You may ask: “Do we really need mobile apps for real estate? There are various applications for, probably, everything that it seems irrelevant to make one for real estate, doesn’t it?” Frankly, it’s quite the opposite. Smartphones have become an integral part of our existence: DataReportal claims that the number of “unique” mobile users has already reached more than 5 billion!
In everyday life, we value features that help us save time and satisfy our needs in the most convenient way possible. Don’t we all sigh in relief seeing the “Available in mobile version” text on websites? Nevertheless, approximately 73% of real estate buyers found their homes using mobile devices. In this article, we will look at the phenomenon of real estate applications, how to build real estate mobile apps in just four steps and what features are crucial to include.
Mobile App Development for Real Estate: What’s the Сatch?
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Mobile real estate app development brings nothing but positive effects. For instance, it helps increase users’ involvement in the accommodation searching (or selling) process: people can look up different apartments or houses using specific filters, such as location, price category, have a whole tour from inside thanks to VR technologies, and get in touch with agents straight from the app and all of this wherever they are located. People will get a remarkable experience choosing your real estate company or simply supporting your business if you provide a user-friendly mobile app based on the target audience’s needs and the latest trends in the application development technology market.
The necessity and, therefore, the profitability of the real estate market provides more opportunities for its enhancement and digitalization, which leads us to the development of mobile applications. But the burning desire to start real estate app development is not enough. Initially, you have to examine the market: Who are your competitors? What do they provide within their applications? What monetization model to choose and how exactly can you win the hearts of your potential clients? This way, your offer will have a unique idea without repetition or failure. However, let’s summarize all the vital steps a little bit later and look at what the real estate app development industry can currently offer us.
What Types of Mobile Apps are in Real Estate Industry?
By stepping on the real estate mobile application development path, you should already have a vision of your future product, including its type, purpose and functions. And thanks to the variety of those on the market, everyone can choose one to their liking.
- Agency App. Now that we know its importance, it’s apparent when a real estate company wants an additional upgrade to their website – a mobile app. New and regular customers can get to know the company through a sophisticated application with easy communication tools, a pleasant interface and various features of property management software that satisfy every user’s needs, even document and other paperwork management. On the other hand, the company can have another method of managing its position in the market: whether people use the app, how frequently they do it and what is lacking to increase engagement.
- Aggregator Model. In this case, your application serves as a peculiar real estate marketplace – a mediator between agents, sellers, renters and buyers. All of them can register on the app and have specific accounts with different features: users aiming to sell the property can upload all the needed information about it, including photos, location and price, on the platform, while users who want to buy it can discover the whole list of various items. Thanks to Big Data, the app may suggest other options based on users’ previous preferences and views. People can communicate with each other and find their dream houses or dream customers. This type of mobile app development for real estate can be a genuinely profitable and successful investment for its developer.
Noteworthy Real Estate App Features
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Once we have decided on our application type, we can continue the real estate app development journey. The next challenge is to choose vital features that would enrich the product and make it stand out from the other mobile applications. We picked up the list of essential real estate mobile app development features that deserve your attention.
Personalization
From the first click on the app icon, users want to get straight to business. Not everyone needs to go through the registration process in a heartbeat – some would appreciate having an opportunity to test the application first. Later, when users finish their onboarding process and are aware of all the features the app presents, they might want to sign up or log in with their social media/email accounts to have a complete and adequate user experience.
A personalized validated profile with the user’s basic information helps store their data and achieve their purpose based on its role. For example, a buyer’s account will have a different interface and features than a seller’s one. Considering your app type, people can bookmark items, rent, buy, sell, even leave feedback and communicate with other users.
Listing of Proposition
Can you imagine a real estate app without a property’s database? Exactly. Listing is a must have feature in real estate apps since it provides all the information about your app offerings. The more listings, the happier users are, so while building a real estate mobile app, it’s better to rely on services that can contain a vast database to escape any unfortunate situations.
You can get in touch with different broker organizations for providing multiple listing services (MLS) or even create your own. Also, you should decide on the procedure of the validation of offerings in case you want to allow users to upload their properties on the platform.
