SmarterAgent Now on ‘All Carriers, All Devices’
By Greg Sterling
As a kind of response to the AdWeek piece below, I would argue that real estate is a vertical that has really taken off in mobile; consumers are using smartphones to find listings and agents are increasingly getting mobile distribution through partners such as Trulia and Zillow.
Smarter Agent, which has been doing mobile for a long time, uses a white-label approach to help brokers and agents market to consumers. This morning the company announced that it has achieved near ubiquity on mobile platforms, devices and carriers:
Smarter Agent, a mobile technology company that provides GPS and MLS search applications to consumers and real estate agents, today announced general availability on all carriers, devices and platforms including key partnerships with Verizon Wireless and an application for the Android platform. Smarter Agent can already be found on wireless carriers Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile, reaching traditional cell phones as well as the iPhone and BlackBerry devices, making Smarter Agent the only company to have robust downloadable real estate applications on all major carriers for all US cell phones.
Here are some datapoints provided by their PR people:
* Smarter Agent gets a new user every 1.5 minutes (via download)
* Users look at 40-50 properties per search session;
* Users log-in to search 12 times per month;
* 22% of users who download app hit the call to see button, call goes to Realtor
The idea is that the realtor prompts the user to download an app containing MLS listings that is associated with and branded by that realtor. Then when they “call to see” the desired property the lead goes to that realtor:
Smarter Agent’s mobile phone application allows consumers to view all available MLS listing information on homes for sale around them anytime, anywhere from the convenience of their cell phone, iPhone or BlackBerry. They can search for properties based on their GPS location, address, city, or zip code. The application shows them detailed MLS information, including price, beds/baths, taxes, estimated mortgage, maps and photos! When a consumer is ready to see a property they simply hit the “Call To See” button and they are routed directly to an agent. That agent could be you!
The business model is a monthly licensing fee.
I asked SmarterAgent President Eric Blumberg whether agents “got” mobile and how the apps and platform were being received. As one might expect he said that both consumers and agents were very enthusiastic about mobile and about the SmarterAgent apps and tools. Although the remarks are self-promotional, I believe him.