Technology has brought the estate agency market on leaps and bounds in the last 20 years. Gone are the days when simply waiting for the weekly property section of the paper and wandering the streets browsing estate agency windows was the way to track down your new home.
Property portals, websites, social media and the web in general have allowed an estate agency in Peterborough to reach nationwide and indeed worldwide for its audience. Here at Tortoise we use technology the best way we can but are excited about several developments that could take searching for a home into the next generation.
Augmented Reality
You know in this day and age you can find most things online, well Augmented Reality takes this one step further and allows you to get real time information and apply facts of your choice. If this is difficult to get your head around, let me give you an example – if you were walking in a nice neighbourhood and decided you’d be interested in a house there, you could point your mobile device at a home for sale and get historic and current house price details and agents details. In the future there may be the ability to see through the walls and get a virtual tour of the property or get energy ratings for the property. Imagine being able to point your mobile towards a property a see which way the light shone into the living room or whether space was sufficient for your furniture. Exciting stuff and Zoopla currently use this technology in a basic form.
Virtual Reality
Another exciting technology similar to augmented reality that is used in construction projects to allow customers a virtual tour of a non-constructed property. This could be used in a number of ways with properties that need updating to paint a picture of what the home could be. Perfect when a customer may not be able to see past the current view, it paints an effective picture for them, better than any brochure.
Social Media
Social Media has been taking off for years now but there are still many agents that don’t use it or don’t use it effectively. Social media is simply a vehicle to communicate to your customers in real time. Here at Tortoise we post homes for sale and rent on our Facebook and twitter accounts to reach and engage with a targeted audience. A great form of marketing that allows us to engage with potential customers which means you can take a house to market and have it in front of potential buyers within hours, viewings booked the same day and sales made all before you’ve spent time and money calling and emailing your contact lists. Any agent that doesn’t use social media now is really missing a trick and when you are looking to sell make sure to take a look at the agents social media profiles to see how active they are.
Technology really is an agent’s and home-buyers best friend. The future is really looking bright with more and more information becoming available via mobile technology and apps. We certainly look to embrace technology as it comes available.
To see how Tortoise Property uses these methods as part of our marketing of your property please visit our website at http://www.tortoiseproperty.co.uk as well as our Facebook & Twitter pages (http://www.facebook.com/TortoiseProperty & http://www.twitter.com/TortoiseYourWay) and call us on 01733 592020