Have you been Zapd yet?

One of my favorite new apps is one that allows you to create a completely mobile optimized website from your iPhone in literally seconds.

Zapd (a new service from Seattle-based Pressplane) is a free app and is available from the Apple App store. Snap some photos, pick a theme, add a little text and then voila! Your site is done. Zapd reminds me a lot of Posterous and Tumblr, but the biggest difference is that you can create the entire site from your iPhone. Once a site is published you can share it directly to Twitter or Facebook or via email. Every website created with Zapd is optimized for smartphones and tablets.

I’ve been chatting with Pressplane CEO and founder Kelly Smith for a few weeks now about this new application and personally, I think Zapd is an awesome application for real estate agents.

Here are some ideas on how to use real estate agents could use Zapd:

1. Property websites
2. Neighborhood websites (photos of types of homes, schools, parks, restaurants)
3. Buyers tour (i.e. “10 great homes to check out” – great if you are previewing a number of homes for a client)
4. Landscaping ideas
5. Home improvement ideas
6. Before and After (for staging)
7. Educational events and conferences (a quick and easy way to share photos)

Here are some examples of real estate professionals and Zapd sites they have created on the fly:

• 28490 Florence, Garden City, MI
• Real Estate with Allisa D. Young
• Park Avenue Properties

Here is a video from Zapd that explains how quick and easy it is to use:

What do you think? Have you used Zapd yet? I’d love your feedback, leave me a comment below!

Katie Lance, Social Media Director, Inman News, @katielance

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Note: I received this press release this week and thought it was interesting technology to share with our FOREM readers. I’d love your thoughts on this app if you’ve used it – please leave me a comment below. – Katie

OKLAHOMA CITY –  a la mode, a leader in real estate technology, today released its popular DaVinci appraisal app in the Android Market.

The free labs release of DaVinci for Android follows in the footsteps of a long line of time-saving data gathering and sketching products in the DaVinci family, including DaVinci for iPad, DaVinci for iPhone, DaVinci for Desktop and DaVinci for Tablet PC.

“DaVinci has really made a splash on iOS devices, reaching more than 100,000 users this month, and we wanted to give more appraisers the opportunity to easily gather data in the field,” said Product Manager Dale Spoonemore. “Since releasing DaVinci for iPad a year ago, we’ve received a ton of requests from appraisers using Android devices, so we’ve designed a version of DaVinci that uses some of Android’s more popular features like talk-to-type text input.”

Like others in the DaVinci family, DaVinci for Android was born from a la mode labs – a research and development environment designed for collaboration on new applications.  By releasing new technology through the labs, a la mode gives appraisers a chance to try its newest releases and provide feedback on tools which are critical to their business.

DaVinci for Android works on any Smartphone or tablet device running Android 2.1 or later.  Like its mobile predecessors, DaVinci for Android offers appraisers all the fields they need to gather property data on site, create QuickLists that speed data entry by eliminating repetitive retyping, take voice and text notes, and add photos.

“DaVinci for Android speeds up appraisers’ turn times on home inspections. They can fill out an entire 1004 form by simply tapping on the screen,” Spoonemore said. “And, we’ll save them even more time when we release the sketcher in an update later this year.”

DaVinci for Android can now be downloaded in the Android Market. For more information, visit www.alamode.com/Labs/projects/DaVinciForAndroid.

Posted by: Katie Lance, Social Media Director, Inman News, @katielance

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I wrote a blog post yesterday about some great apps to download before you go to a conference, but I just discovered a very cool app that is available for download on the iPhone or Android – Hashable!

This app makes it super easy to exchange contact info with someone you meet at a conference, meeting, or networking event. You simply plug in their Twitter handle and your contact info is instantly shared. The other cool thing is that you can see who your Twitter followers are meeting in person – another great networking opportunity!

Here is a quick video explaining how their app works (click here to view):

I love the simplicity of this app and how easy it makes sharing info – let’s face it, dealing with business cards and exchanging contact info at an event can sometimes be a pain! How many times have you lost cards or accidently given someone elses card out? C’mon, we’ve all done it!

I’d love to get your opinion on this app – leave me your feedback below. And if you are going to Agent Reboot Phoenix tomorrow (Wed. 3/16) you should download it and try it out!

