A screenshot of the Homesnap iPhone app.
Adding to its slate of online services for member agents, a local Realtors group is rolling out an app designed to make the home search process a snap – literally.
The Central Virginia Regional Multiple Listing Service is now participating in Homesnap, an online real estate search platform that allows users to look up information on a home by snapping a photo of the property with the camera on their smartphone.
Using the phone’s GPS, the app then pulls up the property’s MLS listing – or if it’s not an active listing, property history based on previous MLS listings, available public records and other data sources.
Homesnap, which competes with sites such as Zillow, Redfin and Realtor.com, also allows agents and homebuyers to message each other and share listings and information within the app, and its platform is synced with contributing MLSs and updated in real time – every five seconds or so.
Kelly Croston, communications director for CVRMLS and the Richmond Association of Realtors, which manages the 16-jurisdiction MLS, described the app as another tool to help agents stay connected with and better serve their clients.
“Especially in a competitive market, it allows you to act quicker on an offer,” Croston said.
“No one is really calling anymore. It’s all about your messaging apps,” she said. “It’s a lot of information to have at your fingertips, but that’s where we’re going.”
Croston said Homesnap can pull up MLS info on a listing before it shows up in the database – a process that typically takes three days. If a user comes across a “For Sale” sign for a house that has yet to show up on MLS, she said, the app can pull up the listing through the photo-taking feature.
A screenshot of the app on its browser site.
While CVRMLS also contributes to Realtor.com and has its own home search app, called “RVA Homes,” Croston said Homesnap is a valuable addition for its ease-of-use and real-time synchronization. While Realtor.com likewise culls its information directly from MLSs, she said its updates can vary from every 15 minutes to 24-hour intervals.
Based in Washington, D.C., Homesnap was launched in 2008 but didn’t appear on the Richmond group’s radar until recently. Croston said a neighboring MLS had been using the app and spoke highly of it.
Since introducing the app to member agents Oct. 3, Croston said about 750 of the MLS’s approximately 5,000 members downloaded the app the first day it was offered, she said.
CVRMLS said it pays an undisclosed fee to be able to offer Homesnap to its agents. The app is available for free download from RAR’s website. Agents can also send invitations to clients to download the app.
The app is the latest online initiative for RAR and CVRMLS. Earlier this year, CVRMLS teamed up with local real estate startup Nestiny to provide member agents with discounted access to its web platform and services. Last year, RAR struck an agreement with Zillow to ensure that CVRMLS listings continued to appear on its site.
A screenshot of the Homesnap iPhone app.
Adding to its slate of online services for member agents, a local Realtors group is rolling out an app designed to make the home search process a snap – literally.
The Central Virginia Regional Multiple Listing Service is now participating in Homesnap, an online real estate search platform that allows users to look up information on a home by snapping a photo of the property with the camera on their smartphone.
Using the phone’s GPS, the app then pulls up the property’s MLS listing – or if it’s not an active listing, property history based on previous MLS listings, available public records and other data sources.
Homesnap, which competes with sites such as Zillow, Redfin and Realtor.com, also allows agents and homebuyers to message each other and share listings and information within the app, and its platform is synced with contributing MLSs and updated in real time – every five seconds or so.
Kelly Croston, communications director for CVRMLS and the Richmond Association of Realtors, which manages the 16-jurisdiction MLS, described the app as another tool to help agents stay connected with and better serve their clients.
“Especially in a competitive market, it allows you to act quicker on an offer,” Croston said.
“No one is really calling anymore. It’s all about your messaging apps,” she said. “It’s a lot of information to have at your fingertips, but that’s where we’re going.”
Croston said Homesnap can pull up MLS info on a listing before it shows up in the database – a process that typically takes three days. If a user comes across a “For Sale” sign for a house that has yet to show up on MLS, she said, the app can pull up the listing through the photo-taking feature.
A screenshot of the app on its browser site.
While CVRMLS also contributes to Realtor.com and has its own home search app, called “RVA Homes,” Croston said Homesnap is a valuable addition for its ease-of-use and real-time synchronization. While Realtor.com likewise culls its information directly from MLSs, she said its updates can vary from every 15 minutes to 24-hour intervals.
Based in Washington, D.C., Homesnap was launched in 2008 but didn’t appear on the Richmond group’s radar until recently. Croston said a neighboring MLS had been using the app and spoke highly of it.
Since introducing the app to member agents Oct. 3, Croston said about 750 of the MLS’s approximately 5,000 members downloaded the app the first day it was offered, she said.
CVRMLS said it pays an undisclosed fee to be able to offer Homesnap to its agents. The app is available for free download from RAR’s website. Agents can also send invitations to clients to download the app.
The app is the latest online initiative for RAR and CVRMLS. Earlier this year, CVRMLS teamed up with local real estate startup Nestiny to provide member agents with discounted access to its web platform and services. Last year, RAR struck an agreement with Zillow to ensure that CVRMLS listings continued to appear on its site.
My client wants to be invited to use this ap. How do I do this for him?