Will the recent launch of the Apple iPad mean the end of the Listing Presentation Folder or FlipChart style presentation? Will we see agents showing off their listings via the iPad? Or perhaps they’ll be using it to watch real estate training sessions or live streamed sales meetings? Either way, could it be a Game Changer?
Whilst a lot of these things I mentioned can already be done using a laptop, with the recent launch of the Apple iPad and the low entry price for their product, I can see that there will be a large number of potential uses for the iPad for real estate agents.
Just like a restaurant could use the iPad for taking orders or displaying their menu, real estate agents can use the iPad to demonstrate how professionally they can present a potential sellers home, show comparable sales and create a marketing campaign digitally.
The pricing of the iPad means that Apple have provided an affordable way that an agent can make their company appear more high tech out in the field.
Here’s 10 Ways That Real Estate Agents Could Use The iPad…
- Use it for digital listing presentations
- Show property photos and videos in high definition
- Visit websites for doing CMA’s and show other related sites
- Create a Demo Individual Property Website for a client right before their eyes
- Instant database entry at open homes
- Get directions
- Show off real estate iPhone apps on a larger screen
- Portable client management
- Show details of current listings to buyers on the run
- Checking email enquiries & setting appointments
The launch of the iPad also provides an insight into where Print Media is heading. The iPad is going to make it a better reading experience for people to get their news digitally, which will ultimately have an effect on the physical distribution of printed newspapers.
Local Press may not feel the same affect for a while, but it certainly could have an impact in the amount of physical printed local newspapers distributed long term.
My hope was that the introduction of digital readers like the Apple iPad and Amazon’s Kindle may help to bring the real estate print media prices down to a more affordable level for agents and sellers, but unfortunately it may actually increase.
With the iPad, the newspaper experience will become more engaging, plus the digital newspaper will help to drive more website traffic across to an agent’s website than the printed version ever has. Whilst physical distribution will be down, the electronic distribution of newspapers could explode via the iPad & advertising space will become more popular, hence more expensive.
Whilst I see some great uses for the iPad for real estate agents, there are some developers who feel that Apple could have gone a lot further with their development, eg here’s 8 Things That Suck About The iPad.
I’m sure Apple will include a number of these extra features to the iPad very quickly, just like they did with the iPhone.
But for now it looks like they have made something that is very appealing to the majority of people & have priced it affordably enough that the iPad should end up becoming just as popular as the iPod and the iPhone.
While agents will have to wait to get their hands onto an iPad, over the next few weeks there is a perfect opportunity for agents or franchise groups to prepare a digital listing presentation in time for its delivery.
If you can think of any other uses for the iPad I’d appreciate any other thoughts or ideas.
Disclaimer: I am the director of a company that provides Individual Property Websites for real estate agents.