Written by: Katie Lance, Senior Marketing Manager, Inman News, @katielance

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Guest blog post by Matthew Shadbolt, Director of Interactive Product & Marketing, The Corcoran Group, New York

Some thoughts on mobile marketing for real estate…

Many of us, over the past few years, have transitioned much of our advertising and marketing from print to online. Many of us still have not. I’d argue that most of us have not. But as that transition continues to take place, there’s another one going on simultaneously, that of a massive shift in web use from the desktop to the mobile device. Whereas advertisers used to upsell online with print buys, today they are doing the same with mobile as part of online buys. It’s a fascinating thing to watch.

When we say ‘being online’, it no longer just means clicking away at the big screen attached to the whirring box on your desk that’s plugged into the wall.

It means finding things near you, sharing where you are with your friends, video chat from the grocery store (“is this the one I should get?”) and so much more, but what’s common amongst all those use cases is that increasingly our use of the web is being informed by our location. Who better to capitalize on this trend than the real estate industry?

Last week, Corcoran launched an update to its popular iPhone app which allows you to search for homes in and around New York. One of the key differences in this app is the wealth of information that’s populated outside of the actual listing information. Corcoran calls this ‘going beyond the four walls’, and the concept is baked deep into its brand premise. It means sharing things to do nearby, places to go, restaurants to try, things to do at night – a better sense of what it’s really like there – can you get this from a shot of the outside of the property? Or the kitchen? Last week’s update added the ability for the user to now see local news for real estate, shopping and restaurant stories near properties, powered by Curbed, Eater , and Racked – 3 very popular blogs here in Manhattan.

You can read more about the project here on Corcoran’s Facebook page.

One of the main benefits that the phone brings to real estate searches is that it pushes the idea of contextual content around search. It begins to answer the question, ‘what is it really like to live there?’, and by providing a detailed, hyperlocal and comprehensive set of information, that has nothing to do with the specifics of the property but everything to do with living in a neighborhood, Corcoran’s app attempts to achieve this. Think about how this works versus how most online sites allow you to search for homes – it’s very poor in comparison. First, you usually have to ‘fill out’ a search page that consists of drop downs, checkboxes, perhaps even something as vague as a simple text entry box, then hit the all important ‘GO’ button. In mobile it can be automatic and simply ‘near me now’.

What gets returned, I believe, is not how people search for homes. Real estate search results usually consist of 2 things – pages and pages of list-based, thumbnail driven content, which forces the user to wade through the results in an unfocused way – this is the Google model of helping people find things, and that model is under some serious review this year. The second way is to plot those same results on a map. There’s been much talk recently about the effectiveness of map-based searches, and while they do provide some minor level of context in terms of ‘it’s near that road’, it still doesn’t answer the question, ‘what is it like to live there?’

The home buying process is at its core, an emotional one. Time and again, we hear our clients say “I bought with my heart, not my head”, or “I just knew as soon as I walked through the front door”. I’m not arguing that it isn’t a big financial consideration as well (of course it is) but do checkboxes and drop downs, or hundreds of properties plotted on a map, match what these people are telling us? Or is something like “here’s the latest news in the immediate neighborhood, combined with some great places to eat, some things to do, and a sense of what happens here at night” around each and every step of the process, a more person-centric way of doing it?

Of course, for the larger real estate portals, providing this curated, local and insightful information around every listing is a very difficult challenge to do at scale, and I fully accept that we are very spoiled for content here in Manhattan. But, the idea of ‘freeing’ real estate search from the desktop model, and putting it into people’s hands in a geographically specific way, which puts THEM in the middle of the map, I’d argue is a more effective and fun way of finding a home. Pair this idea with the filter of your network (perhaps through social media), and the Google model of search starts to evaporate rapidly. Being able to find homes based on your interests, hobbies, and goals, through the filter of your friends, is a very different experience from the ‘Enter your price range’ criteria so heavily used online, and mirrors that of how people truly find homes offline.

The best online experiences are the ones that most closely mirror offline ones. Facebook is great at keeping me in touch with my friends. Amazon allows me to get exactly what I’m looking for without wading through the shelves at the mall. These platforms solve problems. Who does the same thing in real estate? The first thing an agent does when they meet a customer is get to know them, not ask them the precise specifics of what they are looking for and dump hundreds of ‘results’ upon them. They curate the homes they show based on a thorough understanding of their client, combined with their expertise. Where is that concept online?

