- Browser extensions are subtle but often smart ways to improve our experience on the Internet
- Involving others in the home buying and living experience is a growing trend among millennials
- Software that opens up the industry to consumers while maintaining agent expertise will shine in 2016
Have suggestions for products that you’d like to see reviewed by our real estate technology expert? Email Craig Rowe.
HomeAhead Wishlist is browser extension that allows agents, buyers and friends to create, rank and share lists of homes for sale.
Platform(s): Google Chrome
Ideal for: Progressive, tech-savvy agents who want to assist and contribute to clients’ online property search
Top selling points
- Very easy, tool is ready to use in two clicks.
- Agents can monitor client shopping habits.
- List URL allows ad-free, competition-free list browsing.
Things to consider
While updates will make Wishlist more browser-agnostic, the tool itself is currently available for only Google Chrome. However, a Wishlist can be viewed and commented upon in any browser.
Full review
HomeAhead Wishlist is as easy to use as saving a website favorite.
Once installed and logged in, home shoppers use the Add to Wishlist button when they find a home they like.
Multiple lists can be created under a single account.
Any property listing page on Realtor.com, Homes.com. HAR.com and Redfin automatically displays the button.
Wishlist creators can invite anyone they like to view the list.
Comments can be added under each house, a listing can be emailed, shared to Facebook and Twitter, and drag-and-drop functionality creates a ranking environment.
Agents can send a potential buyer client a link to install the Chrome extension, which is done in two clicks. No downloading, no installation process.
Agents can monitor their clients’ buying preferences
This can be a great way for agents to stay in touch with that “lukewarm” lead they met at the dinner party.
After that, the Wishlist becomes a collaborative environment.
Everyone connected to a specific list can choose to be notified when a comment is added or when #5 on the list is moved to #2.
Agents can monitor their clients’ buying preferences, commenting accordingly as they go.
“I see 45 Redhawk St. has been #1 for a week now. Time to schedule a tour?”
“Has your budget ceiling changed? Your top three are a quite a bit more than we discussed.”
Each list can be shared at a separate Web address, providing a simple, clean, ad-free scroll through each property, nicely summarized with an image and basic data. These pages are elegantly branded to the agent’s account.
The Internet has made just about everything we do a public endeavor. Why wouldn’t a home buyer involve friends and family in the process?
The Internet has made just about everything we do a public endeavor
Buyer Circle and Relola are two previously reviewed products facilitating the shared buying experience.
Instead of losing touch with a buyer as he or she runs to Facebook to share their property dreams, tools like Wishlist and the above are smartly curating the sharing process for them.
In these environments, the agent remains in the loop, the proverbial roundtable moderator of the new home discussion.
Wishlist is easy, artfully designed and a very effective way to remain in front of prospects as they dive into the wormhole that is real estate on the Internet.
The extension is currently only compatible with Chrome, the world’s most popular browser. Firefox and Safari versions are underway, as are a number of additional nifty updates.
Have a technology product you would like to discuss? Email Craig Rowe.
