The only reason why I decided to buy iPhone at first place was that I noticed how my clients used its applications for search of Real Estate information while we were touring the houses.That was a shame that I knew nothing about it and was not able to share their experience or give some advice on better use of it.
So - as I like to be where my clients are - I buy my first iPhone and immediately fall in love with it.
What a treasure for Real Estate agent!
Excellent maps, very good GPS help us plan and navigate our showings seamlessly.
Built-in compass helps answer the questions "Does this house face East or what?"
Very convenient contact system and calendar help organize our appointments and contacts.
Safari Web browser is very decent and works wherever 3G connection or Wi-Fi is (almost everywhere).
E-mails are easily accessible.
Instant access to Facebook, Skype and Twitter keeps you connected with your clients and sphere of influence.
That all is great but better news is that iPhone is a real treasure for the marketer on the go!
It has a very decent built-in photo camera. And you can immediately share your pictures via e-mails, Facebook or Twitpic Poster. All these applications are free and very easy to use.
Thanks to my iPhone I start fighting my video-phobia. First time I experimented with my iPhone video at one of my Open Houses in South Euclid. When it's a low traffic at your Open House, why don't you try to invite more people via short video? So, I shoot a minute of a video and post it on Facebook. It would be even better to post it on YouTube but I had no time to learn how to do it at that time as new visitors stopped by and I decided to try it later.
Here is another sample of a short video of a very good house in Pepper Pike listed by Local-n-Global Realty. It's very amateur but, please be kind not to nail me down for unprofessional video shooting. I am the Real Estate broker, not a videographer after all :) !
The whole idea is that you can do any video in few minutes, post it on YouTube, use right tags and description and publish it on any site or blog using embed code. Very easy, very mobile and very effective way to promote your listings!
I will keep sharing more ideas of using iPhone in Real Estate practice. Do you have any good stories or experience?
Wow, what a great idea about the short videos @ open houses--especially since the home is already in tip top shape! I can't wait for Verizon to get the Iphone later this year (hopefully).
I would like to move to the next step but have not done so yet. I want to see the next generation of iPHone and the magic it can come up with.
Brittany - I realized that it's probably one of the coolest ways to promote our Open Houses on Facebook. At least, it should work with Broker's Opens as all our fellow Realtors spend a lot of time there. lol
Just come few minutes earlier, shoot the video and post it - it's so simple.
Hopefully, Verizon will get iPhones or any other phones with similar features.
Bryan - I'm looking forward to see new generation of iPhone and iPad, too. Hopefully, they will build a good camera in iPad. But even what we have now can work very well.
Very professional. Adopting new technology for me is like pulling teeth, but the iPhone is tempting me a bit more every day. . . if only we could get that AT&T reception thing worked out. . .
Svetlana~Very cool...I also do likewise only use my camera...here is something I learned...I never say the price when I do it...so if there is price reduction I don't have to redo it...
Lori - I totally agree that it's better not to tell the price. In my case, however, price is so attractive that I was tempted to announce it.
Chris - thanks for stopping by. It's sure cool and easy!
Cece - Don't even start about AT&T lol. We have few absolutely dead spots in our area. But besides this, in all other places it works almost perfectly. I like iPhone because of my video handicap and because it turned to be very easily overcome.
Great post, I've had my iPhone since they came out ( I waited a month) I still have my first gen iPhone.
It doesn't do video or have 3G (it doesn't have any G's) but it's worth it's weight in gold.
Most of my apps are real estate oriented and are all used quite often.
My favorite one is called Mortgage Loan Place. It's a payment calculator that you just slide the bars left or right for interest rate, monthly payment and loan amount. It's a free app.
I may upgrade to the new one, but I'm thinking I'd rather have the iPad.
Terry
It is amazing what "phones" can do these days, isn't it? You've outlined many great features of the iPhone. Pretty soon we'll not be needing computers anymore.
Surely the Android cannot be far behind on all these options? I'd like to hear someones' experience with it.
Terry - Thanks for the tip! I downloaded the Mortgage Loan Place app. It is very cool indeed. Regarding iPad, my son has it and I played with it a little bit. I love the size of the screen and convenience of everything which is there. It's great but it does not have camera :(
I'm looking forward to buying the one for myself when Apple will add the camera and some phone jack to it. So, in other woirds, I'm waiting for another iPhone but wuith a bigger screen . lol
Kathryn - I'm still amazed we can do all this cool stuff on-the-go. Now we can even use iPhone as a key for iBoxes. And we can still call other people via this fantastic device! I would love to get rid of the computer but then we need a bigger version of iPhone (see my comment above :) Plus - Apple devices are not really compatible with Microsoft Office, which creates some serious problems. But who knows how soon all this will be overcome?
Jim - I would love to hear some info from Android users, too. Looks like they still have some hardware problems - one of my clients sent his Droid phone back for repairs three times since April. Maybe that was just his bad luck.
Hi Svetlana! We have been using a Blackberry for a few years now and love it and its applications. That was a great idea to do a video 'on the spot' and post it.
I will be getting an Iphone soon too! I am excited about it haha.
You're right - the iphone is the bomb! I am so glad I finally got one too. Why did I wait so long?