Among the many facets of the greater economic emergency still threatening much of the country, real estate remains one of the more volatile. In addition to the thousands left homeless or struggling with inflated mortgages, those who earn their living within the industry are searching for more effective ways to connect with what remains of the market. A recent article in Oregon’s The Register Guard, “Bringing Real Estate Into A Mobile World“, showcases a local enterprise attempting to increase communication twixt customer and agent.
RealLead is the Eugene based firm which describes itself as a company offering a variety of “mobile marketing tools” designed to link involved parties to pertinent information and each other with an emphasis on speed. Less than one year old, the small outfit hopes to capitalize on the widespread use of mobile devices and what they see as the growing desire for immediate access to information.
The firm has initiated testing of software which should aide in the expediting of the initial stages of real estate transactions. In an environment so prone to fluctuation, timing has proven to be a worthy concern. This is hardly the only hurdle in the path to success for realtors wandering a decimated marketplace, namely: convincing both agents and potential buyers to embrace the service, managing the technology beyond the beta stage, and perhaps most important, traversing the developing legal landscape associated with technology and privacy rights. The article continues on this topic and quotes RealLead CEO Caroline Cummings on the issue:
“As mobile devices become more and more ubiquitous, federal lawmakers continue to grapple with the question of how to balance businesses’ need to recruit new customers with consumers’ right to protect their personal information.
‘Of course we’re going to abide by the law,’ Cummings said. ‘We’re following the news, and we’ll adjust our data collection and delivery based on what is found in the legislation.’
‘That’s the great part of being an agile start-up. We track the trends, and we’ll adjust based on what the market demands,’ she said.”
If successful, RealLead and companies like them could play a major role in easing some small measure of the frustration associated with the industry and possibly help fan the embers of a smoldering market.
Micheal Cory February 14, 2012