Real estate is currently experiencing profound transformation driven by technological innovations. Over the last several years, the US real estate market was entirely controlled by realtors - this may now change.
At present, 93% of home buyers use real estate websites when house hunting in the US. Only 7% did not consult any websites during their house search journey, meaning almost the entirety of the industry has moved online.
Real estate app development services have long been an essential element of economic activity, but with modern technologies come significant changes to this aspect of it. Property buyers and sellers increasingly turn to mobile apps for property transactions. One such app, Real Estate App 2023, is ideal for simplifying this process quickly - packed with features designed for quick navigation and quickly accessing essential info.
Online property searching is more popular than ever, leading to fierce competition within the real estate market. According to market reports, 95% of real estate agencies now feature property listings on their website, but creating such an entity alone will not do. To stay ahead, you need custom-developed apps explicitly tailored to your agency that stand out among all available download options.
Creating Key Features for User-Friendly Real Estate Apps: A Deep Dive
Below, we outline several fundamental and stylish features you should include in your real estate app:
User Onboarding (Signup/Login).
User onboarding is one of the cornerstones of real estate apps and should be as effortless as possible. There are three methods for this:
- Social media authorization
- Email Authorization (if available).
- Phone Verification
Your users can sign up for your app through any one or more of these methods; however, using multiple strategies simultaneously could make signing up even more uncomplicated for both parties involved.
User Profiles for Users, Sellers & Agents)
Users should be able to create individual user accounts within an app to perform different activities. There should also be separate profiles explicitly created for different groups of users within an application.
By contrast, an agent would only see their listings, schedules, list of interested buyers, number of views to individual listings, advertisement options, etc.
There may also be common factors, like maps and messaging, that all users can utilize.
Listings and Database
Property listings and databases should be an essential feature of the real estate app, providing users with all available properties and pertinent details in an easily searchable format. Users looking to rent or sell can easily add or update their listings without difficulty.
As your property listing increases in size and users increase, ensure your server or database can support scale-up operations for seamless scale-up operations and robust management of filters and categories for real estate apps. A robust database is integral to the success of any real estate app.
Filters and Categories
Do you know which part of searching online real estate properties is the most laborious? Of course, it is finding THE property.
For ease of searching property, offer users advanced search features. Include categories and filters so users can locate properties that best meet their requirements.
Property Profiles
These detailed real estate accounts provide thorough details, including descriptions, photos, videos, rich media elements such as price details and value propositions, neighborhood information, and owner details.
More than 80% of users decide whether to purchase a property based on images and videos uploaded.
Furthermore, you may also include contact details for property owners and agents within property profiles. Favorites (Shortlisting) is another feature available within our system that helps buyers decide quickly whether a house might meet their criteria or not.
Favorites (Shortlisting)
Your app must enable users to easily shortlist and save properties they love, making their decision-making easier. Control: Their profiles can access these properties and all relevant details.
Maps
Integrating maps in your real estate app will provide loads of useful data to end-users. It will add another element that users will love!
Not only can you display property locations, but you can also show data and statistics related to them as well. Government websites offer location-wise details, including crime rate, infrastructure costs, nearby schools' attendance data, income averages, and risks from natural disasters.
JPLoft can assist in collecting this information from government records and displaying it within your app, along with push notifications of changes on a map view.
Push Notifications
Push notifications are an advantageous marketing strategy, and every real estate app should include this feature for long-term success. Push notifications help keep customers at your side while effectively marketing services offered by your firm.
Push notifications allow your business to stay in contact with its prospects, inform industry members of current happenings, send industry news updates, or inform users when prices change or new properties appear.
But to maximize the power of push notifications, messages need to be customized specifically to each recipient and deliver value for them. Only send relevant, valuable notifications!
Property Cost Calculators
Price calculators can be an essential feature in a real estate mobile app. By asking developers for custom cost estimation features that give users an approximate idea of total property expenses, price calculators provide users with an important service that gives them an estimate.
Make sure that the calculator provides enough detail. Users should be able to estimate final amounts based on the initial payment range, taxes, loan interest amount, and repayment schedule. It would also help if calendar reminders are included, as this helps users predict final costs accurately.
Calendar
Calendar features aren't only lovely additions but crucial tools that benefit buyers and agents alike!
Buyers who need to meet with their agent or seller can use this app to check available dates and set an appointment. A calendar reminder will then notify both parties at their assigned times.
Call or Direct Messaging
Simply providing users with accurate property details isn't enough - to truly engage customers, you must also include call/direct messaging features as part of their sales funnel journey. These could include:
- direct calls
- messages
- callback options
- online chat
- book an appointment
If an interested buyer wants more details on a property they see online, contacting its dealer or owner would be the next best step in gathering more details.
Analytics
Analytics play an essential part in mobile applications.
Whether for real estate purposes (allowing users to list, buy, or rent properties on it) or business uses alone i.e., an exclusive app for your real estate app development services, knowing how the end users interact with it is vital for its success.
Analytics gives you invaluable insight into how well your app is performing and what needs to be done to enhance its effectiveness. With it comes information regarding users and their in-app behavior; for example, how long users spend viewing each screen - all valuable insights for making smarter app decisions.
Segment users based on their behaviors to maximize data use and add them to various marketing campaigns accordingly.
Virtual Tour
Finally, virtual tours or 3D walkthroughs offer prospective home buyers an incredible way to gain real-world insight into the home they wish to buy. According to research conducted on first-time buyers of for-sale homes (70 percent believe a 3D virtual tour is just as crucial).
Conclusion
Over the past years, real estate industry trends have moved towards online presence. Most homebuyers search for homes through real estate websites; therefore, real estate businesses must build one to remain viable in today's online environment.
Apps can make or break businesses. However, high-quality real estate mobile apps provide agencies with an edge. Not only can they bring agents and home buyers benefits such as customized search or personalized online experience, but apps also have much to offer the real estate industry as they automate processes while improving data analysis for customer reach and outreach.
At JPLoft, our real estate app development company can assist in crafting a property search application tailored to you and your life's requirements. Our passion lies with projects that bring joy to people's lives; therefore, tailor-making a specialized application from scratch is one way to accomplish this aim. By taking an individualized approach, we can include those features most important to you without adding unneeded elements that drive up costs.
