Making real estate more social and mobile

By LESLIE MLADINICH

SAN FRANCISCO -- Real estate professionals, especially agents, need to embrace the consumer use of mobile apps and social networking sites, according to analysts and product developers who predict standalone Web sites will become passé, and mobile apps will be more popular as smart phones become less expensive.

Two sessions Thursday at the Real Estate Connect conference in San Francisco focused on putting mobile apps and social networking to use.

Greg Sterling, principal of Sterling Marketing Intelligence and analyst of mobile communications, offered statistics that pointed to how pervasive mobile use among consumers is becoming. Even though e-commerce is only 3.5 percent of all U.S. retail purchases, according to 2009 U.S. Census Bureau figures, 58 percent would use the Internet to research an electronics purchase, according to 2008 Nielsen research.

Forty-one percent of homebuyers will use the Internet to research property, says a Trulia-Harris Interactive poll.

The Internet-in-your-pocket phenomenon becomes even more valuable as potential buyers canvas neighborhoods. According to Opus research, out of 603 consumers 20 percent said they would buy a smart phone in the next year and 21 percent said "someday."

In five years, 39 percent of respondents said the main way to get on the Internet will be a combination of PC and phone, according to Opus research.

"This is a really critical platform to be conscious of to get your information out in the market," Sterling said.

However, Sterling cautioned about going out and hiring someone to make an app. First, take into consideration whether your Web site is attractive and effective on a smaller screen.

"Make your site look good in the browser rather than making an app," he said.

The California Association of Realtors claims to be the first Realtor association to roll out its own mobile app for the iPhone. And Zillow's iPhone app, launched at the end of April, has been downloaded 700,000 times, said Spencer Rascoff, Zillow chief operating officer. ...CONTINUED

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