is exciting because I know I can build it.

But when I think about the usability and function of it I still find it difficult to imagine people actually using a mobile phone app to search for homes. Even those who are really into technology, like me, can get so much more out of the experience searching from our laptop/desktop computer that it seems like just a big waste of time. And I’m the target demographic for these apps.

Here a few things to consider;

A mobile phone has such a small screen that no matter how big you make the photos they are going to be small, and unless you are looking in a dimly lit room many of the screens are not going to render a very nice view of the images anyway.

Mobile phones, even with 3G and the best mobile OS, load so slowly compared to a laptop/desktop that building really cool functions are impossible.

The supposed advantage of a mobile app (being able to find a home while you are out driving around) seems like a situation drummed up by app developers rather than actual home searchers. I have an iPhone and when searching for a home I cannot see myself driving to an area I like and then doing a search on my phone to find available properties. It makes no sense at all to me. If I can go to a great website and search and find all the homes that are available, very quickly, including photos, maps, and area info, and if I’m alerted every time a new listing comes on the market that meets my criteria, why in the world would I drive around clicking SEARCH on my mobile phone?

Searching for a home is rarely an individual event. Usually people share their searching with spouses, friends and family. Trying to search together on a mobile phone with others is not plausible.

There is only one application I can see where using a mobile phone would actually enhance the home buying experience. This is the piece that I hope to build into our mobile app. I won’t say what it is yet (gotta give us a running start on it) but even with this cool new tool, which would be new and unique, I still have to wonder…

Will anyone really use it?

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How About a $15,000 Tax Credit for HomeBuyers?

The Senate voted unanimously tonight to include the Isakson Amendment, a tax credit of 10% of the sales price (up to $15,000), for home purchasers buying a primary residence  into the Stimulus Package. This would not need to be paid back and would be available for one year if it passes.

It still needs to make it into the final draft, due to be signed by the end of next week and hopefully this is one provision that will make the final cut.

The housing markets across the country could really use a boost and this could help. Many people are waiting to buy even though they are sitting in the middle of one of the best times to purchase they have ever seen and maybe this could help some of those who are on the fence make the decision to buy now, which will help the entire economy.

We can all use some good news right now and a lot of industries are looking for the government to help them, but fundamentally it makes sense to help kick start the housing sector. When more people begin buying homes the economy will benefit. There are so many jobs and companies that are affected by housing. Builders, contractors, road layers, Realtors, loan officers, title people, home inspectors, home warranty companies, attorneys, plumbers, electricians, carpet layers, home furnishing stores, and on and on and on…

Contact your local Senator or House Representative and tell them to keep this in the bill. This is the sort of stimulus we need to get the economy moving again…

**Update- Looks like the compromise is an $8000 tax credit for first time home buyers, who buy in 2009, that doesn’t need to be repaid.

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Tired of a template website that doesn’t bring you business? If you are looking for a custom real estate website with lead management (CRM) system and more, contact BlueRoof360 (http://blueroof360.com) at 888-850-4867 Ext#1 or sales@blueroof360.com.