MobiProps: clever mobile real estate service links online and offline worlds

MobiProps is a mobile real estate service that makes effective use of short URLs, SMS and QR codes to drive prospective homebuyers to online property portfolios. For agents, the service offers a streamlined solution for marketing their property portfolio to the rapidly growing number of homebuyers and sellers using smartphones. The service launches today.

MobiProps provides homebuyers with direct access to the property information, high resolution images, video clips, sharing and contact information of ‘for sale’ properties, formatted to fit the small screen of a smartphone. For agents, the service offers QR code and SMS technology to send a specific set of information to a buyer. The QR codes for example, can be embedded on pages online, or even in newspapers.

“We identified a massive opportunity in the South African real estate market” says Shaun Rimer, co-founding partner of MobiProps. “South Africans are becoming increasingly attached to their smartphones for day-to-day tasks. Social media platforms have changed the way we use our phones; it’s clear that people are relying on their phones now more than ever for information.”

For a fee, MobiProps allows real estate agents to take any property portfolio and generate an individual mobile website for that portfolio. Each portfolio listing contains the specific information about the property, an image and video gallery, GPS & Google map integration, the agent’s contact information and several different ways a buyer or agent can share the listing with their social network.

What makes the service unique is MobiProps ability to generate an individual website for each realtor’s property portfolio, complete with a unique ‘short URL’, recognizable branded QR code and dedicated short code. The realtor can then use these tools to promote the listing through various media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, ‘for sale’ signs, marketing collateral and numerous other mediums.

“Very few companies understand how to utilize short URLs, QR codes and mobile websites effectively,” said Shaun. “QR Codes are a relatively young technology in South Africa and are therefore widely misunderstood, resulting in poor implementation and ultimately a frustrating result for the end user.”

MobiProps argues that an agent using a branded code is more likely to distinguish themselves from the competition, especially when that QR code leads to clear, understandable information about the property for sale. The service also touts its usefulness for real estate professionals who have not yet entered the world of mobile marketing — it sees itself as value added service that improves exposure for agents.

If you’re an agent and this sounds useful to you, note that MobiProps offers a free 21 day trial.