I argue that the mobile device will be the platform that solves this question for the real estate industry, simply because it has the ability to contextualize not only ‘results’, but what the customer is interested in, in a vastly better way than the desktop. We’re living in incredibly exciting times for our industry – some are embracing the changes and figuring out what needs to happen. Most are not. I call on you to spread the word.

To find out more about Corcoran’s app for real estate, visit www.corcoran.com/iphone or www.corcoran.com/android

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Guest blog post by 
Jill Mayer from Lyman PR, jill@lymanpr.com, @Jill_Mayer

Note: FOREM fans, I am always on the lookout for technology that will make your life easier and be able to service your clients the best way possible. I came across SugarSync and asked Jill Mayer, from Lyman PR, to write a guest blog post about it!

Realtors are always on the move – whether it’s showing a house, checking out a listing or networking with peers and clients.

Life on-the-go can be difficult, especially if a client, colleague or title company calls and needs a document ASAP that may be stored on your desktop, but you just don’t have the time to make the trip back to the office before your next appointment.

That’s where SugarSync comes in.

SugarSync is a cloud-based file sync, online backup and file sharing service that enables Realtors to manage their important data, anytime, anywhere, and now from any device. SugarSync gives Realtors their own Personal Cloud where they can securely backup and instantly access all of their most important files—thousands of documents, photos and other valued content—from any device they choose. It offers a broad range of device and OS support—from laptops to BlackBerry, Android-based phones and iPhones, and today’s most popular tablets, such as the iPad and Samsung Galaxy.

Working with partners or assistants?

With SugarSync’s collaboration features, you never have worry about duplicate documents and file versions.  With the new multi-user sync feature, you can both save a client’s folder on each of your computers or devices and once a change is made to a document in the folder or a new document is added, it’s automatically updated on all users’ computers and devices.  This means you never have to worry about emailing versions back and forth hoping that you have the same updated document or folder.

Features that Realtors will love:

• Anywhere, Anytime Access – If you’ve got an Internet connection or a smart phone, you’ve got a mobile office. Wherever you go, your files will be with you.
• Sync Without Limits – With SugarSync, you can sync as many computers and mobile devices as you want on a single account — and changes saved on one computer are instantaneously synced among the rest.
• Secure, Automatic Data Protection – As you work, your files are continuously backed up to your secure, personal SugarSync website using SSL encryption. Once in the servers, all data is then encrypted with 128-bit AES.
• Seamless Collaboration – Easily send files of any size to anyone, from anywhere. And you decide whether you’d like to password protect the information and whether the recipient can only review or can edit the files.
• File Versioning – Have you ever saved over a document and immediately wished you hadn’t? SugarSync will save, sync and back up the five latest versions of any given file —automatically. In a tough spot, it can be a real lifesaver.
• Mobile Support – SugarSync is compatible with Mac, PC, iPad, iPhone, Android-based devices, Blackberry, Symbian and WinMo

Special Offer for FOREM fans!

• Those interested in setting up their own Personal Cloud service can get started with a free account by visiting SugarSync.com/signup.
• For persons with greater file storage needs, SugarSync offers a free 30-day trial for plans starting at 30 GB for just $4.99/month. We also offer a variety of business plans that aid SMBs of all sizes – sugarsync.com/business.

Here is a quick video to showcase how it works.  Click here to view the video >>

Questions or comments? Please leave your feedback below. Thank you!

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I love it when I feel like I am one of the first to discover a new technology, and this past weekend I found out about a very cool new video app for the iPhone!

Just released this weekend is a brand new iPhone app: HighlightCam.

I know, who needs one more video tool, right? That’s what I thought until I played around with the app. If you ever shoot any video, and then try to edit it, you know it can be time intensive and frankly kind of a pain. HighlightCam makes it super easy:

1. Once you have the app open, you pick your video clips to be included in the video
2. You can then write a quick title and choose if you want it to be a landscape of portrait video.

That’s it!

The app takes all your video clips, and with their technology, edits out the bad parts of the video! I tried it with some video I had of my kids and was pleasantly surprised.

Since this is still new, and in beta, you can’t control which party are edited out – but you can choose from a couple settings what you’d like the focus of the video on: balanced, people, action, voice. At this point you can’t add music, but I would love to see that in the future.

How could a real estate agent use this?

