Just read this interesting strategy of Zillow which made it the most famous real estate app in the market-
On Zillow, realtors and owners can list a home or commercial property for sale or rent using various online tools.
This app allows users to take a 3D virtual tour of the listed house and see the overall view from their smartphone.
Additionally, Zillow provides many features to real estate agents, property owners, and home seekers that make their property listing, searching, and acquiring so easily on a common platform.
On Feb 19, 2020, Zillow reported Q4 and full-year 2019 revenues including annual revenue of $2.7 billion, up to 106% year by year.
So what is the interesting point here?
Zillow made this huge revenue by providing all these services for free and still making money.
But how?
Mobile applications have already started transforming the real estate business. As people are now heavily relying on their smartphones and tablets, it is creating the perfect opportunity for real estate companies to boost their services through mobile apps.
In this blog, I will explain to you how a mobile app can make you successful in real estate business and how people who are looking to establish their business in real estate can make profits by investing in real estate app development.
How mobile app changed the current US real estate market?
According to the Home Buyer and Seller Generation Trends 2021 Report of the National Association of REALTORS Research Group, 76% of home buyers use mobile apps for their home search, and new real estate apps are constantly growing.
Agents continue to play the leading role in the US real estate market with 87% of buyers seeks an agent’s help. However, property information which was once only accessible through realtors or brokers is now available through search engines and mobile apps.
More than 90% of real estate companies have websites with property listing and 97% of home buyers prefer the internet to search for homes.
The average buyer uses a smartphone to look through real estate aggregators with websites, property listing, and photos about the buying process. A buyer then gets in touch with an agent and visits multiple homes before buying or renting one.
Android app development companies in India have reported that their clients who are realtors are now demanding for advanced features that could help providing better services through mobile app.
At eSearch Logix, we helped one of our clients develop a real estate app that provides an enhanced home tour experience. You are welcome to check out the case study.
Who made the biggest impact in the US real estate market?
Zillow and Trulia apps changed the housing market and enabled the home buying process more transparent.
Initially, neither Zillow nor Trulia was in the business of selling homes and properties. Instead, they sold advertising to real estate agents.
It allowed them to provide more insights and transparency into the housing market compared to trade associations and housing industry establishments such as the National Association of REALTORS.
While speaking to a realtor, real estate apps like Zillow and Trulia have started a whole new trend of real estate lifestyle surfing.
Users who engaged in real estate lifestyle surfing are highly interested in home prices and community information even though they may not be in the market to sell or buy a home.
Then in 2015, Zillow acquired Trulia, and this joint app became the largest player in the online real estate market.
Today, Zillow has over 245 million monthly unique app users.
So, what is the learning point to be noted here?
Zillow app originally started providing tools and functionality for home searchers and listing.
They keep updating their app with advanced features like a 3D virtual tour, geolocation specifications, interactive map, saving favorites, and users found these features extremely helpful.
As a result, Zillow gained a lot of reputation in the market and it became a famous real estate app.
And Trulia, which was initially a normal performing real estate app in the market, began with useful features that allow users to search property seamlessly with a great user experience.
However, Trulia were growing slowly in the beginning, but with the introduction of new features, they managed to scale up their growth in a way that later Zillow acquired this app.
Why you need a mobile app to establish your business in real estate?
First, understand how a mobile app plays an important role in real estate business.
There are mainly three key holders in this sector-first property owner, second realtor or agent, and third is the customer who is looking for a property.
So, where does the mobile app stand here?
There are 2.87 billion smartphone users worldwide, and according to a report from the National Association of Realtors, 76 percent of all customers found a home or property on a mobile device, and 17 percent of all customers found through an agent using an app too.
Thus, mobile app is the common platform between realtor and customer (home seeker).
If you are a realtor or a real estate company, then using a dedicated mobile app will allow you connect with more customers and make the deal quickly and efficiently.
Criteo research study says that real estate apps are two times likely to retain users than use mobile websites for searching homes along with these great advantages:
- Communicating customers directly
- Target customers more effectively
- Expand market reach
- Boosting brand promotion
- Streamlining the business process
- Increase property sales and retain leads
- Earning more commissions
- Gain potential buyers
- Motivating users to recommend your brand
- Getting customers’ feedback and improve services
And if you are a startup, entrepreneur, or a new venture who is looking to build their business in the real estate industry, mobile app can help you establish your business concept.
Keep in mind that you don’t necessarily have to be a real estate company or agent to make profits from this evergreen industry.
Just learn from Zillow.
Their developers are not real estate agents; instead, they build a mobile app for real estate agents and customers.
Zillow app provides its features for free, and they are making money because of their app monetization model in which Zillow:
- Charge property management companies to advertise their listing on the Zillow Rental Network
- Offer Premier Agent Websites that contain free premium designs, a multiple listing service search, and a domain name
- Earn revenues when agents buy advertising which targets users in the agent’s local market
- iBuying feature whereby they make an offer on an owner’s home; if Zillow purchases it, they fix it up and resell it
- This is how this real estate app makes money.
