Just A Few Ways To Use The iPad For Real Estate
January 29, 2010
By: Michael LaPeter
Author's Website: http://mysinglepropertywebsites.com
Michael Price had a great post the other day providing an overview on the new Apple iPad. Seeing as this blog has the word geek in the title, and seeing as I’m a geek myself, I thought I’d build off that post with a few ideas for potential real estate uses. Besides, I really want one and have to build the mental case for it first. 
Open Houses:
- Build a fun, interactive signup sheet for visitors. You could let them choose to subscribe to various value add lists right there, and depending on what you use it could put their info right in your list/ database, no tedious transcribing later.
- Set it on a table and play your virtual tour and slideshow w/ music.
- Let visitors dig deeper with links to your website/ blog posts about the area.
- Show them all the awesome neighborhood places on Yelp (if it’s in your area of course)
- If the listing isn’t for them, search other open houses in the area and email it to them (I smell contact info…)
Listing Presentations:
- Michael touched on this in his post, and I agree there’s a huge opportunity to make stunning presentations.
- Integrate a video resume into your keynote (the mac’s powerpoint) presentation, make the entire presentation paperless, and email it to prospects right after you’re done.
Buyer Tours/ Showings:
- Plug one of the last remaining holes in the paperless transaction: just save a pdf of all the listing sheet’s you’d normally print.
- If your MLS works on Safari, then you can easily search listings on the fly in places too fluid for a laptop (walking down the street, crowded cafes, in listings, etc). This gives you something better to do than stand there like an idiot while your client searches listings on their Redfin iPhone app
- Take notes directly into your online CRM/ organization software, with no risk of losing them and no tedious transcribing later.
- Potentially in the near future, record your client’s feedback and have it automatically transcribed for you, just like Google Voice does now with messages (this isn’t here yet but it’s just a matter of time).
- Have all your client’s info (kid’s names, etc) always at your fingertips for those with less than stellar memories.
Again, these are just a few ideas, and just as we saw thousands of new apps appear for the iPhone, I believe we’ll see thousands of even more innovative apps take advantage of all that new screen real estate. The only question remaining for me is one that haunts many geeks… do we jump into the inevitably buggy first edition or be patient and wait for the second one?
- Stumble it!
- Categories: Gadgets
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pierrebatbatian on January 30, 2010 6:35 am
I cannot wait to get mine…. and the fact that iwork is only 30$ makes it perfect !
Coffeeboss on January 31, 2010 10:19 am
Agreed that this device can help you push the Wow factor of your listings, and I really wish they could have pushed it a bit more. Vocal notes from you or those looking at the house would be huge. You could then email that back to the home owner for feedback while at the showing. The agents in this area of Highland Creek, NC tend to go the lowball route with neon flyers. It works for a Keg party but not if your looking to sell 200K and up houses. Not to mention the loss of credibility. Flash is nice but content is still king and Javascript is doing a lot of cool things that load quickly and have relevance with SEO. – I like the start and I will have to follow up on this. John D – http://www.5speedstudio.com
BloodhoundBlog.com | iPad observation #5: Linking free slaves, sometimes, but the future of mobile real estate is unknown to attorneys from New York City. | National real estate marketing and technology blog | Realtors and real estate, mortgage and invest on January 31, 2010 4:55 pm
[...] Geek Estate has a nice post on the iPad as a Realtor’s electronic amanuensis. I talked about some of this stuff on Wednesday, but Michael LaPeter came up with some ideas I [...]
BloodHound Blog – iPad observation #5: Linking free slaves, sometimes, but the future of mobile real estate is unknown to attorneys from New York City. on January 31, 2010 5:17 pm
[...] Geek Estate has a nice post on the iPad as a Realtor’s electronic amanuensis. I talked about some of this stuff on Wednesday, but Michael LaPeter came up with some ideas I [...]
Angie V on February 3, 2010 10:58 am
Enjoyed your post. Good list of ideas here.
But I do have to comment about this part – “If your MLS works on Safari…” I just have to laugh and smile here. Our company participates in about 40 different MLS's and I'm not aware of one of them that works with Safari. Ah, seems they all require IE.
christopherbroughton on February 3, 2010 4:41 pm
You can already have audio transcribed on the iPhone and iPad via the Jott application!
Rebecca Cummings on February 3, 2010 6:32 pm
Great ideas. I too am trying to justify getting the new IPAD. Keep the ideas coming.
Kent Hu on February 3, 2010 8:36 pm
You will be a flashy agent for sure! However at the end of day I will still need my laptop to access software and application to do my work… And to pocket $629 for a 16GB Wifi+3G version does not really justify the value which your iPhone or laptop already provides you… Kent@MyRealInsight.com
rolandestrada on May 18, 2010 6:11 pm
I bought a 3G the first day it was out. For showings I use Goodreader and iAnnotate. Goodreader will grab PDFs from Dropbox. iAnnotate syncs with your desktop for PDFs. I use the iPad to store listings to use for showing property. I use iAnnotate to make notes on the PDF itself.
SoCalMLS works on Safari on the iPhone and iPad but not the desktop. Odd but true
rolandestrada on May 19, 2010 1:11 am
I bought a 3G the first day it was out. For showings I use Goodreader and iAnnotate. Goodreader will grab PDFs from Dropbox. iAnnotate syncs with your desktop for PDFs. I use the iPad to store listings to use for showing property. I use iAnnotate to make notes on the PDF itself.
SoCalMLS works on Safari on the iPhone and iPad but not the desktop. Odd but true
There’s a Real Estate App for That – the Apple iPad for Real Estate « Scott’s Tech Tips on May 21, 2010 12:15 pm
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