For real estate agents I think it would be a really fun idea to walk the neighborhood of a listing with your iPhone and take a bunch of quick video shots: the park on the corner, the closest elementary school, the local coffee shop – and then make a quick one-minute video with this app. You could also do this for your buyers – you could shoot a bunch of quick videos of different neighborhoods to give your buyers (expecially if they are relocation buyers), an idea of the look and feel of a neighborhood. Once it’s created, you can upload your video to Facebook or YouTube.

The app is free and then you receive 10 free credits. You can then purchase additional credits through their website.

This weekend, Robert Scoble interviewed the CEO of the company who gives a complete demo of the app.

Click here to view the video>>

I’d love your feedback – what do you think? Have you seen this app? Will you try it out? Leave me a comment below!

Written by: Katie Lance, Senior Marketing Manager, Inman News, @katielance

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On this U.S. holiday, Presidents’ Day, I thought it would be fun to share 5 fun iPhone apps I found this weekend. I realize they may have not a whole lot to do with real estate, but I’m hoping on this day that you can take a moment and think about what this day is all about… even if it’s done through your iPhone!

5 Fun President’s Day Apps

1. The White House (FREE) – Just a very cool app that includes photos and interesting info about 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Side note, I just realized you can pull up a Zestimate for the White House – I don’t think the house is ready for the market yet, do you?
2. Top 100 USA Historical Documents ($.99) – Ever want to read the constitution or the Declaration of Independence? Now you can on your phone – awesome app for history junkies!
3. Hail to the Chief Button (FREE) –  Now this is just cool – need a little pick me up? Push one button to hear “hail to the chief!”
4. Political Terms ($.99) – Easy to use resource for terms all things political
5. US Presidents Match ‘Em Up History ($.99) – Fun match game for adults and kids. Think you know your presidents? Think again!

Check them all out in the iTunes app store >>

For all of our U.S. readers – have a wonderful President’s Day!

Written by: Katie Lance, Senior Marketing Manager, Inman News @katielance

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Guest blogger Jay Thompson is the designated broker and co-owner of Thompson’s Realty in Phoenix, AZ. You can find his award-winning blog at PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com. His latest blogging adventure is RealEstateBlogPro.com.

As of this writing, there are approximately 3 billion photography apps for the iPhone.

OK, so there aren’t 3 billion. But there are a LOT. You can edit photos, add effects, share your pictures, take panoramas, and more.

The iPhone takes surprisingly good photos. Pull a photo into an iPhone app, and you can turn that simple phone picture into a piece of art.

Photoshop Express (Free)

The Photoshop Express app lets you crop, adjust exposure, saturation, contract (and more) and apply effects and borders.

Before using Photoshop Express

After using Photoshop Express

Pano and AutoStitch ($2.99 each)

These apps will “stitch” together multiple photos to create a panorama. Both apps do basically the same thing – you only need one or the other (and I suspect there are other panorama apps, these are both highly rated and the only ones I have direct experience with).

Here’s a panorama shot I took at Real Estate Bar Camp San Francisco using the Pano app:

Other nifty photo apps for the iPhone include FlickrMaster ($0.99) which lets you upload a photo to Flickr and share it on Twitter and Facebook, Flickr (free) also lets you upload to Flickr, but not share on other sites. You can however, view and comment on your Flickr friends’ pictures. CameraFlash (free) will add a simulated flash for those of us without a fancy new iPhone 4. Camera+ (free) has image stabilization, zoom and many other features. And for those with more than the lowly iPhone 3G like I have, there are apps for things like HDR photography, tilt-shift and more.

Do you have a favorite iPhone app you’d like to share with FoREM readers? Shout it out in the comments!

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In January 2010, the Center for REALTOR® Technology (CRT) extended an email survey invitation to 45,000 random REALTORS® who have provided NAR with an email address. Close to 1,500 responded to the survey. 93% of those indicated that they were 40 years old or younger use a smartphone to conduct real estate business. 86% of respondents older than 40 use a smartphone.

Here are the highlights of the survey:

Top 3 smartphone brands used by respondents:

• Blackberry (41.2%)
• iPhone family: iPhone 3G (14.1%) ; iPhone 3GS (11.9%)
• Palm (14.0%)

Top 3 reasons why respondents were motivated to choose current smartphone:

• Best device for email (45.9%)
• Ease of use (26.2%)
• Ability to use a keyboard (23.7%)

Top 5 features used most by respondents on their smartphones:

• Telephone (91.2%)
• Email (88.4%)
• SMS/texting (73.8%)
• Calendar (52.6%)
• Web browser (42.3%)

For general purposes, social media related apps were the most popular type of application downloaded by survey respondents (54.5%). This was followed by maps (43.3%) and weather applications (41.8%).