Therefore, when you analyze this figure, you will find mobile app gives plenty of advantages that help you set up your business idea in real estate.
Top advantages of a mobile app in real estate business
Who are your app users?
Normally, there are three types of users for a real estate mobile app: buyers, sellers, and realtors. Each one will get their own benefits from your app-
Advantages for buyers:
- Property search using multiple filters
- Access up to date information anytime
- Guidance for buying and document signing
- Easy way to contact a realtor and get 24×7 support
- Time-saving by comparing properties without going physically to the location.
Advantages for Sellers:
- An effective way to cross-check pricing
- Increased market reach
- Guidance for selling and document signing
- Speeds up property sales
- Show property in the best appearance
Advantages for Realtors:
- Loads of property information while on the go
- Enhanced brand awareness
- Additional revenue stream
- Extended market reach and ability to retain leads
- Automation of regular tasks
Think again, behind the scenes of every successful mobile app lies a ton of data-driven decisions.
And this is exactly what Zillow’s development team did by analyzing the market, selecting the right target audience, and working out an effective marketing strategy through a mobile app made their business concept successful, earning over $2 billion.
Top real estate apps which are making millions and billions of revenues:
I hope now you are convinced that using a mobile app in the real estate business drives immense profits while creating more opportunities.
Technology is evolving continuously every day and connecting every person on their mobile device. So it is an obvious question that how ultimately a mobile app makes business people succeed in real estate?
Below I have highlighted the trending features in real estate mobile apps that help app owners, clients, realtors, and buyers have a smooth, secure, simple, and convenient property buying and renting process.
Features of Real Estate App:
Geolocation: This feature allows users to search nearby homes using their current location. It shows them homes and properties with any nearby schools, local crime levels, and any potential hazards, hospitals, grocery stores, restaurants, etc.
Push notification: Instant notifications are sent at the moment when any home or property is available whether it’s for renting or buying, or when listing prices change.
Interactive Map: It enables clients to see the listing available in their location while being around or even sitting at home, making it easier to search for properties.
Commercial real estate apps utilize a GPS to show the properties available based on specific geographical areas. By using this feature, users can see the property on the map which then shows a description of the home and price.
Using a camera: Enabling a camera feature in the real estate app allow people to take pictures outside of homes which are for rent or sale as they walk by and find out their projected value, floor plan, and the number of room. This feature also allows people to see the interior pictures of the home.
Mortgage calculator: This tool helps find out the mortgage rates including taxes and insurance. Clients can make comparisons between different properties they are interested in.
Electronic signature: It is one of the important features of real estate app because it allows signing with electronic documents, saving their time and energy of dealing with plenty of paperwork.
Moreover, it also helps the app connected to cloud services like DropBox to share, store, and save important files which means users can access these documents from anywhere on any device.
Messaging and communication system: This tool works as a medium of communication between agent and client, proving them with an easier and faster communication system through a mobile app. Users can communicate in any form including text, live video, and audio chats.
Advanced searching options: In real estate mobile app, this feature allows users to search for properties based on listing prices, number of bedrooms, home types, square area, number of bathrooms, and location.
Additionally, clients can narrow down the search to find the most suitable home quickly through other options as well.
Advanced security settings: It could involve eye, fingerprint, or face identification scanning to access the sensitive information in the app.
3D virtual tours and video walkthroughs: This is the hottest trend in real estate app development. As per the National Association of REALTORS, 7 in 10 real estate agents found virtual tours and video walkthroughs played an influential role in converting the home buying and renting deal successfully since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Specifically, iOS app developers focus on this feature because Apple users are mostly fond of using premium features. It feature allows customers to take a virtual tour to see the interior of a home closely from their mobile phone and helps people minimizing their travel time and makes the right property selection.
It is 3D Home Feature of Zillow app that contributed a big role in boosting their app usage growth in the mobile app market.
Augmented reality (AR): This is something new in real estate app and it is expected that AR features can make a difference in the near future.
Mobile app developers are utilizing AR technology in many ways such as allowing users to customize their potential homes by choosing different wall colors or adding and moving furniture.
The Bottom Line
Mobile app is a powerful tool for all those who are in real estate business and who want to enter this market.
Real estate mobile app gives a plethora of features and benefits that not only streamline the selling and buying process but also creates more business opportunities for realtors, companies, firms, owners, and entrepreneurs who are aspiring to make their own venture through investing in real estate.
Now, it’s your time. Did you find this post helpful?
Or are you looking for mobile help that empowers you or your company in this industry?
Collaborate with eSearch Logix who is a reputed Real Estate App Development Company equipped with robust development frameworks and the latest technologies.
Consult our developer team and discuss your app project in detail for free.