Property Details
In the real estate industry, the availability of product representation in media files, in most cases, plays a crucial role in customers’ decisions. Such property profiles must provide a complete overview of the house or apartment, displaying high-quality photos and videos, price, location, neighborhood details and owner’s contact information.
Using VR technology to give customers in-depth tours through properties from their smartphones would be a massive breakthrough for the application, truly appreciated by end-users. This virtual tour allows people to have a real-time walkthrough of the house with an opportunity to look at every corner of it without a need to personally visit it!
Map
Can you imagine a real estate app without a built-in map? Probably impossible. Location is one of the most vital criteria in a housing search, and this helpful feature allows one to observe a property’s placement from an aerial view. Users can examine their potential purchase’s neighborhood and get data about its surroundings, leisure facilities, infrastructure, transport system and other crucial information.
Property Value Calculator
This feature may make your real estate app developers sweat a bit, but it’s worth it. Cost estimation comes in handy while managing financial matters throughout the whole selling/buying process. Sellers can calculate the approximate value of their property to set the right price considering different factors. At the same time, buyers can use the feature to estimate the final sum, including initial payment, mortgage cost, taxes, loan interest and the repayment period.
Favorites Folder
While browsing for the property of their dreams, people would prefer to mark those that they have interest in to avoid losing them. For that reason, a wish list creation feature is a crucial function for a convenient and lovely journey of app usage. It not only saves time for users to find potential houses but also allows sellers to see the number of bookmarks on properties which helps to examine which item enjoys popularity among customers the most.
4 Core Steps for Developing a Real Estate Application
Step #1: Define Your Goal
Ask yourself: Why do you need to build a real estate app? What value will the app bring to users and your business? Study the market and your competitors: their social media, app features, and customer feedback. Choose what the plan is precisely: Do you want to create a mobile version of your real estate firm or hotel website, a good-old rental app or develop a platform for freelance agents to expand their network? Don’t forget to make sure your proposition is unique – something that would make the application stand out among the others, not another alternative to something already existing. Maybe the advanced features that your competitors lack or some highlights that people will only associate with your app.
Step #2: Find Your Team
When it comes to app development, it’s crucial to efficiently implement all the special features you planned. And who can help, if it is not the group of professionals acquainted with the real estate technology industry? With the right team, there’s no need to worry about the final product’s quality and success. Together you’ll be able to choose the best way of managing the real estate app development process, such as deciding on the UI/UX design of the app and the implementation of all your ideas into code.
Step #3: Consider Monetization
Making money from the application is a great benefit for its creators. There’s a wide range of monetization methods for different real estate apps. For instance, people (tenants, buyers or sellers) might pay commission fees for using the platform, see advertisements for real estate agents, lenders, interior designers, furniture stores, etc., and buy special subscriptions for more advanced features.
Step #4: Build Minimum Value Product
We won’t get tired of repeating the essentiality of MVP development while launching a brand-new product. It’s a terrific method to see the target audience’s reaction to the application and get their feedback and proposition. Hence, a minimum value product will help you save time, money and prevent the development of bound to fail real estate apps.
Final Thoughts
Creating a real estate mobile app might seem like a challenging task. With such a competitive niche market, you must try hard to keep up with the competitors or outdo them. But there’s nothing to worry about when the right idea is presented to the right audience, who will praise and adore it! We suggest you take into account our tips on how to create real estate mobile app and remember that sky’s the limit, so don’t be afraid to try and give free vent to your ambitions.
Consider Inoxoft for Developing a Successful Mobile App Project
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Do you remember the second step for developing a real estate application? The squad is one of the most vital keys to building successful projects, including real estate mobile apps. Being a real estate development company, Inoxoft provides top-notch real estate development services for clients according to their goals and needs. When you choose our company, you choose not only a dedicated team but also a flexible cooperation model, a robust and automated development process, and a successful final product.
We guarantee to deliver the cutting-edge real estate application built by our team of certified engineers. Do not hesitate to contact us for extensive consultation on your project!