When it comes to MLS listing information:

• 57.3% indicate they have access to MLS listing information through their smartphone’s web browser.
• On a scale of 1-5, where 5 is extremely satisfied – respondents rated their overall satisfaction with the MLS listings available through their smartphone a 3.12.
• 10.7% do not have access to listings via a smartphone because their MLS does not allow it.
• Of this group, 94.4% are very interested in obtaining access via their smartphone.
• 11.4% are not interested in accessing MLS listings via their smartphone.

Out of all this data – the one that is the most disturbing to me, is the MLS info.

Only about HALF of smartphone users have access to MLS data on their phone? And 10% don’t have access because their MLS won’t allow it? REALLY?

It really boggles my mind that agents would not have full and complete access to this data from any internet connection – laptop, desktop or smartphone. I know many times the problem lies in that many MLS’s only work on Internet Explorer – which yes, is still the top web browser but unfortunately it also usually contains the most bugs. Many tech-savvy and smart agents are working from Firefox, Chrome or Opera – just to name a few. In addition many MLS’s are not compatible with Safari – the main browser on a Mac or iPhone. I hope NAR and the Center for REALTOR® technology will help move many MLS’s into the future!

This topic is sure to be a hot debate at Real Estate Connect during our MLS Track held in the afternoon on July 14th.

FOREM fans – what do you think of this survey? Would love your thoughts and opinions – please leave me your feedback below!

Written by: Katie Lance, Marketing Manager, Inman News

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I realize as a mom, I am a bit biased writing this blog post. Here are 8 really cool iPhone apps perfect for Mother’s Day and appropriate for everyday life as a mom! I know there are many Realtors and Brokers out there who are moms and grandmas – this post is for you!

8 Brilliant iPhone Apps for Mother’s Day:

Mother’s Day Cards and Frames app ($1.99)

Send all the Realtor moms you know a a virtual card. This iPhone app let’s you create a custom Mother’s Day card by accessing  photos on Facebook from your library. Then, you can post the card on her wall or print out the actual card.

Kids Eat For: Free! ($2.99)

On a budget? What Realtor isn’t these days?! Kids Eat For will help you find a local restaurants offering a Kids Eat Free or discount specials.

Kidtivities ($1.99)

Do you have a child 2-6 years old? This app provides 100 fun and educational activities for you and your child to do together. Most of these activities are inexpensive (or free) requiring the use of nature and/or materials already found in the typical home.

Baby Monitor & Alarm ($2.99)

How cool is this app?! Turn your iPhone into a baby monitor — no matter where your baby falls asleep. Just enter your home phone number or tap in a new number and place it next to your sleeping baby. When iPhone hears your baby wake up, it calls you. Gotta love technology!

1800 Flowers (FREE!)
Flowers are a Mother’s Day must! Pick out a beautiful bouquet and get it sent to right away!

Spa Finder (FREE!)

What Realtor (or anyone for that matter) doesn’t need a spa day? Over 5,000 spas listed. Automatically locate spas closest to your current location. Discover deals and last minute special offers!

Don’t make your mom cook on Mother’s Day! The best thing to make for dinner is reservations! These are also fantastic apps to have when you need to pick a new restaurant for a client meeting. Here are my 2 favorite apps for that:

OpenTable (FREE!)
With OpenTable for iPhone you can make free restaurant reservations at over 13,000 OpenTable-enabled restaurants in the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom.

Urbanspoon (FREE!)
Can’t decide where to eat? Urbanspoon can help. Shake your iPhone and the Urbanspoon slot machine will pick a good restaurant for you to try. Keep shaking until you find a restaurant you’re happy with.

**Wishing all the moms who read FOREM a very Happy Mother’s Day!! Side note – if you are a Realtor mom – please do not work on Mother’s Day! No open houses for you! Take the day off and enjoy!

Would love your comments and feedback. Leave me a comment below!

Written by: Katie Lance, Marketing Manager, Inman News (and mom to a 2 and 1/2 year old and one on the way!)

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