Mohbe – mobile phone real estate

3 minute read

Both Domain and REA have created mobile phone websites allowing users to search and view property through their mobile phone. However, I’m not aware of any agency websites which have been optimised so property seekers can view the agencies properties through a mobile device. This is all about to change due to a nifty web application called Mohbe.

Mohbe allows real estate agencies in any country to have their own agency branded mobile phone website for all of their property listings. The mobile phone websites are viewable through any mobile phone which has an internet browser and access to the internet.

Mohbe specialise in providing real estate agents with mobile phone property listing websites without the agent having to do anything.

But this isn’t all that Mohbe offers agents and property seekers. What makes this product completely unique are the options available to a property seeker to get the property url into their mobile phone.

Each mobile phone property website has its own unique QR Code and Mohbe tiny url making it easy for property seekers to navigate to through their mobile phone.

Mohbe uses the latest in barcode technology by allocating a QR Code to each property. A property seeker will scan this QR Code using their mobile phone camera which will then automatically load the mobile property page in the phone’s browser. For those users who do not have a camera phone, they can quickly enter the Mohbe tiny property url into their browser eg Mohbe.com/3467. Agents enter their listings into Mohbe either manually through the interface or automatically via xml data feed from their real estate property listing company.

Now this is really cool as it means agents can display these QR Codes in all of their print media eg. Sign boards, newspaper ads, magazine ads, brochures, flyers and even in their window displays. Imagine taking a photo of a QR Code displayed on a property sign board and being able to view a complete virtual tour while your standing on the footpath. It also means agents can display more property listings with less property information reducing the cost of print marketing.

The only shortcoming I see with the application is that although the agent’s logo is included in the mobile property websites, the website is branded with the Mohbe blue which could conflict with some agents branding. I’d really like to see the application allow agencies to choose from a colour pallet, the background colour so it blends better with their agency brand. I also think within the interface they need some kind of summary of listings, accompanied with a way to sort property listings similar to the Domain or REA back-ends.

Putting these small issues aside, Mohbe is an innovative and useful application which should be embraced by the real estate community.

Note: Agentpoint was responsible for the design and development of Mohbe and has an equity ownership stake in it.