i think its pretty obvious that there will never be an app that gives real estate agents what they want, at least not universal. Every regional mls is different so everyone would need a seperate app. thats thousands of various apps with still limited capabilities.
so after thinking this out, why not provide THE real estate app for everyone? there are multiple sources online, craigslist, zillow, realtor.com, tons more, that provide free information and data.
what does the app need? there was an earlier post that explains in detail the ultimate app that an agent needs. in short:
being able to pull in a listing – there will always be “fill in the blanks” such as mls numbers, but essentially pulling in public records such as the address to autopopulate the app.
you should be able to map out your drive from one location to the next with waypoints.
you should be able to sign and print the forms as well as send them via email. basically removing paper work that has been busy work and duplicate work for years.
electronic signatures are already used everywhere and this can/could be a simple addendum to the contract.
in order for an app like this to “take off” it needs to be a community app, meaning input needs to provided by the community that includes specific features you would want.
there are many sites that allow for the community to donate money to which begins the process of n
building the actual app.
ive built a few and can estimate a project like this runs 7k to 15k given my resources. if you, the community want to build a REAL app thats made for you, that takes paperwork out of the equation, leave us your comments and suggestions. i think this is very accomplishable with today technology.
ps. sorry for the lowercase but i was using my ipad to post this!
Oct 24th
Hi there,
We've just launched EstatePad … this may be of interest to you. We can do customized versions if you're interested.
Have a look at http://www.estatepadapp.com for more information.
Cheers,
Adrian
Oct 25th
I don’t think this is even remotely close to what agents want. They want to be able to find, select, navigate to properties, write up a contract, send/email the contract, all from within the iPad itself.
EstatePad doesn’t come close to doing those things. Appears to be just another CRM with social media functionality to me???
Oct 25th
Yes – we started with incorporating contracts and allowing people to sign on the iPad itself – however to incorporate all the contracts/paperwork was extremely costly. Every area had different requirements. Some places required us to pay a royalty to lawyers for every time we used a contract.
So we focused on making sure the agent maximised what they did have.
Listings – currently stored locally though we are working to incorporate MLS feeds.
Contacts – can be stored in the cloud – but manipulated on the iPad.
Tasks – automated scheduling tasks soon to be also stored in the cloud (Nov 2010)
Social media functionality – as you described.
Our roadmap does include more emailing functionality – including newsletters. We are still hesitant to get into the contracts – just because of the number of them and constant requirement to update.
Good luck with your search … there is another iPad app you may be interested in call “iEstate PRO” – the only other iPad app aimed at agents I could find.
When you say “just another CRM with social media” … could you advise on all the other iPad apps you’ve found tailored to the Real Estate agent ?
Oct 25th
We use estatepad for all our agents, and its brilliant, contacting your clients regularly especially simply calling them up is the main task that all agents shirk away form, estatepad reminds you to call or contact them frequently.
Real estate is about simple tasks, yet so many agents do not do the simple tasks.
I have personally watched my staff using estate pad, in one instance in front of potential vendor, they have on the spot matched the vendors property with approx 60 buyers in the estatepad system that matched that property.
The vendor was impressed and engaged the agent in question to sell the property for them, saying “you guys are switched on”.
Paperwork on the iPad is probably a hard sell, because every office, even agents have different criteria, managing and matching clients and communicating with them while out of the office is the most important task of the agent today. I would be happy for no other company in Wellington (our area) to find or utilize this software, because it is giving us the competative edge.
Management
Century 21 Wellington
Top Agent 2009
New Zealand
Oct 25th
“Paperwork on the iPad is probably a hard sell, because every office”
Exactly, which is why it needs to be a ‘community project’. The application would come with the ability to assign fields for each particular agents regions MLS needs for the contract portion. MLS systems are private companies. Contracts to buy homes are not controlled by the MLS. Joe Blow can write up a contract on the street and submit to his neighbor to buy the house. These contract are open, meaning you don’t have to be a Realtor to use them. It shouldn’t be hard to assign and to a specific location on the agents contract that they uploaded or ‘converted’.
Its not hard to remove the MLS (private companies) out of the equation, its just that agents think they have to play by their rules because of their closed system and way of doing things.